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Domestic Relations
Passed
P
HB2303
Marital agreements. Provides that marital agreements for the purpose of settling the rights and obligations of the spouses need not be in writing and are considered signed by the parties if the terms of the agreement are (i) contained in a court order endorsed by counsel or the parties or (ii) recorded and transcribed by a court reporter and affirmed personally by the parties on the record. This bill addresses Flanary v. Milton, 263 Va. 20 (2002), which held that an oral agreement recited into the record by the parties' attorneys during a deposition was not valid because it was not in writing and signed by the parties as required by § 20-149. This bill is identical to SB 866.
Patron - Devolites
P
HB2386
Child support; enforceability of agreements on future modifications. Provides that the court may affirm, ratify and incorporate by reference in its divorce, annulment and support decrees an agreement between the parties as to modification of child support. Any such provisions shall not require a further court decree for their enforcement, but are subject to the revision and alteration provisions of § 20-108.
Patron - Moran
P
HB2545
Child custody evaluations. States that a district or circuit court may order an independent mental health or psychological evaluation in any case in which custody or visitation of minor children is at issue. The court may order payment by the parties as it deems appropriate.
Patron - McDonnell
P
SB839
Divorce decrees. Makes it clear that certain language regarding child support does not have to be in a divorce decree when the parties have no minor children whom they have a mutual duty to support and specifies what language has to be included in such circumstances.
Patron - Quayle
P
SB866
Marital agreements. Provides that marital agreements for the purpose of settling the rights and obligations of the spouses need not be in writing and are considered signed by the parties if the terms of the agreement are (i) contained in a court order endorsed by counsel or the parties or (ii) recorded and transcribed by a court reporter and affirmed personally by the parties on the record. This bill addresses Flanary v. Milton, 263 Va. 20 (2002), which held that an oral agreement recited into the record by the parties' attorneys during a deposition was not valid because it was not in writing and signed by the parties as required by § 20-149. This bill is identical to HB 2303.
Patron - Puller
P
SB1280
Persons who may perform marriage rites. Provides that federal judges who reside in Virginia may perform marriages without an order of authorization and without giving bond.
Patron - Edwards
P
SB1288
In camera interviews in child custody or visitation hearings. Provides that in a child custody or visitation proceeding in a court of record, where the court conducts an in camera interview of a minor child without the presence of the parties or their counsel, the court shall prepare a record of the interview that shall be made a part of the record in the case, unless the parties otherwise agree. The cost of creating the record shall be taxed as costs to the parties.
Patron - Cuccinelli
Failed
F
HB1455
Medicaid-reimbursed health care costs. Clarifies that the court shall not order a party to pay any health care costs that are reimbursed by Medicaid.
Patron - Byron
F
HB1688
Court-ordered custody and visitation arrangements. Provides that if the custodial parent is an active member of the military, the court shall, in deciding on changes in custody or visitation decrees, give consideration to a Family Care Plan developed in accordance with federal regulations.
Patron - McQuigg
F
HB2028
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 to enter into a covenant marriage. All 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 - Petersen
F
HB2120
Substitution of terms regarding custody and visitation. Provides that throughout the Code of Virginia and in any Acts of Assembly, the following substitutions shall be made: "Associate parent" shall be substituted for the old term "noncustodial parent." "Decision making authority" shall be substituted for the old term "legal custody." "Managing parent" shall be substituted for the old term "custodial parent." "Parenting arrangements" shall be substituted for the old term "custody." "Parenting time" shall be substituted for the old term "visitation." "Physical care, control, and maintenance" shall be substituted for the old term "physical custody." "Shared parenting arrangement" shall be substituted for the old term "joint custody." "Shared parenting responsibility" shall be substituted for the old term "joint physical custody." "Sole parenting authority" shall be substituted for the old term "joint legal custody." "Sole parenting responsibility and authority" shall be substituted for the old term "sole custody."
Patron - Reid
F
HB2127
Minor children and custody. Establishes a preference for granting each parent as much physical custody as circumstances permit and as found to be in the best interests of the child, but does not affect the court's ability to award joint or sole custody.
Patron - Reid
F
HB2158
Child support; payment of child-care expenses quire the noncustodial parent to pay as part of child support a proportional share of the child-care costs necessitated by the custodial parent's matriculation at high school, college, or a vocational school.
Patron - Phillips
F
HB2191
Child support guidelines. Provides that contributions by the payor parent into a college tuition savings plan specifically designated for that purpose are a factor that may be considered in establishing a child support amount that varies from the guidelines.
