H-3734.3 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 2890
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 56th Legislature 2000 Regular Session
By Representatives Talcott, Scott and Esser
Read first time 01/24/2000. Referred to Committee on Judiciary.
AN ACT Relating to child support obligations based on overtime or extraordinary income; amending RCW 26.19.071 and 26.09.170; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds and declares that a parent's first obligation is to his or her child and that the parent's presence in a child's life is one of the most important ways a parent can nurture and support a child. The legislature intends to offer some relief to those parents who are pressured to work extraordinary hours or second jobs, and as a result have less opportunity to be true participants in their children's lives.
Sec. 2. RCW 26.19.071 and 1997 c 59 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Consideration of all income. All income and resources of each parent's household shall be disclosed and considered by the court when the court determines the child support obligation of each parent. Only the income of the parents of the children whose support is at issue shall be calculated for purposes of calculating the basic support obligation. Income and resources of any other person shall not be included in calculating the basic support obligation.
(2) Verification of income. Tax returns for the preceding two years and current paystubs shall be provided to verify income and deductions. Other sufficient verification shall be required for income and deductions which do not appear on tax returns or paystubs.
(3) Income sources included in gross monthly income. Except as specifically excluded in subsection (4) of this section, monthly gross income shall include income from any source, including:
(a) Salaries;
(b) Wages;
(c) Commissions;
(d) Deferred compensation;
(e)
((Overtime)) Mandatory overtime required as a condition of employment;
(f) Contract-related benefits;
(g)
((Income from second jobs;
(h)))
Dividends;
(((i)))
(h) Interest;
(((j)))
(i) Trust income;
(((k)))
(j) Severance pay;
(((l)))
(k) Annuities;
(((m)))
(l) Capital gains;
(((n)))
(m) Pension retirement benefits;
(((o)))
(n) Workers' compensation;
(((p)))
(o) Unemployment benefits;
(((q)))
(p) Spousal maintenance actually received;
(((r)))
(q) Bonuses;
(((s)))
(r) Social security benefits; and
(((t)))
(s) Disability insurance benefits.
(4) Income sources excluded from gross monthly income. The following income and resources shall be disclosed but shall not be included in gross income:
(a) Income of a new spouse or income of other adults in the household;
(b) Voluntary overtime not required as a condition of employment. All overtime of the party is presumed to be mandatory overtime unless the party proves that the overtime is voluntary and not required as a condition of employment. The court must consider all evidence, including but not limited to, employment contracts and pay stubs, the number of hours worked, how the employer classifies the hours worked, and the standard industry practice. The fact that the party's employment contract or employment manual does not explicitly require mandatory overtime for the party's employment position is not by itself proof that the overtime is voluntary and not required as a condition of employment. When accompanied by other corroborating evidence, a written statement from the employer that the disputed overtime is voluntary is proof that the overtime is voluntary. The court must not exclude overtime income from the computation of income under subsection (3) of this section if to do so would result in the inclusion of income of less than that of a forty-hour work week or a work week constituting full-time employment for the party's type of employment;
(c) Income from a second job or additional jobs if the parent has at least one full-time job that requires the parent to work a minimum of a forty-hour work week or a work week that constitutes full-time employment for the parent's type of employment;
(d) Child support received from other relationships;
(((c)))
(e) Gifts and prizes;
(((d)))
(f) Temporary assistance for needy families;
(((e)))
(g) Supplemental security income;
(((f)))
(h) General assistance; and
(((g)))
(i) Food stamps.
Receipt of income and resources from temporary assistance for needy families, supplemental security income, general assistance, and food stamps shall not be a reason to deviate from the standard calculation.
(5) Determination of net income. The following expenses shall be disclosed and deducted from gross monthly income to calculate net monthly income:
(a) Federal and state income taxes;
(b) Federal insurance contributions act deductions;
(c) Mandatory pension plan payments;
(d) Mandatory union or professional dues;
(e) State industrial insurance premiums;
(f) Court-ordered spousal maintenance to the extent actually paid;
(g) Up to two thousand dollars per year in voluntary pension payments actually made if the contributions were made for the two tax years preceding the earlier of the (i) tax year in which the parties separated with intent to live separate and apart or (ii) tax year in which the parties filed for dissolution; and
(h) Normal business expenses and self-employment taxes for self-employed persons. Justification shall be required for any business expense deduction about which there is disagreement.
Items deducted from gross income under this subsection shall not be a reason to deviate from the standard calculation.
