State child support panel considers expedited process

Changes sought for when a parent has loss of income

By Devin Felix
Deseret Morning News
Published: Saturday, Aug. 18, 2007 12:31 a.m. MDT
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The state Child Support Guidelines Advisory Committee is considering advising the Legislature to create an expedited process for dealing with child-support changes when one parent has a temporary loss of income, committee members said this week.

The process would apply only to child support and would not include issues such as alimony and divorce proceedings, which would save all parties a lot of trouble and time, said Stewart Ralphs, an attorney and member of the committee. The committee is an appointed group of 10 people who convene every four years to discuss issues related to child support. The group includes attorneys, university professors, government representatives and custodial and non-custodial parents.

Parents who fall behind on child support aren't always "deadbeats," says Tony Curtis, a committee member and a divorced father. Sometimes non-custodial parents who have always paid child support on time lose income because of layoffs or other reasons beyond their control. Then they can't make their child support payments on time, they fall behind and they're considered criminals, Curtis said at the committee's meeting Monday.

Ralphs said parents can apply in court or with the State Office of Recovery Services to have their payment levels changed in such cases, but the process is often long and gets bogged down in issues that have nothing to do with child support.

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One parent has a temporary reduction of income and applies to have child support changed, and the other parent responds by bringing up complaints about alimony, divorce or other issues. A battle ensues, and the whole process is slowed, Ralphs said.

The committee plans to get advice from representatives of the state Attorney General's office at its next meeting Aug. 27 before deciding on what to advise the Legislature regarding the idea of expediting the process.

That recommendation would be included in a report that the committee plans to give to the Legislature in October, on how to deal with child-support issues at the next legislative session.

E-mail: dfelix@desnews.com

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