Newsletter
A Child Advocacy Company
Bringing Support to Parents
Building Strength to Children
Bringing Support to Parents
Building Strength to Children
Disclaimer: BS Kids LLC legal research and information has been prepared for educational and informational purposes only. This material is not legal
advice or legal opinions on any specific matters. Transmission of the information is not intended to create and receipt does not constitute a
lawyer-client relationship between BS Kids LLC , the author of the information and any other legal publisher. Customers of BS Kids should not act upon
this information without seeking professional counsel. The opinions expressed in the material presented to BS Kids clientele is based on information
found in legal publications. BS Kids LLC, 78 Canterberry Court, Hudson, NH 03051 781-756-1214.
advice or legal opinions on any specific matters. Transmission of the information is not intended to create and receipt does not constitute a
lawyer-client relationship between BS Kids LLC , the author of the information and any other legal publisher. Customers of BS Kids should not act upon
this information without seeking professional counsel. The opinions expressed in the material presented to BS Kids clientele is based on information
found in legal publications. BS Kids LLC, 78 Canterberry Court, Hudson, NH 03051 781-756-1214.
| BS KIDS BEAT VOLUME 6 SPRING 2009 BS KIDS Spring is finally here, what a LONG winter! It seems like there’s no shortage of news these days, what with the economy, the swine flu epidemic, housing sales, mortgage refinancing, everyone is keeping busy (it’s exhausting to just keep up with it all). We’ve made some strides in 2009 with various legislative initiatives and hopefully they will continue. We hope you are all doing well and looking forward to a wonderful spring! WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH FAMILY LAW The largest events to have taken place this year is Child Support Reform. Both Massachusetts and New Hampshire have tried to revive their antiquated systems of calculations, enforcements and self support reserves. In Massachusetts, the child support guidelines which have gone into effect beginning in January, ended up in Massachusetts Federal Court The claim is that as of December 31, 2008, Massachusetts has among the highest child support guidelines in the United States and on January 1, Massachusetts increased their guidelines even further accomplishing this during one of the worst economic times our country has seen in a while. As details evolve, we will keep you posted. In New Hampshire, the UNH-Extension team has released their findings, summarizing them as follows: 1. Update the Child Support guideline tables to reflect recent estimates on costs associated with raising a child, and to produce a formula that results in a consistent balanced application of the Income Shares philosophy. 2. Increase the self-support reserve in the New Hampshire guidelines, from 100 percent to 115 percent of the federal poverty line. The self-support reserve is currently set at the federal poverty threshold for a single person. In calculating Guidelines, the Payor's income that remains after paying child support, is compared to the self-support reserve to insure that h/she retains sufficient income to meet basic needs. 3. Adopt the shared parenting adjustment currently used by Vermont to account for the additional fixed costs associated with raising a child in two homes. Once the Child Support has been calculated, an adjustment is made to account for the amount of time (calculated in overnight increments) the child spends with the Payor. 4. Change the guidelines so that the costs of medical insurance and child care are deducted from both parent's gross income on the Guidelines Worksheet, regardless of whether it is the Payor or Payee who directly pays the cost. 5. Change the definition of the reasonable cost health insurance to 5 percent of gross income, as suggested in the new federal guidelines, rather than the current 4 percent. 6. Remove the cap for work related child-care costs and revise the definition of the term "work-related" to include necessary educational and/or training associated with employment To see the full report, go to: http://www.dhhs.state.nh. us/NR/rdonlyres/eos7hdegwywckqrjvvv57yga6yf2pey7j3ezyeem3pi775zn4m7whm3nh7bm67yjunhs3pqzjikcvoq5lt22mvwllmf/dcss_guideline sreport.pdf LEGISLATIVE UPDATES It’s been a busy few months at the State House. Many bills have been introduced, some have survived, while others have been ITL’d (inexpedient to legislate). Mostly notably, HB 207: Relative to the Modification of Parental Rights and Responsibilities. This bill would have allowed parties who were divorced prior to October 2005, to fill out a parenting plan, as well as include one of the criteria for modification the ages of the children. The Child and Family Law Committee felt that it would create more acrimony and that the five factors already law to warrant a modification were sufficient enough. HB 209: Relative to the Enforcement of Parenting Plans was also ITL’d because the committee felt that the restrictions the bill would put on the Family Courts was too restrictive and would never work due to the already overburdened court systems. Several bills still