Domestic Relations Legislative Update
| Publication year | 1985 |
| Pages | 1628 |
| Citation | Vol. 14 No. 9 Pg. 1628 |
1985, September, Pg. 1628. Domestic Relations Legislative Update
The 1985 legislative session has been important for practitioners in the domestic relations area. Most notably, child support enforcement has been substantially changed. In addition, domestic violence was addressed, reform in the military pension law was narrowly defeated and new legislation was passed affecting practitioners who do adoptions. The new adoption legislation will be reviewed in a subsequent column. This article reviews the other areas of change.
Recent federal legislation mandates that each state must devise new procedures to strengthen the enforcement of child support obligations.(fn1) The federal mandate is a series of child support enforcement procedures which states must basically have in place by October 1, 1985. In response to this federal mandate, Colorado has overhauled its statutes regarding the enforcement of child support.
Senate Bill 170 was signed by the Governor on May 31, 1985, and amends several statutes which deal with support enforcement issues. The bill is one of the most significant pieces of legislation to be passed in recent years in the area of domestic relations.
A major thrust of the bill is to establish a central statewide payment registry. It transfers the functions relating to the collection of child support and maintenance from the district courts to the child support enforcement agency established pursuant to CRS Article 13, Title 26.(fn2) The transfer must be completed by January 1, 1989.(fn3)
The transfer involves several phases. Pursuant to CRS § 13-5-139, every child support or maintenance order after January 1, 1986, must be transferred to the child support agency by the clerks of each district court. The information is to be transferred no later than twenty days after the order is entered. Further, every order issued after January 1, 1989, will be required to direct that payments be sent or delivered to the address specified by the child support enforcement agency. Also, the order must direct the obligor and obligee to keep the child support enforcement agency informed of their current addresses at all times.
Under the new bill, the agency responsible for child support enforcement must establish a statewide interest-bearing registry to collect all payments made pursuant to orders requiring child support, maintenance or payment of arrearages.(fn4) The only exception to payment through the registry will be in cases where both parties have agreed by stipulation that the payment would be made directly. The stipulation must be approved by court order and must be recorded in the registry.(fn5) Prior to January 1, 1989, the child support enforcement agency is required to notify all persons subject to a support order where to send their payments.(fn6)
Pursuant to CRS § 26-13-115, all interest earned on the support deposits is to be used to offset the administrative costs incurred in collecting and disbursing the payments. Any remaining funds are to be used to offset the administrative costs incurred in implementing the child support enforcement program.
As an inducement to voluntary compliance with support orders, the new law requires that support-debt information be made available to consumer reporting agencies. After October 1, 1985, upon request, the child support enforcement agency must provide information...
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