Domestic Relations Passed HB517 Spousal support; rehabilitative alimony. Grants authority to the courts to award spousal support to be paid in periodic payments for a specified duration and to reserve to a party the right to receive support in the future. A reservation of the right to support is presumed under the bill to continue for a period of time equal to half the duration of the marriage (the time between the date of the marriage and the date of separation). The factors to be considered by the court in making any award or modifying an award of support are modified and expanded to include, for example, consideration of each party's contribution to the education of the other, access to educational and job training opportunities, and the effects of decisions made during the marriage on a party's prospective earning capacity. The factors relied on by the court must be stated in the award and a written opinion is required in contested cases in the circuit courts. Awards made for a defined duration may be modified only during the term of the award if the court finds that (i) a material change of circumstances has occurred which could not reasonably have been anticipated at the time the award was entered or (ii) an anticipated event upon which the award was based has not occurred through no fault of the party seeking modification. The bill applies only to initial actions filed on or after July 1, 1998, or to actions to modify an award entered in a case filed initially on or after that date. Patron - Cranwell HB717 Support orders; tax consequences. Authorizes the court to order a party to execute the necessary forms and waivers to grant to the other party the right to take the income tax dependency exemption for any child or children for any tax year or years for federal and state income tax purposes. Patron - Rhodes HB1054 Child support. Clarifies that child support orders pending suits for divorce, custody or visitation are calculated in accordance with the statutory guidelines (§ 20-108.2). Patron - Barlow HB1256 Child support. Specifies that when a parent is receiving disability benefits and such benefits are included in that parent's gross income for purposes of computing his or her child support obligation using the statutory guidelines, that parent's gross income also includes any amounts which the child is receiving as a derivative disability benefit but that the parent's on-going support obligation may be reduced (i.e., a credit may be taken) by the amount of those derivative benefits. If the amount of the derivative benefits exceeds that amount of the parent's child support obligation, the excess may be used as a credit against accrued arrearages. Patron - Barlow HB1372 Child support enforcement; paternity. Clarifies provisions governing voluntary acknowledgments of paternity which were added last year. The bill provides that either party has the right to rescind the acknowledgment within 60 days from the date it was signed unless an administrative or judicial order relating to the child in an action to which the party seeking rescission was a party is entered prior to the rescission. During the 60-day rescission period, other means of establishing paternity may be used. The bill expands the duty of parties to provide change of address and change of employment information and to require that the court be advised if support payments are being made directly to an obligee and not through the Department of Social Services. Patron - McDonnell HB1375 Domestic relations; support orders. Modifies the definitional section applicable to several support enforcement provisions by adding definitions of employer (any source of income) and employee (a recipient of income) and by replacing the definition of earnings with a definition of income. "Income" is more broadly defined as any form of payment due and specifically includes dividends, severance pay, trust income, annuities, capital gains, insurance benefits, disability insurance benefits, veterans benefits, rental income, gifts, prizes and awards. Additionally, for purposes of including pension and retirement, workers' compensation and unemployment benefits as income, the requirement that payments are currently being made is eliminated. The bill modifies several provisions governing income withholding orders. The current provisions authorizing automatic payroll deduction are expanded to cover automatic income withholding of present and future income. Notice of the issuance of an order and the order will be sent directly to the employer (i.e., the person from whom income is due), who will then notify and give copies to the employee. Notice by electronic means, including facsimile, is specifically authorized. Employers are required to forward payments to the Division within four days of the employee's pay date if electronic funds transfer is used. Finally, amendments are made to eliminate outdated portions of the section which detail the purpose of the chapter applicable to administrative enforcement of support. Patron - McDonnell SB226 Premarital agreements. Provides that the provisions of a property settlement agreement are not given effect when the parties reconcile after execution of the agreement. This reinstates the law in effect prior to the decision in Smith v. Smith, 19 Va App. 155 (1994). Patron - Trumbo Failed HB969 Providing health information upon the issuance of a marriage license. Changes the provision of health information by a person empowered to issue a marriage license from a mandatory status to a permissive, upon request, status. This health information is related to such topics as birth control, genetic disorders, and family planning clinics. Patron - Marshall HB1159 Covenant marriage. Authorizes a form of marriage in which the parties shall, before entering into such