HCS HB 1403 -- FAMILY LAW

SPONSOR:  Dougherty

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Children,
Youth and Families by a vote of 10 to 5.

The substitute makes several changes in the area of family law.
Related to visitation, the substitute:

(1) Requires, by July 1, 1997, the Supreme Court to promulgate a
rule that allows the party that does not have physical custody
of the child to have minimum contact with the child from the
time of filing for a divorce, except where it is alleged that
the contact would harm the child or other household or family
members;

(2) Requires, by July 1, 1997, the Supreme Court to establish
guidelines to be used by judges when awarding visitation. Judges
are allowed to deviate from these guidelines if visitation would
harm the child or other household or family members or if the
judge makes a written finding that the guidelines are
inappropriate;

(3) Requires, beginning July 1, 1997, the Director of Child
Support Enforcement to enter  an order awarding visitation when
entering an order awarding child support. The director is
required to use the guidelines that the bill requires the
Supreme Court to promulgate. The requirement does not apply if
there is any indication of domestic violence;

(4) Allows, beginning July 1, 1997, persons to file pro-se
(without an attorney) contempt of court motions alleging an
improper denial of visitation according to a procedure developed
by the Supreme Court. The fee for filing the contempt motions is
$25; and

(5) Creates the crime of unlawful interference with visitation,
if a person detains or conceals a child with the intent to
deprive a person of the person's visitation rights.

Related to child support, the substitute:

(1) Allows licenses (professional, drivers, and recreational) to
be suspended for nonpayment of support. The suspension can be
triggered by arrearage equal to or greater than 3 months of
support payments. The substitute also contains several
provisions that detail the process for suspending licenses;

(2) Ends the child support obligation when the child graduates
from high school or reaches age 19, whichever is earlier. If
circumstances manifestly dictate, the obligation can continue
until the child graduates from high school or reaches age 21,
whichever is earlier. Current law allows child support to
continue until age 22, if  the child is enrolled in college;

(3) Replaces the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act,
which is currently used in interstate child support cases, with
the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA). (A more
detailed summary of UIFSA's provisions is found in the summary
for HB 992);

(4) Allows, if requested by the child support obligor, the
Director of Child Support Enforcement to require the custodial
parent to provide the obligor with a regular summary of expenses
paid by the custodial parent for the child;

(5) Allows the Division of Child Support Enforcement to charge a
fee in cases where the person applying for services is not on
Aid to Families With Dependent Children. The division is
required to establish fees that are on a sliding scale based on
ability to pay;

(6) Places the proceeds of the fee in a fund to be used by the
division to fund visitation dispute resolution programs; and

(7) Allows the court to order the obligor to purchase life
insurance as security for the payment of child support.

In other provisions, the substitute:

(1) Requires the court to order the parties to a divorce to
participate in mediation if there are contested visitation or
custody issues, unless there is good cause to not order
mediation;

(2) Requires parents who are getting a divorce where minor
children are involved, to attend parenting classes on the
effects of the divorce on the child;

(3) Requires the courts to give parties to a divorce a handbook
which sets forth the court's expectation for custody,  child
support, visitation, and cooperation between spouses. The State
Courts Administrator's Office is required to create the handbook;

(4) Makes it a class A misdemeanor to intentionally make a false
allegation of domestic violence in a divorce proceeding;

(5) Places a $10 fee on filing for divorce. The proceeds of the
fee go into a fund that the State Courts Administrator will use
to reimburse local courts for the costs of implementation of the
provisions of the substitute;

(6) Allows the referee in the St. Louis City Family Court to
become a family court commissioner. The court is not required to
reimburse the state for the salary and benefits of the
commissioner; and

(7) Requires the Division of Family Services to provide a non--
custodial parent of a child who is covered by Medicaid with
documentation that allows the child to obtain medical
assistance, when requested by the parent.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Net Cost to General Revenue Fund of
$501,121 to $774,844 in FY 97, $423,711 to $984,842 in FY 98,
and $434,443 to $1,009,602 in FY 99.  Partial Estimated Net
Effect on Domestic Relations Resolution Fund of $0 in FY 97, FY
98, and FY 99.  Partial Estimated Net Cost to Highway Fund of
$35,569 in FY 97, $38,677 in FY 98, and $39,649 in FY 99.
Partial Estimated Net Increase to Child Support Enforcement Fund
of $1,106,881 in FY 97, $4,457,620 in FY 98, and $6,212,362 in
FY 99.  Estimated Net Effect on Missouri Visitation Dispute
Resolution Programs Fund of $0 in FY 97, FY 98, and FY 99.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters of the original bill say that the bill
helps divorced parents to enforce visitation and child support
awards. Supporters also say that the bill will deter false
allegations of domestic violence and encourage parties to have
less adversarial divorces. Supporters say that it is unfair to
require divorced parents to support their children in college
when it is not required of married parents. Many of the
supporters of the bill opposed certain provisions in the bill.

Testifying for the original bill were Representative Dougherty;
Reform Organization for Welfare;  National Congress for Fathers
and Children; Lutheran Children and Family Services; St. Louis
City Family Court; Jim Rosetti; Chester Kath; Dave Williams;
Charles Schollenberger; and Bob Stevens.

OPPONENTS:  Those who oppose the original bill say that limiting
the payment of child support after the completion of high school
will cause financial hardship on children. Opponents also say
making false allegations of domestic violence a crime will
discourage legitimate allegations of domestic violence. The
opponents of the bill supported certain provisions in the bill.

Testifying against the bill were Catholic Legal Assistance
Ministry; and Paula Diller.

Ted Wedel, Research Analyst

HB 1403 -- Family Law

Sponsor:  Dougherty

The bill makes several changes in the area of family law.
Related to visitation, the bill:

(1) Requires the circuits in the state that have a family court
to have hearing officers who will make recommendations to the
court within 2 weeks of the hearing. Other circuits are allowed
to have hearing officers;

(2) Requires the Supreme Court to promulgate a rule that
requires visitation from the time of filing for a divorce,
except where domestic violence is alleged;

(3) Requires the Supreme Court to establish presumptive
visitation schedules;

(4) Replaces the term "visitation" with "parenting time"
throughout the Missouri statutes; and

(5) Creates the crime of unlawful interference with visitation,
if a person detains or conceals a child with the intent to
deprive a person of the person's visitation rights.

Related to child support, the bill:

(1) Allows licenses (professional, drivers, and recreational) to
be suspended for nonpayment of support;

(2) Replaces the uniform law which is currently used to collect
child support in interstate cases (Uniform Reciprocal
Enforcement of Support Act - URESA) with another uniform law. A
more detailed summary of this is contained in the summary for HB
992;

(3) Allows the Division of Child Support Enforcement to ask for
an accounting in administrative cases; and

(4) Requires the child to be enrolled full time in college for
the child support obligation to continue past high school.

In other provisions, the bill:

(1) Requires the court to order the parties to a divorce to
participate in mediation if there are contested visitation or
custody issues, unless good cause is shown as to why mediation
should not be ordered;

(2) Requires parents who are getting a divorce where minor
children are involved, to attend parenting classes on the
effects of dissolution on the child;

(3) Makes refusal of a parent to mediate a factor in custody and
visitation determinations;

(4) Requires the family courts to give parties to a divorce a
handbook which sets forth the court's expectation for custody,
child support, visitation, and cooperation between spouses in
divorce;

(5) Allows the court to place marital property in trust for the
benefit of the minor children of the marriage; and

(6) Makes it a class A misdemeanor to make a false allegation of
domestic violence in a dissolution proceeding.