HB-4792, As Passed House, July 2, 2003

SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL NO. 4792

(As amended July 2, 2003)                               

                                                                             A bill to amend 1982 PA 295, entitled                                             

"Support and parenting time enforcement act,"                               

(MCL 552.601 to 552.650) by adding section 5e.                              

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

1   Sec. 5e.  (1) A payer who has an arrearage under a support                  

2   order may file a motion with the circuit court for a payment plan           

3   to pay arrearages and to discharge or abate arrearages.  The                

4   court shall approve the payment plan after notice and a hearing             

5   if it finds that the plan is in the best interest of the parties            

6   and children and that either of the following applies:                      

7   (a) The arrearage is owed to an individual payee and [both of the following:

8                                                                                (i) The] payee has consented to entry of the order under circumstances              

9   that satisfy the court that the payee is not acting under fear,             

10  coercion, or duress.                                                        

[(ii) The payer establishes that the arrearage did not arise from conduct by the payer engaged in exclusively for the purpose of avoiding a support obligation.]

11      (b) The arrearage is owed to this state or a political                      

1   subdivision of this state, and the payer establishes the                    

2   following:                                                                  

3                                                                                (i) The arrearage did not arise from conduct by the payer                           

4   engaged in exclusively for the purpose of avoiding a support                

5   obligation.                                                                 

6       (ii) The payer has no present ability, and will not have an                  

7   ability in the foreseeable future, to pay the arrearage absent a            

8   payment plan.                                                               

9       (iii) The payment plan will pay a reasonable portion of the                  

10  arrearage over a reasonable period of time in accordance with the           

11  payer's current ability to pay.                                             

12      (iv) The office of child support has received notice of the                  

13  payer's intent to petition the court and within 56 days executed            

14  a waiver consenting to the court considering the merits of the              

15  proposed payment plan.  By executing the waiver, the office of              

16  child support consents to a compromise of arrearages that the               

17  court orders after considering the payer's motion.  If the office           

18  of child support does not consent to a compromise of arrearages,            

19  the office must notify the payer within 56 days.                            

20      (2) If, after notice and hearing, the court finds that the                  

21  payer has completed the payment plan, the court shall enter an              

22  order discharging the remaining arrearage, if any.  If the court            

23  finds that the payer has substantially completed the payment                

24  plan, the court may enter an order granting relief appropriate to           

25  the circumstances of the case.                                              

26  (3) A payment plan may provide for discharge of any portion                 

27  of an arrearage that meets the requirements under subsection (2),           

House Bill No. 4792 (H-2) as amended July 2, 2003

1   even if other portions of the arrearage do not meet those                   

2   requirements.                                                               

3       (4) A payment plan under subsection (1) shall provide that                  

4   arrearages subject to the payment plan may be reinstated upon               

5   motion and hearing for good cause shown at any time during the              

6   pendency of the payment plan.  Good cause includes, but is not              

7   limited to, the payer receiving property such as lottery                    

8   proceeds, other winnings, or an inheritance sufficient to pay the           

9   amount discharged.                                                          

10      (5) A court may require conditions in the payment plan in                   

11  addition to the payment of support that the court determines are            

12  in the best interests of a child, including, but not limited to,            

13  any of the following:                                                       

14      (a) A payer's a participation in a parenting program.                       

15      (b) Drug and alcohol counseling.                                            

16      (c) Anger management classes or participation in a batterer                 

17  intervention program that meets the standards recommended by the            

18  governor's task force on batterer intervention standards.                   

19      (d) Participation in a work program.                                        

20      (e) Counseling.                                                             

21      (f) Continuing compliance with a current support order.                     

22      (6) This section does not modify the right of a party to                    

23  receive other child support credits to which the payer is                   

24  entitled nor prevent the court from correcting a support order              

25  under other applicable law or court rule.                                   

26      (7) The department shall designate an office to receive                     

27  service of a motion under this section. [Upon the department's request, the friend of the court that administers and enforces the support order shall provide additional case information, not available via the automated system, to assist the department in considering the waiver and payment plan request.]