HBA-LJP S.B. 1430 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 1430 By: West, Royce Juvenile Justice & Family Issues 4/22/2001 Engrossed BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, when ordering retroactive child support, a court is required to consider the net resources of the obligor during the relevant time period and whether an order will impose an undue hardship on the obligor or the obligor's family. If a noncustodial parent is not in debt from retroactive child support, then the noncustodial parent is more likely to pay the child support obligation. According to the federal Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services in the 2000 report "The Establishment of Child Support Orders for Low Income Non-custodial Parents," when a court does not include in the child support order a retroactive arrearage, 14 percent of obligors nationwide do not pay child support, but when a court orders a noncustodial parent to pay more than 12 months of retroactive child support, nonpayment rises to 34 percent nationwide. Senate Bill 1430 presumes that a court order for retroactive child support in the amount due for four years preceding the order is reasonable and in the best interest of the child and provides for the abeyance of the enforcement or reduction of any arrearages relating to child support. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS Senate Bill 1430 amends the Family Code to provide that it is presumed that a court order that limits the amount of retroactive child support to an amount that does not exceed the total amount of support that would have been due for the four years preceding the date the petition seeking support was filed is reasonable and in the best interest of the child. The bill provides that this presumption of an order limiting the amount of retroactive child support may be rebutted by evidence that the obligor knew or should have known that the obligor was the father of the child for whom support is sought and that the obligor sought to avoid the establishment of a support obligation to the child. The bill provides that a limited retroactive child support order does not constitute a variance from provisions related to guidelines for findings in a child support order. The bill authorizes the court, with the agreement of the office of the attorney general, to hold in abeyance the enforcement of any arrearages, including interest, assigned to the attorney general if, for the period of the court's order of abeyance of enforcement the obligor: _timely and fully pays the obligor's current child support under a court or administrative order; and _is involved in the life of the child for whom support is ordered through the exercise of the obligor's right of possession of or access to the child. If the court orders the abeyance, then the bill authorizes the court to require the obligor to obtain counseling on parenting skills, work skills, job placement, financial planning, conflict resolution, substance abuse, or other matters causing the obligor to fail to obey the child support order. The bill requires the court to terminate the abeyance if the court finds in a subsequent hearing that the obligor has not met the court ordered conditions of the abeyance. On the expiration of the child support order, the bill authorizes the court to reduce the amount of the arrearages assigned to the attorney general if the court finds that the obligor has complied with the conditions set by the court. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.