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Domestic Relations

P Passed

P HB5

Guideline for determination of child support. Requires a review of the guidelines by October 31, 2001, and shortens from four to three years the frequency with which the Secretary of Health and Human Resources shall review the child support guidelines.

Patron - Cranwell

P HB47

Changing maintenance and support for a spouse; effect of remarriage. Provides that a spouse entitled to spousal support shall have an affirmative duty to notify the payor spouse immediately of remarriage, and a payor spouse is entitled to restitution equal to the amount of any current support paid after the date of the remarriage, together with interest from the date of the remarriage and reasonable attorneys' fees and costs.

Patron - Jones, J.C.

P HB467

Marriage; list of licenses not returned. Changes the date by which the circuit court clerk must furnish the Commonwealth's attorney with a list of all marriage licenses issued in the preceding calendar year that have not been returned by the minister or other person performing the marriage from February 1 to March 31. The bill also repeals the $20 fine against a clerk who fails to perform this duty. Identical to SB 398.

Patron - McDonnell

P HB1150

Shared custody. Makes technical adjustments under the shared custody and support guideline calculations: (i) for circumstances where the majority custodian has a much higher income, but the formula shows that he or she would pay the support; (ii) to show how shared custody parents are to reimburse each other or pay medical providers for extraordinary medical expenses: (iii) to give the court discretion in situations where a party's income is at or below a certain level in comparison to the poverty level.

Patron - Barlow

P HB1178

Parent education. Requires the court to order parents involved in custody and visitation cases to attend educational seminars on the effects of separation or divorce on children, parenting responsibilities, options for conflict resolution, and financial responsibility. The bill provides that a party's statement in the educational seminar admitting criminal activity or child abuse or neglect is admissible in a subsequent proceeding. The court may grant an exemption from participation for good cause shown. This bill has an effective date of July 1, 2001, and an expiration date of July 1, 2003. The Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court is requested to report on the provisions of the act to the General Assembly.

Patron - Reid

P SB127

Mediation. Provides that there is a $100 mediation fee in custody, visitation and support cases and it is paid from the criminal fund.

Patron - Norment

P SB135

Surrogate consent and report form. Specifically directs the State Registrar of Vital Records to develop, furnish and distribute a surrogate consent and report form. When a non-court approved surrogacy contract is used, this form must be signed by the surrogate and filed by the intended parents within 60 days of the birth in order to have a new birth certificate established. The form has never been available so the law is amended to require filing within six months after the form becomes available to be treated as filing within the 60 days. Provides that a physician's acknowledged statement of the genetic relationships between the parties creates a rebuttable presumption that such statement is accurate.

Patron - Stosch

P SB275

Child support. Provides certain limited exceptions to the presumptive minimum monthly child support amount of $65 for parents unable to pay. The bill also provides that the retroactivity of a child support debt created because of the payment of public assistance is limited to the date the Department of Social Services exercised due diligence in the service of notice. This bill is recommended by the Virginia Bar Association Coalition Committee on Family Law Legislation and is based on recommendations made by the Child Support Quadrennial Review Panel.

Patron - Howell

P SB276

Child support; preexisting spousal support order. This bill clarifies that spousal and child support can be contained in the same order and that the spousal support is counted in calculating gross income. The bill removes the word "preexisting" from the current statute which provides that spousal support is included or deducted from gross income only when it is paid pursuant to a preexisting order or written agreement. The Virginia Court of Appeals in Frazer v. Frazer, 23 Va. App 358 (1996) stated that spousal support should be calculated before child support and included or deducted from gross income for when calculating child support. This bill is recommended by the Virginia Bar Association Coalition Committee on Family Law Legislation and is based on recommendations made by the Child Support Quadrennial Review Panel.

Patron - Howell

P SB398

Marriage licenses not returned by minister. Removes the fine on a circuit court clerk for failure to furnish the attorney for the Commonwealth with a list of marriage licenses issued during the preceding calendar year that were not returned by the ministers or other persons celebrating the marriages. The bill also adjusts the time for furnishing the report to the last day of March instead of the first day of February. Identical to HB 467.

