Legislative Session number- 84

Bill Name: SF1900

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


Temporarily imposing a marital dissolution fee on petitioners and respondents
in marriage dissolution or legal separation cases to be collected by district
court administrators for forwarding to the commissioner of finance; providing
for review of dissolution or legal separation cases involving child custody,
parenting time or support rights and obligations; providing for the enforcement
of maintenance obligations; requiring court orders or judgments and decrees
providing for child support, spousal maintenance, custody or parenting time to
include certain notices; making certain technical corrections and clarifying
certain provisions; clarifying or modifying certain definitions; removing
certain references to child support orders and certain provisions relating to
modification of the orders; 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 for maintenance or support payments, 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 provisions regulating marriage dissolution;
specifying certain renumbering and cross reference correction instructions to
the revisor of statutes for recodification purposes; repealing certain
recodified provisions including provisions relating to the best interests of the
child, false allegations of child abuse, departure from the guidelines,
grandparent visitation and certain affidavit requirements

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; providing for the determination of child care and
medical support, requiring ex-spousal medical coverage under certain conditions,
imposing certain responsibilities on employers and obligors, providing a self
support adjustment and for enforcement; 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, specifying the
role of public authorities and providing for the imposition of service fees and
for preparation and filing of case information sheets; specifying the authority
of public authorities relating to establishing paternity or to establishing,
modifying or enforcing support orders; 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; appropriating money to the commissioner of human
services to implement the provisions and to reimburse counties for
implementation costs; specifying certain cross reference correction instructions
to the revisor of statutes; repealing certain existing provisions providing for
child and medical support

ARTICLE 4 - MISCELLANEOUS

Modifying the procedure
for custodial parents moving of children to another state in marriage
dissolution cases, requiring the court to apply a best interests standard in
considering move requests and specifying certain factors to be considered in
best interests determination; burden of proof to be on the requesting parent,
exception in cases of domestic abuse; modifying the distribution of defined
benefit pension plan assets or benefits for marital property division purposes
in marriage dissolution proceedings; providing for modification of child support
obligations of persons called into active military service under certain
conditions, defining active military service
(mk)