marriage, obtain premarital counseling and recite and sign a declaration of intent acknowledging that marriage is a lifelong relationship and pledging to obtain marital counseling should difficulties arise. Furthermore, in a covenant marriage, the time of separation necessary for parties to obtain a no-fault divorce is extended to two years for parents with minor children and extended to one year and six months for parties with no minor children. All other divorce grounds remain the same. Persons who are already married may redesignate their marriage as a covenant marriage after they obtain marital counseling and execute a declaration of intent. This bill is incorporated in HB 1056. Patron - McClure HB1188 Domestic relations; marriage license. Repeals the provision which requires persons empowered to issue marriage licenses to distribute to the applicants certain health and family-planning information. Patron - O'Brien HB1401 Spousal support; rehabilitative alimony. Grants authority to the courts to award spousal support to be paid in periodic payments for a specified duration and to reserve to a party the right to receive support in the future. A reservation of the right to support is presumed under the bill to continue for a period of time equal to half the duration of the marriage (the time between the date of the marriage and the date of separation). The factors to be considered by the court in making any award or modifying an award of support are modified and expanded to include, for example, consideration of each party's contribution to the education of the other, access to educational and job training opportunities, and the effects of decisions made during the marriage on a party's prospective earning capacity. The factors relied on by the court must be stated in the award. The bill includes presumptions relating to support derived from the duration of the marriage. If the marriage lasted less than five years, it is presumed that periodic support for a specified duration and/or a lump sum payment is appropriate; if the marriage lasted five to 20 years, no presumption arises; and if the marriage lasted 20 years or more, it is presumed that periodic payments for an undefined duration is appropriate. Awards made for a defined duration may be modified only during the term of the award if the court finds that (i) a material change of circumstances has occurred which could not reasonably have been anticipated at the time the award was entered or (ii) an anticipated event upon which the award was based has not occurred through no fault of the party seeking modification. The bill applies only to initial actions filed on or after July 1, 1997, or to actions to modify an award entered in a case filed initially on or after that date. This bill is incorporated into HB 517. Patron - McClure SB184 Support enforcement. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for an employer who, in an individual capacity, has been ordered to withhold support from his own earnings to willfully fail to withhold and pay over the support as ordered by the court. Patron - Reynolds SB586 Child support; child care; taxes. Requires that child care expenses incurred by either parent due to employment or education for employment are to be added to the basic monthly child support obligation and apportioned between the parents. Under current law, only employment-related child care expenses incurred by the custodial parent are included and therefore apportioned. Additionally, the bill limits child care expenses to expenses incurred, less any applicable child care tax credits. In any proceeding involving child support, the bill requires the court or agency (i.e., DCSE) to consider the value to the parties of tax exemptions and credits available for the children and the financial support provided to the children by the parties and to allocate the tax benefits between them based upon income or to require the custodial parent to release the exemptions or credits, or both, to the noncustodial parent on an annual or rotating basis. Patron - Forbes Carried Over HB452 Marriage licenses. Requires the filing of a final court order of divorce as proof of the dissolution of previous marriages when applying for a marriage license. Patron - Jones, D.C. HB527 Support enforcement. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for an employer who, in an individual capacity, has been ordered to withhold support from his own earnings to willfully fail to withhold and pay over the support as ordered by the court. Patron - Armstrong HB725 Domestic relations; employer withholding of support. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for an employer to fail or refuse to withhold from an employee's earnings or to mail the amount specified in a support order. Patron - Day HB840 Adoption; putative father registry. Creates a putative father registry within the Department of Social Services. The registry will contain the names of those persons who have through acknowledgment or court order or other public record been named the father of a child. This will place in one location the names of those persons who may be party to an adoption proceeding and provide the person with the opportunity to maintain a current address for purpose of notice in the event of such proceeding. Patron - Howell HB1056 Covenant marriage. Authorizes a form of marriage in which the parties shall, before entering into such marriage, obtain premarital counseling and recite and sign a declaration of intent acknowledging that marriage is a lifelong relationship and pledging to obtain marital counseling should difficulties arise. Furthermore, in a covenant marriage, the time of separation necessary for parties to obtain a no-fault divorce is extended to two years for parents with minor children and extended to