Patron - Trumbo

P SB442

Child support; dental coverage. Treats parental payment of dental care coverage like the payment of health care coverage. The cost of coverage directly allocable to the child is added to the basic child support obligation.

Patron - Mims

P SB590

Child visitation. Provides that whether a parent has unreasonably denied the other parent access to or visitation with the child is a factor to be considered in determining the best interests of the child in custody and visitation matters.

Patron - Norment

P SB757

Termination of spousal support; cohabitation. Amends the 1997 provision that a court may decrease or terminate spousal support if the payee spouse has been cohabitating in a relationship analogous to marriage for one year or more unless otherwise agreed by the parties or the termination would constitute a manifest injustice. This bill makes the termination of such support mandatory by the court unless the parties have otherwise agreed or the termination would be unconscionable.

Patron - Williams

F Failed

F HB468

Marriage licenses not returned. Repeals the requirements that (i) clerks report annually to the attorney for the Commonwealth those marriage licenses that were not returned the previous year, and (ii) the attorney for the Commonwealth summons the minister or other person failing to make the return before the court.

Patron - McDonnell

F HB765

Withholding earnings for child support; penalty. Provides that any employer who fails or refuses to withhold or mail the amount of child support, as specified in a court order, either by himself or through his agents or employees, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Patron - Day

F HB1534

Covenant marriage. Authorizes a form of marriage in which the parties must, before marrying, 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

F SB305

Revocation of death benefits upon divorce; exceptions. Amends provision that divorce revokes the designation of a former spouse as a life insurance beneficiary to provide that if the former spouse is the designated beneficiary and contracts with a funeral home to provide funeral services for the deceased, the funeral home shall be paid out of the proceeds of the death benefit.

Patron - Reynolds

F SB306

Revocable beneficiary designations; revocation of death benefits by divorce or annulment. Repeals a provision in Virginia's domestic relations laws enacted by the 1993 Session of the General Assembly. The provision, applicable to divorces and annulments occurring after July 1, 1993, revokes as a matter of law, any contractual provision for payment of death benefits to a former spouse, unless otherwise stipulated in (i) a decree of annulment or divorce, or (ii) an agreement between the parties. Examples of such death benefits include life insurance benefits, retirement benefits, IRA account benefits, etc.

Patron - Reynolds

F SB753

Custody of minor child. Provides that when custody is at issue there shall be a rebuttable presumption that both parents shall share equitably in the responsibilities of rearing their children. The current statute says that the court shall assure minor children of frequent and continuing contact with both parents when appropriate. This bill takes out the words "when appropriate."

Patron - Quayle

F SB754

Custody and visitation. Provides that a proposed or completed relocation of a child's principal residence constitutes a change in circumstances that may justify a change in custody.

Patron - Quayle

C Carried Over

C HB46

Access to child's records. Provides that a parent's access to the medical records of his minor child may be denied for good cause shown.

Patron - Jones, J.C.

C HB505

Biological testing to ascertain parentage. Expands the law allowing biological testing for determination of parentage to allow any appropriate party to move for genetic testing when the natural biological mother is known and there is an admitted or alleged biological father. The bill requires the moving party to prepay the costs of such genetic testing and any associated court costs.

Patron - Cranwell

C HB506

Evidence relating to parentage. Allows a court to order genetic testing to determine whether an admitted father of a child is actually the father, and requires a court to do so if the test is requested by a party to the proceeding.

Patron - Cranwell

C HB508

Orders of support and expense incurred on behalf of child. Allows a judge in an order establishing parentage to also order the equitable apportionment of expenses incurred on behalf of the child, no matter when the expenses were incurred. Currently, such expenses can only be apportioned for a period following the institution of the proceeding.

Patron - Cranwell

C HB620

Domestic relations. Creates the Virginia Community Property Act to provide for disposition of property acquired by couples during marriage and designated as community property under an agreement or trust instrument.

