TITLE 15
Domestic Relations
CHAPTER 15-5
Divorce and Separation
SECTION 15-5-16.2
§ 15-5-16.2 Child support.
(a) In a proceeding for divorce, divorce from bed and board, a miscellaneous
petition without the filing of divorce proceedings, or child support, the court
shall order either or both parents owing a duty of support to a child to pay an
amount based upon a formula and guidelines adopted by an administrative order
of the family court. If, after calculating support based upon court established
formula and guidelines, the court, in its discretion, finds the order would be
inequitable to the child or either parent, the court shall make findings of
fact and shall order either or both parents owing a duty of support to pay an
amount reasonable or necessary for the child's support after considering all
relevant factors including, but not limited to:
(1) The financial resources of the child;
(2) The financial resources of the custodial parent;
(3) The standard of living the child would have enjoyed had
the marriage not been dissolved;
(4) The physical and emotional condition of the child and his
or her educational needs; and
(5) The financial resources and needs of the non-custodial
parent.
(b) The court may, if in its discretion it deems it necessary
or advisable, order child support and education costs for children attending
high school at the time of their eighteenth (18th) birthday and for ninety (90)
days after graduation, but in no case beyond their nineteenth (19th) birthday.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the court, in its discretion,
may order child support, in the case of a child with a severe physical or
mental impairment still living with or under the care of a parent, beyond the
child's emancipation as defined above. The court shall consider the following
factors when making its determination: (1) the nature and extent of the
disability; (2) the cost of the extraordinary medical expenses; (3) the ability
of the child to earn income; (4) the financial resources of the child; (5) the
financial resources of the parents; (6) the inability of the primary caregiver
of the child to sustain gainful employment on a full-time basis due to the care
necessitated by the child. The onset of the disability must have occurred prior
to the emancipation event. If a child support order for a child with a severe
physical or mental impairment has been terminated, suspended or expired, the
court shall consider the factors in this paragraph and has the discretion to
order child support for this child prospectively based upon established child
support guidelines. The court may periodically review the case to determine if
circumstances warrant the continuation of child support.
(c)(1) The court may, if in its discretion it deems it
necessary or advisable, appoint an attorney or a guardian ad litem to represent
the interest of a minor or dependent child with respect to his or her support,
custody, and visitation.
(i) In determining whether an appointment should be made, the
court shall consider the extent to which a guardian ad litem may assist in
providing information concerning the best interest of the child; the age of the
child; the wishes of the parents as well as their financial resources; the
nature of the proceeding including the level of contentiousness, allegations of
child abuse or domestic violence and the risk of harm to the child if a
guardian is not appointed; or conflicts of interest between the child and
parents or siblings;
(ii) The guardian ad litem shall be appointed from a list of
persons properly credentialed pursuant to administrative orders of the chief
judge of the family court;
(iii) The court shall enter an order of appointment stating
the specific assignment the optional and mandatory duties of the guardian ad
litem, the guardian's access to the child and confidential information
regarding the child, and a provision for payment of the costs and fees of the
guardian ad litem;
(iv) Communications made to a guardian, including those made
by a child, are not privileged and may or may not be disclosed to the parties,
the court or to professionals providing services to the child or the family;
(v) The guardian ad litem shall meet with the child, conduct
an investigation and upon request of the court shall prepare an oral or written
report that contains the procedural background of the case, identification of
all persons interviewed and other sources of information, a statement of the
child's emotional, medical, educational and social service needs, the child's
wishes and other factors relevant to the court's determination regarding the
best interests of the child;
(vi) Any written report of the guardian ad litem shall be
marked as a full exhibit in the proceedings, subject to cross-examination;
(vii) If the guardian ad litem requests confidential health
care information and consent is withheld, he or she shall apply to the court
for leave to obtain such information after compliance with § 5-37.3-6.1;
(viii) The guardian ad litem shall be given notice of and
should appear at all proceedings in family court that affect the interests of
the child;
(ix) A person serving as a guardian ad litem under this
section acts as the court's agent and is entitled to quasi-judicial immunity
for acts performed within the scope of the duties of the guardian ad litem;
(x) The chief judge of the family court shall issue, through
administrative orders, rules governing the appointment and performance of
guardians ad litem in domestic proceedings.
(2) After a decree for support has been entered, the court
may from time to time upon the petition of either party review and alter its
decree relative to the amount of support and the payment of it, and may make
any decree relative to it which it might have made in the original suit. The
decree may be made retroactive in the court's discretion only to the date that
notice of a petition to modify was given to the adverse party if the court
finds that a substantial change in circumstances has occurred; provided, that
the court shall set forth in its decision the specific findings of fact which
show a substantial change in circumstances and upon which findings of facts the
court has decided to make the decree retroactive. The child support order shall
continue in full force and effect, by wage withholding, after the youngest
child is emancipated, and shall be applied towards any arrearage due and owing,
as indicated on the child support computer system. Upon satisfaction of the
arrears due and owing the child support order shall be automatically suspended
and wage withholding terminated without the necessity of returning to family
court.
(d)(1) In a proceeding to enforce a child support order, or a
spousal support order for a custodial parent having custody of a minor child,
the court or its magistrate may assign to the obligee such tangible personal
property of the obligor that will be sufficient to satisfy the child or spousal
support arrearage owed. The court or its magistrate, after a hearing, shall
establish the amount of the child or spousal support arrearage, and the nature
and value of the tangible personal property. To effect the assignment, the
court or its magistrate may order the obligor to execute and deliver the
documents of title which may be necessary to complete the transfer of title to
the property, and may order the obligor to deliver possession of the property
to the obligee. Whenever the obligor fails to comply with the order assigning
the property, the order of assignment shall be regarded as a judgment vesting
title to the property in the obligor as fully and completely as if the obligor
had executed and delivered the documents of title.
