HOUSE BILL No. 4823 June 17, 1999, Introduced by Reps. Shulman and Hart and referred to the Committee on Family and Children Services. A bill to amend 1952 PA 8, entitled "Revised uniform reciprocal enforcement of support act," by amending sections 3b, 14, 18, 23, and 31a (MCL 780.153b, 780.164, 780.168, 780.173, and 780.181a), section 3b as added and section 18 as amended by 1985 PA 172, section 14 as amended and section 31a as added by 1990 PA 241, and section 23 as amended by 1983 PA 192. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 3b. (1) "Prosecuting attorney" means the public offi- 2 cial in the appropriate jurisdiction who has the duty to enforce 3 criminal laws relating to the failure to provide for the support 4 ofanyA person. 5 (2) "Register" means to file in the registry of foreign 6 support orders. 03888'99 GWH 2 1 (3) "Registering court" meansanyA court of this state in 2 which a support order of a rendering state is registered. 3 (4) "Rendering state" means a state in whichtheA court 4 has issued a support order for which registration is sought or 5 granted intheA court of another state. 6 (5) "Responding court" means the court in whichtheA 7 responsive proceeding is commenced. 8 (6) "Responding state" means a state in whichanyA 9 responsive proceeding pursuant to the proceeding in the initiat- 10 ing state is commenced. 11 (7) "State" includes a state, territory, or possession of 12 the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 13 Puerto Rico, andanyA foreign jurisdiction in which this or a 14 substantially similar reciprocal law is in effect. 15 (8) "STATE DISBURSEMENT UNIT" OR "SDU" MEANS THE ENTITY 16 ESTABLISHED IN SECTION 6 OF THE OFFICE OF CHILD SUPPORT ACT, 1971 17 PA 174, MCL 400.236. 18 (9)(8)"Support order" meansanyA judgment, decree, or 19 order of support in favor of an obligee whether temporary or 20 final, or subject to modification, revocation, or remission, 21 regardless of the kind of action or proceeding in which it is 22 entered. 23 Sec. 14. (1) If the court of this state when acting as a 24 responding court finds a duty of support,itTHE COURT may 25 order the obligor to furnish support and subject the property of 26 the obligor to the order. The support order shall require that 03888'99 3 1 payments be made to the office of the friend of the court OR THE 2 STATE DISBURSEMENT UNIT, AS APPROPRIATE. 3 (2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the court 4 shall order support in an amount determined by application of the 5 child support formula developed by the state friend of the court 6 bureau. The court may enter an order that deviates from the for- 7 mula if the court determines from the facts of the case that 8 application of the child support formula would be unjust or inap- 9 propriate and sets forth in writing or on the record all of the 10 following: 11 (a) The support amount determined by application of the 12 child support formula. 13 (b) How the support order deviates from the child support 14 formula. 15 (c) The value of property or other support awarded in lieu 16 of the payment of child support, if applicable. 17 (d) The reasons why application of the child support formula 18 would be unjust or inappropriate in the case. 19 (3) Subsection (2) does not prohibit the court from entering 20 a support order that is agreed to by the parties and that devi- 21 ates from the child support formula, if the requirements of sub- 22 section (2) are met. 23 Sec. 18. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), the 24 court of this state, when acting as an initiating court, shall 25 receive and disburse immediately all payments made by the obligor 26 or sent by the responding court. 03888'99 4 1 (2) If a valid prior and existing support order has been 2 issued from a court of this state other than the initiating 3 court, the initiating court shall transfer the order to furnish 4 support to the court that issued the valid prior and existing 5 court order and shall inform the court of the responding state of 6 its action. The court that issued the valid prior and existing 7 court order shall receive and disburse immediately all payments 8 made by the obligor or sent by the responding court. 9 (3) The duties described in subsections (1) and (2) may be 10 carried out through the office of the friend of the court,or11 the clerk of the court, OR THE STATE DISBURSEMENT UNIT, AS 12 APPROPRIATE. 13 Sec. 23. (1) To reimburse the county for the cost of 14handling alimony or support paymentsENFORCING SUPPORT OR PAR- 15 ENTING TIME ORDERS under this act, the court shall order the pay- 16 ment of a service fee of $2.00 per month, payable semiannually on 17 EACH January 2 and July 2.thereafter, to the friend of the18court.The service fee shall be paid by the person ordered to 19 pay thealimony orsupport.money.The fee shall be computed 20 from the beginning date of thealimony orsupport order and 21 shall continue while thealimony orsupport order is 22 operative. The service fee shall be paid 6 months in advance on 23 each due date, except for the first payment, which shall be paid 24 at the same time thealimony orsupport order is filed, and 25shall coverCOVERS the period of time from that month until the 26 next calendar due date.EveryAN order or judgment for the 27 payment of temporary or permanentalimony orsupportmoney03888'99 5 1 shall provide for the payment of the service fee.AnyUPON ITS 2 OWN MOTION, A COURT MAY AMEND AN order or judgment for the pay- 3 ment of temporary or permanentalimony orsupportmoney,4entered before the effective date of this 1983 amendatory act,5may be amended by the court, upon its own motion,to provide for 6 the payment of the service fee in the amount provided by this 7 subsection, upon proper notice to the person ordered to pay the 8alimony orsupport.money.The service fees shall be turned 9 over to the county treasurer and credited to the general fund of 10 the county. 11 (2)ATHE COURT MAY HOLD IN CONTEMPT A person who fails or 12 refuses to pay a service fee orderedpursuant toUNDER subsec- 13 tion (1).may be held in contempt of court.14 Sec. 31a. (1) If there is no Michigan support order but 15 there is a foreign support order, upon request of the obligee or 16 thedepartment of social servicesFAMILY INDEPENDENCE AGENCY if 17 support has been assigned to it, the friend of the court in the 18 county where the obligee resides shall inform the source of sup- 19 port payments to transmit the payments to the friend of the court 20 OR THE STATE DISBURSEMENT UNIT, AS APPROPRIATE. 21 (2) The friend of the court OR SDU shall receive, record, 22 disburse, and monitor payments made pursuant to the foreign sup- 23 port order. 24 (3) A copy of the foreign support order shall be filed with 25 the clerk of the court. 26 (4) The filing of a support order pursuant to this section 27 is not a registration as described in section 30. 03888'99 6 1 Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take 2 effect unless Senate Bill No. _____ or House Bill No. _____ 3 (request no. 03398'99) of the 90th Legislature is enacted into 4 law. 03888'99 Final page. GWH