Patron - Saxman
F
HB2261
Child support. Makes comprehensive changes to the child support guideline, including (i) amending the schedule of monthly child support obligations; (ii) detailing the economic assumptions and factors upon which the guideline and schedule are based; (iii) providing that gross income excludes secondary employment income that the payor parent earned in a good faith effort to pay off arrearages in support for the children at issue; (iv) establishing protections to ensure that obligations of support will not reduce a noncustodial parent's income to below 150 percent of the poverty line; and (v) requiring parents to pay in proportion to their income any uninsured medical and dental costs in excess of $250 annually in addition to other child support. This bill reflects the recommendations of the Secretary of Health and Human Resources Child Support Guideline Review Panel. The provisions are not retroactive and do not constitute the basis for a material change in circumstances upon which a modification of child support may be based.
Patron - Watts
F
HB2262
Child support. Clarifies and expands (adding income from a second job or overtime) the components of income that may be considered in rebutting the presumptions established by the guideline; describes issues the court should consider in imputing income; expands the types of health care services that may be considered as "extraordinary medical and dental expenses;" and establishes thresholds for calculating the amount of child-care costs incurred due to employment that should be added to the basic support obligation. This bill reflects the recommendations of the Secretary of Health and Human Resources Child Support Guideline Review Panel. The provisions are not retroactive and do not constitute the basis for a material change in circumstances upon which a modification of child support may be based.
Patron - Watts
F
HB2263
Child support. Makes comprehensive changes to the child support guideline, including (i) amending the schedule of monthly child support obligations; (ii) clarifying and expanding (adding income from a second job or overtime) the components of income that may be considered in rebutting the presumptions established by the guidelines; (iii) detailing the economic assumptions and factors upon which the guideline and schedule are based; (iv) providing that gross income excludes secondary employment income that the payor parent earned in a good faith effort to pay off arrearages in support for the children at issue; (v) establishing protections to ensure that obligations of support will not reduce a noncustodial parent's income to below 150 percent of the poverty line; (vi) requiring parents to pay in proportion to their income any uninsured medical and dental costs in excess of $250 annually in addition to other child support; and (vii) establishing thresholds for calculating the amount of child-care costs incurred due to employment that should be added to the basic support obligation. This bill reflects the recommendations of the Secretary of Health and Human Resources Child Support Guideline Review Panel. The provisions are not retroactive and do not constitute the basis for a material change in circumstances upon which a modification of child support may be based.
Patron - Watts
F
HB2387
Child support; written agreement. Provides that any written agreement, stipulation or consent decree addressing child support and maintenance rebuts the presumption that application of the guidelines will result in the correct amount of child support, unless the court finds provisions of the agreement, stipulation or consent decree unjust or inappropriate. Under current law, a written agreement between the parties is one of 18 factors that may be used to support the court's finding that the guidelines should not be applied; it is not a sole basis for rebuttal of the presumption. The bill also deletes the references in § 20-108.1 to spousal support; the section as revised deals solely with child support. This bill is incorporated into HB 2386.
Patron - Moran
F
HB2388
Child support guidelines; agreement of the parties. Authorizes use of a written agreement, stipulation, or consent decree containing provisions for child support and maintenance to rebut the presumption that application of the guidelines results in an accurate calculation of child support, so long as neither party opposes the written agreement, stipulation or consent decree. This bill is incorporated into HB 2386.
Patron - Moran
F
HB2724
Child custody and visitation; nature of order. Provides that when a court adjudicates the custody or visitation of minor children, it shall determine whether the adjudication is to be temporary or final, based on the nature of the circumstances surrounding the hearing, whether the parties have had sufficient time to prepare for trial, and any transience in the parties' situation. Temporary orders have no presumptive effect in final determinations of custody and visitation and are not considered a final adjudication for purposes of appeal. A final order shall have presumptive effective, and shall be a final adjudication for purposes of appeal. The bill is intended to clarify (i) that courts may make either a temporary or a final (albeit subject to a modification upon a showing of a material change in circumstances) adjudication of child custody and visitation and (ii) the status of the case vis-a-vis applications for appeal to the Court of Appeals.
Patron - Watts
F
HB2733
Support for juveniles in custody. Provides that when a juvenile placed in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice or a court either comes from an intact family or has never been the subject of a child custody order relative to divorce, the court shall retain all functions relative to payment of support for the child rather than delegating those to the Division of Child Support Enforcement.