Patron - McClure

C HB907

Joint custody; pilot project. Provides for a two-year pilot project in Danville, Prince William, Virginia Beach and Wise circuit courts where the court will order in custody disputes that both parents retain their roles as joint legal and physical custodians of their children to the maximum practical extent.

Patron - Cranwell

C HB926

Child visitation dispute resolution. Requires the Supreme Court to establish three pilot projects utilizing visitation expeditors to resolve child visitation disputes. If the parties do not reach an agreement, the visitation expeditor will make a decision to resolve the dispute.

Patron - Watts

C HB1053

Health information provided to marriage license applicants. Revises the categories of health information required to be provided to marriage license applicants to make the provision of information on birth control and the list of family planning clinics optional at the applicant's request.

Patron - Marshall

C HB1148

Child support; medical expenses. Repeals current provisions regarding extraordinary medical expenses and provides that the parties share, in accordance with their respective income shares, all uninsured medical expenses above eight percent of the total support obligation. Eight percent of the total support obligation is presumed to be the medical expense threshold. A definition of "medical expenses" is added. The bill adds a requirement that support orders contain a provision for the payment of reasonably necessary uninsured medical expenses for dependent children. This bill is recommended by the Virginia Bar Association Coalition Committee on Family Law Legislation and is based on recommendations made by the Child Support Quadrennial Review Panel.

Patron - Barlow

C HB1149

Child support guidelines. Provides for an adjustment to income under the support guidelines for support paid for other children of the parties but who are not the subject(s) of the current proceeding.

Patron - Barlow

C HB1220

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

C HB1281

Temporary custody, visitation and support. Provides that a court shall provide both parents equal access to minor children at a hearing on a temporary order, absent a showing of detriment to the children.

Patron - Albo

C HB1310

Orders of support. Provides that if the court to which an appeal of an order of support is taken determines that a reversible error was made by the court of original jurisdiction, the appellate court may then make retroactive modification from the date of the reversible error, to compensate the party prevailing on the appeal. Under current law, such modifications only apply from the date notice of the appeal was given to the respondent.

Patron - Johnson

C HB1500

Custody of minor child. Provides that when custody is at issue there shall be a rebuttable presumption in favor of the parents having joint legal custody. Joint legal custody is described in § 20-124.1 as follows: "both parents retain joint responsibility for the care and control of the child and joint authority to make decisions concerning the child even though the child's primary residence may be with only one parent."

Patron - Devolites

C HB1501

Child visitation. Requires the Supreme Court to develop and disseminate a default standard visitation plan.

Patron - Devolites

C HB1502

Divorce; property settlement. Establishes a rebuttable presumption that all marital property is to be divided equally between the parties.

Patron - Devolites

C HB1532

Custody and visitation. Substitutes the terms "shared parenting" and "sole parenting" for joint custody and sole custody and repeals the definition of joint custody. Custody and visitation are changed to "parenting arrangement." If there is clear and convincing evidence that the best interests of the child will be served, primary care and control of the child may be awarded to one person.

Patron - Reid

C SB277

Child support; medical expenses. Repeals current provisions regarding extraordinary medical expenses and provides that the parties share, in accordance with their respective income shares, all uninsured medical expenses above eight percent of the total support obligation. Eight percent of the total support obligation is presumed to be the medical expense threshold. A definition of "medical expenses" is added. The bill adds a requirement that support orders contain a provision for the payment of reasonably necessary uninsured medical expenses for dependent children. This bill is recommended by the Virginia Bar Association Coalition Committee on Family Law Legislation and is based on recommendations made by the Child Support Quadrennial Review Panel.

Patron - Howell

C SB462

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 that 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. Attorneys for the Commonwealth 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. This bill contains some modifications from the version introduced during the 1999 Session.

Patron - Mims

C SB740

Child support orders; modification. Allows the court or administrative agency to modify a child support order to allow child support arrearages that accumulated due to extenuating circumstances to be paid in regular monthly installments after the child has reached the age when the child support obligation ceases.

Patron - Maxwell