one year and six months for parties with no minor children. All other divorce grounds remain the same. Persons who are already married may redesignate their marriage as a covenant marriage after they obtain marital counseling and execute a declaration of intent. Patron - McDonnell HB1063 Child support; shared custody. Defines "day" for purposes of applying the shared custody rules of the child support guidelines to mean an overnight stay, and to include periods when a parent has visitation with a child. This bill overrules the majority opinion in Ewing v. Ewing which held that a day is a continuous 24-hour period. Patron - Barlow HB1163 Divorce. Prohibits no-fault divorce if the parties have minor children and either party files a written objection to the initial pleading within 21 days of service. Patron - McClure HB1235 Divorce. Requires the court to order parties with a minor child to attend an educational program on the effects of divorce on children, etc., and requires that the parties submit a unified plan to the court outlining the rights and duties of each parent and a residential schedule for each child. If the parties cannot agree on a unified plan, each submits his own. Patron - Reid HB1238 Court-ordered visitation; minor children. Provides that a parent who is denied court-ordered visitation with his child shall be given compensatory time; if there are three denials within 12 months and the person with primary physical custody is responsible for the denials, custody and child support are forfeited to the parent denied visitation. Patron - Cantor HB1239 Custody and visitation. Substitutes the terms "shared parenting" and "sole parenting" for joint custody and sole custody and revises the definition of joint custody. Custody and visitation are changed to "parenting arrangement." If there is clear and convincing evidence of imminent harm to the child's health or welfare, primary care and control of the child may be awarded to one person. The term "needs of the child" is substituted for "best interests of the child," and the court is required to make written, detailed findings of each of the factors considered in determining parenting arrangements. Patron - Cantor SB413 Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. Replaces the former UCCJA (1979) with an updated version addressing jurisdictional issues and expands the act to cover issues involving enforcement of custody and visitation orders issued out of state. Jurisdiction is authorized if there is a significant connection between the parties and the Commonwealth, there is no other state which fits the definition of the child's home state and the parties are all within the Commonwealth. Additionally, a court may exercise temporary emergency jurisdiction if there is a danger of abuse to the child, a sibling or a parent. Once a court exercises jurisdiction, that jurisdiction continues and is exclusive until all parties have left the state, and any orders issued may be modified only by the state having continuing, exclusive jurisdiction. The bill therefore eliminates the current problems created when competing orders are issued in more than one state. Orders issued in other states may be registered in the juvenile courts here and enforced as Virginia orders. Commonwealth's attorneys are given authority to enforce orders and to use law enforcement to investigate and secure the presence of children. This bill is recommended by the Virginia Commissioners to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. Patron - Mims SB471 Child support; shared custody. Defines "day" for purposes of applying the shared custody rules of the child support guidelines to mean an overnight stay, and to include periods when a parent has visitation with a child. This bill overrules the majority opinion in Ewing v. Ewing which held that a day is a continuous 24-hour period. Patron - Quayle SB506 Court-ordered visitation; minor children. Provides that a parent who is denied court-ordered visitation with his child shall be given compensatory time; if there are three denials within 12 months and the person with primary physical custody is responsible for the denials, custody and child support are forfeited to the parent denied visitation. Patron - Quayle SB507 Custody and visitation. Substitutes the terms "shared parenting" and "sole parenting" for joint custody and sole custody and revises the definition of joint custody. Custody and visitation are changed to "parenting arrangement." If there is clear and convincing evidence of imminent harm to the child's health or welfare, primary care and control of the child may be awarded to one person. The term "needs of the child" is substituted for "best interests of the child," and the court is required to make written, detailed findings of each of the factors considered in determining parenting arrangements. Patron - Quayle SB670 Visitation of minor children. Provides that a parent who is denied court-ordered visitation shall be given visitation equal to the amount of visitation time denied. If the denials continue, the parent with primary physical custody forfeits custody and child support. Patron - Lambert SB671 Custody and visitation. Substitutes the terms "shared parenting" and "sole parenting" for joint custody and sole custody and revises the definition of joint custody. Custody and visitation are changed to "parenting arrangement." If there is clear and convincing evidence of imminent harm to the child's health or welfare, primary care and control of the child may be awarded to one person. The term "needs of the child" is substituted for "best interests of the child," and the court is required to make written, detailed findings of each of the factors considered in determining parenting arrangements. Patron - Lambert < PREVIOUS | CONTENTS | NEXT >