remain alive, most importantly, HB 139: Relative to the determination of parental rights and responsibilities. This bill was retained in the Child and Family law committee and requires the court to consider comparable parenting (i.e. shared parenting) as part of the determination of parental rights and responsibilities. This bill will probably have several more public sessions over the summer. As information becomes available, we will update you. Two other bills have yet to pass either the Senate or House respectfully. HB 79: Relative to the Child Support Guideline Worksheet is still in the Senate Judiciary Committee, pending executive session. This bill will require that all child support guideline calculations worksheets be available to the parties after the Judge or Marital Master calculates the child support order. And SB 88: Relative to recommendations of Marital Masters is still in the House Judiciary Committee pending executive session. This is the same bill as SB 112 and SB 401, all of which would remove the requirement that recommendations of Marital Masters be signed by a Judge. Although the NH Supreme Court has already stated that this violates the New Hampshire Constitution, the sponsors of the bill believe that the two reasons for allowing Marital Masters to sign off on orders are *exceptions* to the NH Supreme Court ruling. As more information is released from both committees, we will update you! NEWS Some interesting articles you may wish to read are below. To read the entire article, go to www.bskids.net and click on News: Giving parents equal parenting time by law Washington State is now an official shared parenting state for families impacted by parental separation, writes guest columnist Bill Harrington. Time for the Washington Legislature to enact a law that mandates standard parenting plans that envision significant time for each parent. For the third time in 22 years, Washington State is leading the nation in family law reform. This time, the report is called the Residential Time Summary Report prepared by the state Office of the Administrator for the Courts. This is a first-in-the-nation compilation of post-divorce breakdown of parenting time for children, mothers and fathers. The numbers are collected case-by-case and county-by-county……… Amid layoffs, child support pacts fraying A Massachusetts family court system that is strained during the best of times and taxed with implementing new child-support guidelines faces another challenge: divorced parents seeking relief from - or enforcement of - support arrangements as their financial and employment situations deteriorate. Although the probate court system, which has jurisdiction over child-support cases, does not keep statistics on modification petitions, judges and lawyers within the system say such filings have increased noticeably in recent months as the ranks of the unemployed and underemployed have swollen. Layoffs, cutbacks, and battered investment portfolios have affected custodial and noncustodial parents on all ends of the socioeconomic spectrum, along with tens of thousands of Massachusetts children……. GET INVOLVED There are many ways to get involved, below is a small sample of opportunities. With today’s economic crisis affecting more and more individuals, getting involved is now more important than ever. You don’t need to join a formal group, per se, but help your neighbors, help your friends and watch in your community for events to help. Make a difference in the lives of those who are going through some tough times right now. Below, find three different Advocacy centers that are always looking for individuals to get involved. Also, the Concord Monitor is seeking those who have something to say, to write a letter to the editor. Check out their website for more information on that opportunity. For more information, please go to; www.bskids.net and click on *Get Involved*. Child Advocacy Center Child Care Works National Children's Advocacy Center E-MAIL ALERTS If you are interested in getting alerts from BS KIDS regarding news, legislative activity or getting involved opportunities, please sign up on our website at www.bskids.net COMMENTS/SUGGESTIONS BS KIDS is looking to include areas of interest to our readers. If there is a topic or area of concern that you would like to learn more about, please let us know. You can e-mail us at info@bskids.net or call 781-756-1214. If you wish to unsubscribe to these newsletter, please just hit reply. Your name will automatically be removed from future mailings. Disclaimer: BS Kids LLC legal research and information has been prepared for educational and informational purposes only. This material is not legal advice or legal opinions on any specific matters. Transmission of the information is not intended to create and receipt does not constitute a lawyer-client relationship between BS Kids LLC, the author of the information and any other legal publisher. Customers of BS Kids should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. The opinions expressed in the material presented to BS Kids clientele is based on information found in legal publications. BS Kids LLC, 78 Canterberry Court, Hudson, NH 03051 781-756-1214. |
Past Newsletters
Winter 2008
Winter 2008
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