HOUSE BILL No. 4534


     March 19, 1997, Introduced by Reps. Dalman, Goschka, Jellema, Bodem, Walberg, Law, Curtis, Johnson, Nye and McNutt and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.


        A bill to amend 1966 PA 138, entitled

   "The family support act,"

   by amending section 2 (MCL 552.452), as amended by 1996 PA 5; and

   to repeal acts and parts of acts.

               THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 1         Sec. 2.  (1) Upon the hearing of the complaint, in the

 2    manner of a motion, the court may enter an order as it determines

 3    proper for the support of the petitioner and the minor child or

 4    children of the parties.  The order shall provide that all pay-

 5    ments shall be made to the friend of the court.  If the parent

 6    complained of opposes the entry of the order upon the ground that

 7    he or she is without sufficient financial ability to provide nec-

 8    essary shelter, food, care, clothing, and other support for his

 9    or her spouse and child or children, the burden of proving this

10    lack of ability is on the parent against whom the complaint is


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 1    made.  The order shall state in separate paragraphs the amount of

 2    support for the petitioner until the further order of the court,

 3    and the amount of support for each child until each child reaches

 4    18 years of age or until the further order of the court.  Subject

 5    to section  1c  30 OF THE SUPPORT AND PARENTING TIME ENFORCEMENT

 6    ACT, 1982 PA 295, MCL 552.630, the court may also order support

 7    for the child after the child reaches 18 years of age, or until

 8    the further order of the court.

 9          (2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the court

10     shall order support in an amount determined by application of the

11     child support formula developed by the state friend of the court

12     bureau.  The court may enter an order that deviates from the for-

13     mula if the court determines from the facts of the case that

14     application of the child support formula would be unjust or inap-

15     propriate and sets forth in writing or on the record all of the

16     following:

17          (a) The support amount determined by application of the

18     child support formula.

19          (b) How the support order deviates from the child support

20     formula.

21          (c) The value of property or other support awarded in lieu

22     of the payment of child support, if applicable.

23          (d) The reasons why application of the child support formula

24     would be unjust or inappropriate in the case.

25          (3) Subsection (2) does not prohibit the court from entering

26     a support order that is agreed to by the parties and that





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 1    deviates from the child support formula, if the requirements of

 2     subsection (2) are met.

 3          (4) Beginning January 1, 1991, each support order entered by

 4     the court shall provide that each party shall keep the office of

 5     the friend of the court informed of both of the following:

 6          (a) The name and address of his or her current source of

 7     income.  As used in this subdivision, "source of income" means

 8     that term as defined in section 2 of the support and parenting

 9     time enforcement act, Act No. 295 of the Public Acts of 1982,

10     being section 552.602 of the Michigan Compiled Laws.

11          (b) Any health care coverage that is available to him or her

12     as a benefit of employment or that is maintained by him or her;

13     the name of the insurance company, nonprofit health care corpora-

14     tion, or health maintenance organization; the policy, certifi-

15     cate, or contract number; and the names and birth dates of the

16     persons for whose benefit he or she maintains health care cover-

17     age under the policy, certificate, or contract.

18          (5) For the purposes of this act, "support" may include pay-

19     ment of the expenses of medical, dental, and other health care,

20     child care expenses, and educational expenses.  The court shall

21     require that 1 or both parents shall obtain and maintain any

22     health care coverage that is available to them at a reasonable

23     cost, as a benefit of employment, for the benefit of the minor

24     children of the parties and, subject to section 1c, for the bene-

25     fit of the parties' children who are not minor children.  If a

26     parent is self-employed and maintains health care coverage, the

27     court shall require the parent to obtain or maintain dependent



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 1    coverage for the benefit of the minor children of the parties

 2     and, subject to section 1c, for the benefit of the parties' chil-

 3     dren who are not minor children, if available at a reasonable

 4     cost. 

 5         (2)  (6)  An order FOR CHILD SUPPORT entered under this sec-

 6    tion IS GOVERNED BY AND is enforceable as provided in the support

 7    and parenting time enforcement act,  Act No. 295 of the Public

 8     Acts of 1982, being sections 552.601 to 552.650 of the Michigan

 9     Compiled Laws  1982 PA 295, MCL 552.601 TO 552.650.  IF THIS ACT

10    CONTAINS A SPECIFIC PROVISION REGARDING THE CONTENTS OR ENFORCE-

11    MENT OF A CHILD SUPPORT ORDER THAT CONFLICTS WITH A PROVISION IN

12    THE SUPPORT AND PARENTING TIME ENFORCEMENT ACT, 1982 PA 295,

13    MCL 552.601 TO 552.650, THIS ACT CONTROLS IN REGARD TO THAT

14    PROVISION.

15         Enacting section 1.  Section 1c of the family support act,

16    1966 PA 138, MCL 552.451c, is repealed.

17         Enacting section 2.  This amendatory act shall not take

18    effect unless Senate Bill No. ______ or House Bill No. ______

19    (request no. 01895'97) of the 89th Legislature is enacted into

20    law.

















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