Alabama Child Support Guideline Changes Stall
For years, many of us involved in divorce and family law cases have recognized that the Alabama Child Support Guidelines are due to be updated. Recently, the Advisory Committe on Child Support Guidelines and enforcement made recommendations to the Alabama Supreme Court to adopt certain changes that would update the guidelines.
I learned this morning that the Alabama Supreme Court has decided to reject the recommended changes. Apparently, one of the Justices of the Supreme Court will make a written statement to the Committee advising them of the Court's concerns. I will be very interested to see their comments.
In the meantime, we will have to continue to use the guidelines that are currently in place.
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Age of majority still 19.
I have had many people requesting updates regarding the bill that was proposed in the legislature that would have changed the age of majority from 19 to 18.
To date, the bill has not passed. The age of majority remains 19 at this time. If that changes, I will publish it to the blog immediately.
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Stopping child support before the age of 19
As many of the readers of this blog know, the age of majority in Alabama is 19. That means that child support is terminated at that time (there is provision for post minority support for assistance with college that may come up, but that is a separate issue - you can read a post I've made about that here).
A reader of this blog recently asked me a very good question: his child was only 18 (so not yet at the age of majority) but the child had joined the military. Does the obligation to pay child support stop under those circumstances?
As I explained in an e-mail to that reader the child support does not automatically stop. However, there is a statute in Alabama that would allow that parent to file a petition with the court and request that the child be declared emancipated, and if granted, the child support would then be terminated.
I explained to the reader that in that situation, my experience with our local judges is that they would grant his request, declare the child emancipated and terminate the child support.
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How to Collect Child Support
Chicago lawyer Alan Pearlman has written an excellent article on the various methods to collect child support. The article is worth a look from anyone considering what alternatives are available to them to collect child support from a non-paying parent. The link to the article is here.
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Support for college expenses
A question was recently posted which asked about child support relating college expenses. In Alabama, child support generally stops when the child reaches the age of 19. However, a court does have the authority to enter an award for post minority support to assist with college expenses under certain circumstances. You will here this called a Bayliss Motion after the case, Ex Parte Bayliss, which first gave the courts in Alabama this authority. There are some important things to remember about these cases...
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Don't inlcude employer paid health insurance in child support calculation
A recent Alabama Court of Civil Appeals opinion held that where the custodial parent did not pay the health insurance premium herself, but rather her employer paid it entirely, the trial court should not have included the premium in calculating child support.
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Computing Alabama Child Support Guidelines
Here is a free interactive link to an online child support calculator. You can plug in your information and it will calculate the amount of child support that should be paid under these presumptively correct guidelines. In order to perform the calculation the primary information needed is each party's current monthly gross income (including bonuses and overtime), the cost of any work related childcare, and the cost of health insurance premiums for the child(ren).
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Summer Childcare Expenses
Here is a link to an article by Laura Morgan that addresses the issue of how expenses for summer camp are treated in child support calculations by various states. Laura is a prolific author and researcher on divorce and family law issues. Her audience is generally lawyers and the cases she cites are not specific to Alabama law, but I offer it for those who may find it of interest.
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