Relating to family law; reforming and recodifying the law relating to marriage dissolution, child custody and support, spousal maintenance and property division

ARTICLE 1 - MARRIAGE DISSOLUTION, LEGAL SEPARATION AND ANNULMENT

Imposing a marital dissolution fee to be collected by district court administrators; providing for enforcement of maintenance payment requirements; making certain technical and clarifying corrections; removing provisions relating to the payment or modification of child support and specifying certain renumbering and cross reference correction instructions to the revisor of statutes for recodification purposes; repealing certain provisions relating to recovery of certain child support enforcement costs, security, sequestration and contempt, child support controlling order determination, the awarding of temporary maintenance and support, the continuation of child support after death of the obligor, automatic termination of support upon emancipation and a certain child support modification form and notice requirements

ARTICLE 2 - CUSTODY, PARENTING TIME AND VISITATION

Providing for temporary orders for custody and parenting time; specifying certain custody or parenting time notice requirements; providing for the awarding of attorney fees, costs and disbursements; providing for child custody orders, requiring court consideration of best interests of the child in determining custody, prohibiting parent preference, specifying certain factors to be considered in determining best interests; providing for joint custody, specifying certain factors and presumptions; specifying the access rights of parents; clarifying certain custody provisions under marriage dissolution proceedings; specifying certain renumbering and cross reference correction instructions to the revisor of statutes for recodification purposes

ARTICLE 3 - CHILD SUPPORT

"Minnesota Child Support Act"; defining certain terms; specifying certain requirements and preferences for child support orders, authorizing departure from certain presumptions under certain conditions; providing for temporary child support orders; providing for determination of the controlling order in cases of the existence of more than one order; providing for court award of attorney fees, costs and disbursements; providing for the exchange of certain information between the parties, specifying certain documentation requirements; providing for the protection of certain personal information; defining income for child support determination purposes, specifying certain exclusions; providing for the determination of imputed income under certain conditions; providing for presumptive child support orders; providing a basic support computation schedule, parenting time adjustment; providing for the determination of child care and medical support, requiring ex-spousal medical coverage under certain conditions, imposing certain responsibilities on employers, unions and obligors, providing a self support adjustment; requiring the commissioner of human services to create and publish a worksheet to assist in calculating child support, requiring annual adjustments; specifying certain factors to be considered by the court in determining whether or not to deviate from the presumptive guidelines; requiring written findings; requiring department of human services periodic guidelines review; authorizing the parties to agree to establish a trust fund for post-secondary education costs; specifying certain requirements for court modification of child support orders; authorizing the court to rescind child support orders or judgments and order a new trial or grant other relief under certain conditions; providing for changes in custody or parenting time and for termination of child support under certain conditions; requiring and providing for cost of living adjustments to child support orders; providing for the assignment of child support payments to public authorities responsible for collection in public assistance cases, authorizing and providing for public authority child support collections in other cases, granting public authorities certain administrative authority relating to the establishment of paternity and to the establishment, modification or enforcement of child support orders, providing for the imposition of service fees and for preparation and filing of case information sheets; providing for the sharing of certain information; requiring the commissioner of human services to create and maintain a central collections unit to receive, process and disburse child support payments and to maintain payment records, providing for mandatory payments to the unit; regulating the withholding of income for child support orders compliance or arrearages payment purposes, providing for certain lump sum payments, authorizing contempt actions against employers for failure to comply with withholding requirements; providing for the establishment of child support deposit or escrow accounts in financial institutions; providing for the appointment of trustees under certain conditions; providing for the treatment of overpayments; requiring and providing for the independence of child support and parenting time; providing for arrearage payment agreements; providing for certain obligor employment or community service orders under certain conditions; providing for contempt proceedings and drivers, occupational or recreational license suspension and motor vehicle liens for nonpayment of support; providing for the publication of names of delinquent child support obligors; specifying certain case reviewer availability requirements; providing for child support obligee entitlement to recovery of reasonable attorney fees and other collection costs incurred to enforce child support judgments; providing for the form of certain required notices; requiring the commissioner of human services to request the university of Minnesota or another university in the Minnesota state colleges and universities (MnSCU) system to conduct an analysis of the child support guidelines; appropriating money to the commissioner of human services and the supreme court administrator to fund implementation, requiring the commissioner to devise an equitable system to reimburse counties for implementation costs, setting an appropriation base for fiscal year 2007 for grants to counties; specifying certain cross reference correction instructions to the revisor of statutes; repealing certain existing provisions providing for child and medical support
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