Patron - Darner
F
HB2793
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
HB2817
Child support guidelines. Makes comprehensive changes to the child support guidelines, including (i) directing that a child support arrearage, standing alone, is not sufficient to block modifications to a support order; (ii) providing that "current circumstances" can support rebuttal of the guidelines; (iii) detailing the economic assumptions and factors upon which the guidelines and schedule are based; (iv) clarifying and expanding (adding income from a second job or overtime) the components of income that may be considered in rebutting the presumptions established by the guidelines; (v) establishing protections to ensure that obligations of support will not reduce a noncustodial parent's income to below 150 percent of the poverty line; (vi) defining "basic child support" as the "customary and ordinary expenses deemed necessary to sustain the child's life"; (vii) providing that gross income excludes secondary employment income that the payor parent earned in a good faith effort to pay off arrearages in support for the children at issue; (viii) eliminating the addition of extraordinary medical and dental costs from child support and instead requiring parents to pay in proportion to their income any uninsured medical and dental costs in excess of $100 annually in addition to other child support; and (ix) establishing thresholds for calculating the amount of child-care costs incurred due to employment that should be added to the basic support obligation. This bill reflects recommendations of the Secretary of Health and Human Resources Child Support Guideline Review Panel.
Patron - Bolvin
F
SB1118
Felony for nonsupport; penalty. Provides that if a person has, without good cause shown, failed to pay court-ordered child support resulting in an arrearage of six months or more, he is guilty of a Class 6 felony.
Patron - Lucas
F
SB1192
Child support guidelines. Modifies the calculation of child support in shared custody to distinguish between variable and fixed costs, and to determine variable costs based on the percentage of time a parent has custody of the child. The purpose of the bill is to modify the current computations, which in certain situations set the custodial parent's support share at a higher level for shared custody of 105 days or fewer than for sole custody. The Code now addresses this discrepancy by permitting such calculations to be discarded in favor of the sole custody support amounts.
Patron - Wagner
F
SB1312
Child support. Makes comprehensive changes to the child support guideline, including (i) amending the schedule of monthly child support obligations; (ii) clarifying and expanding (adding income from a second job or overtime) the components of income that may be considered in rebutting the presumptions established by the guidelines; (iii) detailing the economic assumptions and factors upon which the guideline and schedule are based; (iv) providing that gross income excludes secondary employment income that the payor parent earned in a good faith effort to pay off arrearages in support for the children at issue; (v) establishing protections to ensure that obligations of support will not reduce a noncustodial parent's income to below 150 percent of the poverty line; (vi) requiring parents to pay in proportion to their income any uninsured medical and dental costs in excess of $250 annually in addition to other child support; and (vii) establishing thresholds for calculating the amount of child-care costs incurred due to employment that should be added to the basic support obligation. This bill reflects the recommendations of the Secretary of Health and Human Resources Child Support Guideline Review Panel. The provisions are not retroactive and do not constitute the basis for a material change in circumstances upon which a modification of child support may be based.
Patron - Quayle
F
SB1313
Child support. Makes comprehensive changes to the child support guideline, including (i) amending the schedule of monthly child support obligations; (ii) detailing the economic assumptions and factors upon which the guideline and schedule are based; (iii) providing that gross income excludes secondary employment income that the payor parent earned in a good faith effort to pay off arrearages in support for the children at issue; (iv) establishing protections to ensure that obligations of support will not reduce a noncustodial parent's income to below 150 percent of the poverty line; and (v) requiring parents to pay in proportion to their income any uninsured medical and dental costs in excess of $250 annually in addition to other child support. This bill reflects the recommendations of the Secretary of Health and Human Resources Child Support Guideline Review Panel. The provisions are not retroactive and do not constitute the basis for a material change in circumstances upon which a modification of child support may be based.
Patron - Quayle
F
SB1314
Child support. Clarifies and expands (adding income from a second job or overtime) the components of income that may be considered in rebutting the presumptions established by the guideline; describes issues the court should consider in imputing income; expands the types of health care services that may be considered as "extraordinary medical and dental expenses;" and establishes thresholds for calculating the amount of child-care costs incurred due to employment that should be added to the basic support obligation. This bill reflects the recommendations of the Secretary of Health and Human Resources Child Support Guideline Review Panel. The provisions are not retroactive and do not constitute the basis for a material change in circumstances upon which a modification of child support may be based.
Patron - Quayle
F
SB1339
Child custody or visitation and best interests of the child. Modifies several of the factors to be considered by a judge in determining the best interests of the child for purposes of determining custody or visitation arrangements. Additionally, the bill provides that the judge, as part of a final order, shall provide a written statement summarizing his findings regarding the factors considered.
Patron - Cuccinelli
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