(6) Imputation of income. The court shall impute income to a parent when the parent is voluntarily unemployed or voluntarily underemployed. The court shall determine whether the parent is voluntarily underemployed or voluntarily unemployed based upon that parent's work history, education, health, and age, or any other relevant factors. A court shall not impute income to a parent who is gainfully employed on a full-time basis, unless the court finds that the parent is voluntarily underemployed and finds that the parent is purposely underemployed to reduce the parent's child support obligation. Income shall not be imputed for an unemployable parent. Income shall not be imputed to a parent to the extent the parent is unemployed or significantly underemployed due to the parent's efforts to comply with court-ordered reunification efforts under chapter 13.34 RCW or under a voluntary placement agreement with an agency supervising the child. In the absence of information to the contrary, a parent's imputed income shall be based on the median income of year-round full-time workers as derived from the United States bureau of census, current populations reports, or such replacement report as published by the bureau of census.
Sec. 3. RCW 26.09.170 and 1997 c 58 s 910 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (7) of RCW 26.09.070, the provisions of any decree respecting maintenance or support may be modified: (a) Only as to installments accruing subsequent to the petition for modification or motion for adjustment except motions to compel court-ordered adjustments, which shall be effective as of the first date specified in the decree for implementing the adjustment; and, (b) except as otherwise provided in subsections (4), (5), (8), and (9) of this section, only upon a showing of a substantial change of circumstances. The provisions as to property disposition may not be revoked or modified, unless the court finds the existence of conditions that justify the reopening of a judgment under the laws of this state.
(2) Unless otherwise agreed in writing or expressly provided in the decree the obligation to pay future maintenance is terminated upon the death of either party or the remarriage of the party receiving maintenance.
(3) Unless otherwise agreed in writing or expressly provided in the decree, provisions for the support of a child are terminated by emancipation of the child or by the death of the parent obligated to support the child.
(4) An order of child support may be modified one year or more after it has been entered without showing a substantial change of circumstances:
(a) If the order in practice works a severe economic hardship on either party or the child;
(b) If a party requests an adjustment in an order for child support which was based on guidelines which determined the amount of support according to the child's age, and the child is no longer in the age category on which the current support amount was based;
(c) If a child is still in high school, upon a finding that there is a need to extend support beyond the eighteenth birthday to complete high school; or
(d) To add an automatic adjustment of support provision consistent with RCW 26.09.100.
(5) An order or decree entered prior to June 7, 1984, may be modified without showing a substantial change of circumstances if the requested modification is to:
(a) Require health insurance coverage for a child named therein; or
(b) Modify an existing order for health insurance coverage.
(6) An obligor's voluntary unemployment or voluntary underemployment, by itself, is not a substantial change of circumstances. It shall not be considered voluntary unemployment or voluntary underemployment, and it may be considered a substantial change in circumstances, if an obligor: (a) Has a support obligation calculated on a work week that is longer than a forty-hour work week or longer than the work week constituting full-time employment for the obligor's type of employment; (b) there are subsequent changes to the obligor's employment or work week resulting in a decrease in salary, wages, or income; and (c) the decrease is not less than that of a forty-hour work week or the work week constituting full-time employment for the obligor's type of employment.
(7) The department of social and health services may file an action to modify an order of child support if public assistance money is being paid to or for the benefit of the child and the child support order is twenty-five percent or more below the appropriate child support amount set forth in the standard calculation as defined in RCW 26.19.011 and reasons for the deviation are not set forth in the findings of fact or order. The determination of twenty-five percent or more shall be based on the current income of the parties and the department shall not be required to show a substantial change of circumstances if the reasons for the deviations were not set forth in the findings of fact or order.
(8)(a) All child support decrees may be adjusted once every twenty-four months based upon changes in the income of the parents without a showing of substantially changed circumstances. Either party may initiate the adjustment by filing a motion and child support worksheets.
(b) A party may petition for modification in cases of substantially changed circumstances under subsection (1) of this section at any time. However, if relief is granted under subsection (1) of this section, twenty-four months must pass before a motion for an adjustment under (a) of this subsection may be filed.
(c) If, pursuant to (a) of this subsection or subsection (9) of this section, the court adjusts or modifies a child support obligation by more than thirty percent and the change would cause significant hardship, the court may implement the change in two equal increments, one at the time of the entry of the order and the second six months from the entry of the order. Twenty-four months must pass following the second change before a motion for an adjustment under (a) of this subsection may be filed.
(d) A parent who is receiving transfer payments who receives a wage or salary increase may not bring a modification action pursuant to subsection (1) of this section alleging that increase constitutes a substantial change of circumstances.
(e) The department of social and health services may file an action at any time to modify an order of child support in cases of substantially changed circumstances if public assistance money is being paid to or for the benefit of the child. The determination of the existence of substantially changed circumstances by the department that lead to the filing of an action to modify the order of child support is not binding upon the court.
(9) An order of child support may be adjusted twenty-four months from the date of the entry of the decree or the last adjustment or modification, whichever is later, based upon changes in the economic table or standards in chapter 26.19 RCW.
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