Family Law Newsletter
| Publication year | 1980 |
| Pages | 534 |
| Citation | Vol. 9 No. 3 Pg. 534 |
1980, March, Pg. 534. Family Law Newsletter
The legislature is presently meeting in their "short" session. Any bill introduced must be on the Governor's call list. Presently, there are five pending bills affecting Family Law, but, so far, only three of them are on the call.
A major piece of legislation, which made the call, is the "Administrative Procedure for the Enforcement of Child Support Act." This bill would create an additional remedy in Colorado's present laws and would not substitute for any other remedy. The bill is patterned after similar statutes enacted in several other states. Those states report dramatic results in improved child support enforcement because of their statutes.
The administrative procedure bill provides that in addition to court proceedings, for establishment of support orders, administrative proceedings may be utilized. An administrative process provides for notice and hearings with judicial review, if requested. As a part of the administrative process, a support schedule is to be used. Wage withholding may be established as part of the administrative procedure, while wage assignments are available as a judicial remedy.
A related bill (House Bill 1090), which also made the call, provides for allowing District Court clerks to request wage assignments to assist them in their statutory duty to enforce child support arrearages. In reality, this duty is now performed by the child support enforcement units in most counties. However, this bill would clarify an additional remedy in the process of collecting arrears in a dissolution action.
The third bill on the Governor's call is a bill to create visitation rights for grandparents in custody actions. The bill is very similar to an Iowa statute, which provides:
The Grandparents of a child may petition the district court for grandchild visitation rights when:
1. The parents of the child are divorced, or
2. A petition for dissolution of marriage had been filed by one of the parents of the child, or
3. The parent of the child, who is the child of the grandparents, had died, or
4. The child has been placed in a foster home.
A petition for grandchild visitation rights shall be granted only upon a finding that the visitation is in the best interests of the child.
The...
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