(2) Any order for child support issued by the family court
shall contain a provision requiring either or both parents owing a duty of
support to a child to obtain health insurance coverage for the child when
coverage is available to the parent or parents through their employment without
cost or at a reasonable cost. "Reasonable cost" shall be defined in accordance
with guidelines adopted by administrative order of the family court in
conjunction with the child support guidelines.
(3) Any existing child support orders may be modified in
accordance with this subsection unless the court makes specific written
findings of fact that take into consideration the best interests of the child
and conclude that a child support order or medical order would be unjust or
inappropriate in a particular case.
(4) In addition, the national medical support notice shall be
issued with respect to all orders issued, enforced, or modified on or after
October 1, 2002, in accordance with chapter 29 of title 15. The notice shall
inform the employer of provisions in the child support order, for health care
coverage for the child, and contain instructions on how to implement this
coverage. In lieu of the court ordering the non-custodial parent to obtain or
maintain health care coverage for the child, the court may order the
non-custodial parent to contribute a weekly cash amount towards the medical
premium for health care coverage paid by the state of Rhode Island and/or the
custodial parent. The method to determine a reasonable weekly amount shall be
addressed in the family court administrative order pertaining to the child
support guidelines.
(e) In a proceeding to establish support, the court in its
discretion may, after opportunity for a hearing, issue a temporary order for
child support payable into the registry of the court and to be held pending
entry of judgment. In the event of a final adjudication requiring no payment or
payments in an amount less than those payments which have been made pursuant to
a temporary order under this section, the defendant shall be entitled to a
refund of all or a portion of the amounts paid.
(f) In any proceeding to establish support, or in any case in
which an obligor owes past due support, for a child or children receiving
public assistance pursuant to chapter 5.1 of title 40, the court or its
magistrate, upon a finding that an able bodied absent parent obligor is
unemployed, underemployed or lacks sufficient income or resources from which to
make payment of support equal to the public assistance payment for the child or
children, or is unable to pay the arrearages in accordance with a payment plan,
may order that parent to perform unpaid community service for at least twenty
(20) hours per week through community service placements arranged and
supervised by the department of human services or to participate in any work
activities that the court deems appropriate. The performance of community
service shall not be a basis for retroactive suspension of arrears due and
owing.
(g)(1) In any proceeding to establish support for a minor
child whose adjudicated parent is a minor (minor-parent), the court or its
magistrate may order a grandparent of the minor child to reimburse the
department of human services in an amount not to exceed the total amount of
cash assistance benefits paid to or for the minor child pursuant to chapter 5.1
of title 40 until the minor-parent reaches the age of eighteen (18), less any
payment made to the department by the minor parent.
(2) The obligation of reimbursement for the minor child shall
be the joint and several responsibility of the minor parent and the
grandparent(s) until the minor parent reaches the age of eighteen (18);
provided, that each joint obligor shall have a right of contribution against
each joint obligor, which right shall be enforceable by an action in the family
court.
(h)(1) All support orders established or modified in the
state on or after October 1, 1998, shall be recorded with the Rhode Island
family court department of human services child support computer enforcement
system, which maintains the official registry of support orders entered in
accordance with applicable administrative orders issued by the Rhode Island
family court. The support order shall be recorded whether or not services are
being provided under the IV-D state plan.
(2) The obligee to a paternity or child support proceeding
shall be required to file with the family court, upon the entry of the order,
the appropriate form as provided by family court which includes the full name
of the parties, residential and mailing address, telephone number, drivers
license number, social security number and the name, address and telephone
number of the employer. The form shall also include the full order amount and
date and amount of arrearages if any, the name of the child(ren), their date of
birth, address and social security number and any other information as required
by administrative order.
(3) After this, each party is required to file an amended
form whenever any of the information contained on the original form has been
changed in any way, within ten (10) days of the change. The information shall
be entered in the child support enforcement computer system within five (5)
business days of receipt of the amended form.
(i) In any subsequent child support enforcement action
between the parties, upon sufficient showing that diligent effort has been made
to ascertain the location of such a party, the court may deem state due process
requirements for notice and service of process to be met with respect to the
party, upon service by first class mail or, where appropriate, by service as
specified in the Rhode Island rules of procedure for domestic relations for the
Family Court of Rhode Island, of written notice to the most recent residential
or employer address of record.
[See § 12-1-15 of the General Laws.]
History of Section.
(P.L. 1979, ch. 279, § 2; P.L. 1981, ch. 320, § 1; P.L. 1984, ch.
167, § 1; P.L. 1984, ch. 281, § 2; P.L. 1985, ch. 202, § 1; P.L.
1987, ch. 374, § 2; P.L. 1995, ch. 370, art. 29, § 4; P.L. 1995, ch.
374, § 4; P.L. 1996, ch. 129, § 2; P.L. 1996, ch. 131, § 2; P.L.
1996, ch. 132, § 2; P.L. 1996, ch. 133, § 2; P.L. 1997, ch. 170,
§ 1; P.L. 1998, ch. 370, § 1; P.L. 1998, ch. 390, § 1; P.L.
1998, ch. 417, § 1; P.L. 1998, ch. 442, § 8; P.L. 2001, ch. 155,
§ 1; P.L. 2002, ch. 314, § 1; P.L. 2003, ch. 278, § 1; P.L.
2003, ch. 348, § 1; P.L. 2008, ch. 62, § 1; P.L. 2008, ch. 66, §
1; P.L. 2009, ch. 95, § 1; P.L. 2009, ch. 102, § 1; P.L. 2011, ch.
208, § 1; P.L. 2011, ch. 233, § 1.)
