Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 0234
Committee Amendment CA_B_H500 (House)
Amends: 19-A MRSA §2001, 19-A MRSA §2005, 19-A MRSA §2006, 19-A MRSA §2007

AMENDMENT "6,, to H.P. 189, L.D. 234, Bill, "An 
a Uniform Approach to the Determination of Child 
Parents 
Provide 
Substantially 
Equal 
Care 
for 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting 
clause and before the summary and inserting in its place the 
following: 
· Sec. 1. 19-A MRSA §2001, sub-§3-A is enacted to read: 
A. 
Enhanced 
s1lPJ?Ort 
entitlement. 
"Enhanced 
support 
entitlement" means the basic support entitlement multiplied by a 
factor of 1. 5, 
Sec. 2. 19-A MRSA §2001, sub-§§6, 7 and 8, as enacted by PL 
1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 and affected by Pt. E, §2, are amended to 
read: 
6. 
Parental 
support 
obligation. 
"Parental 
support 
obligation" means the portion of total basic or enhanced support 
obligation a party is ordered to pay in money as child support. 
7. 
Primary 
residence. 
"Primary 
residence" 
means 
the 
residence of a child where that child receives residential care 
for more than 50% of the time on an annual basis if the parents 
do not provide substantially equal care as defined in subsection 
8-A. 
8. 
Primary residential care provider. 
"Primary residential 
care provider" means the party who provides residential care for 
a child for more than 50% of the time on an annual basis if the 
parents do not provide substantially equal care as defined in 
subsection 8-A. 
Page l-LR0404(3) 
COMM/rrEE AMENDMENT 
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Sec.3. 19-A MRSA §2001, sub-§8-A is enacted to read: 
8-A. 
Substantially equal care. 
"Substantially equal care" 
means that both parents participate substantially equally in the 
child's total care, which may include, but is not limited to, the 
child's residential, educational, recreational, child care and 
medical, dental and mental health care needs. 
Sec. 4. 19-A MRS A §2001, sub-§10, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 
694, Pt. B, §2 and affected by Pt. E, §2, is amended to read: 
10. 
Total basic support obligation. 
"Total ~ 
support 
obligation" means the sum of money determined by adding the basic 
support entitlement, child care costs aBeL extraordinary medical 
expenses and health insurance premiums. 
Sec.5. 19-A MRSA §2001, sub-§10-A is enacted to read: 
10-A. 
Total enhanced su,vport obligation. 
"Total enhanced 
support 
obligation" 
means 
the 
sum 
of 
money 
determined 
by 
calculating the enhanced support entitlement. 
"Total enhanced 
support 
obligation" 
does 
not 
include 
child 
care 
costs, 
extraordinary medical expenses and health insurance premiums. 
Sec. 6. 19-A MRSA §2005, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. 
B, §2 and affected by Pt. E, §2, is amended to read: 
§200S. 
Rebuttable presumption 
In a proceeding to establish or modify child support or to 
establish an 
award for past support, 
there is 
a 
rebuttable 
presumption that the parental support obligation derived from the 
support guidelines is the amount ordered to be paid, 
unless 
support is established under 
section 
2006, 
subsection 
or 
section 2007. 
The court or hearing officer shall review the 
adequacy of a child support amount agreed to by the parties with 
reference to the parental support obligation. 
Sec. 7. 19-A MRSA §2006, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2001, c. 
264, §3, is further amended to read: 
3. 
Total basic support obligation. 
The total ~ 
support 
obligation is determined by adding the child care costs, health 
insurance premiums 
and extraordinary medical expenses 
to the 
basic support entitlement as follows. 
A. 
When each child is under the age of 12 years, the sums 
actually being expended for child care costs must be added 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 'i!J" to H.P. 189, L.D. 234 
to the basic support entitlement to determine the total 
~ 
support obligation. 
B. 
If a child is incurring extraordinary medical expenses, 
the future incidence of which is determinable because of the 
permanent, chronic or recurring nature of the illness or 
disorder, the sums actually being expended for the medical 
expenses must be added to the basic support entitlement to 
determine the total ~ 
support obligation. 
C. 
If a party is paying health insurance premiums, the sums 
actually being expended for health insurance premiums for 
the child or children for whom support is being ordered must 
be added to the basic support entitlement to determine the 
total ~ 
support obligation. 
The court shall determine 
the pro rata share of the health insurance premium actually 
expended that is attributable to each child. 
Sec. 8. 19-A MRSA §2006, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 
694, Pt. B, §2 and affected by Pt. E, §2, is amended to read: 
4. 
Computation of parental support obligation. 
The total 
l2..aill support obligation must be divided between the parties in 
proportion to their respective gross 
incomes. 
The court or 
hearing officer shall order the party not providing primary 
res idential care to pay, in money, that party's share of the 
total ~ 
support obligation to the party providing pr imary 
residential care. 
The 
primary residential 
care provider is 
presumed to spend the primary care provider's share directly on 
each child. 
If the court or hearing officer determines that the 
parties provide substantially equal care for a child for whom 
support is sought, 
preswnptiye support must be calculated in 
accordance with subsection 5, paragraph 0-1. 
Sec. 9. 19-A MRSA §2006, sub-§S, tn, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 
694, Pt. B, §2 and affected by Pt. E, §2, is amended to read: 
D. 
When the parties have equal annual gross incomes and 
provide 
~esieeBeial substantially equal care 
e~~ally for 
each child for whom support is being determined, neither 
party is required to pay the other 
a 
parental 
support 
obligation. 
The parties shall share equally the child care 
costs, 
health 
insurance 
premiums 
and 
uninsured 
medical 
expenses. 
Sec. 10. 19-A MRSA §2006, sub-§S, 1[D-l is enacted to read: 
0-1. 
When 
the parties do 
not have 
equal 
annual gross 
incomes but provide substantially equal care for each child 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT .:h" to H.P. 189, L.D. 234 
for 
whom 
support 
is being 
determined. 
the 
presumptive 
parental support obligation must be determined as follows. 
( 1) 
The enhanced support entitlement for each child 
must be determined. 
(2) 
Using the enhanced support entitlement. a parental 
support obligation for each child must be determined by 
di viding the total enhanced support obligation between 
the parties in proportion to their respective gross 
incomes. 
The 
amount is the total enhanced support 
obligation. 
(3) 
The party with the higher annual gross income has 
a presumptive obligation to pay the other party the 
lower of: 
(a) 
The enhanced support entitlement multiplied 
by the difference between the percentage of the 
higher 
income 
party' s 
proportional 
share 
as 
calculated in subparagraph (2) and 50~; and 
(b) 
The presumptive parental support obligation 
determined for the 
p~yor party using the basic 
support entitlement under the support guidelines 
as 
though 
the 
other 
party 
provided 
primary 
residential care of the child. 
(4) 
The parties shall share the child care costs. 
health 
insurance 
premiums 
and 
uninsured 
medical 
expenses in proportion to their incomes. 
Sec. 12. 19-A MRSA §2006, sub-§7, ,G, as amended by PL 2001, 
c. 264, §5, is further amended to read: 
G. 
The parental support obligation of the 
BeBpFi-maF}"-ea~e 
p~eyiQe~ party ordered to pay child support; and 
Sec. 13. 19-A MRSA §2006, sub-§8, ,e, as amended by PL 2001, 
c. 264, §7, is further amended to read: 
C. 
A 
breakdown 
of 
the 
parental 
support 
obligation, 
including: 
(1) 
The amount for basic support entitlements and the 
amount for enhanced support entitlements. if applicable; 
(2) 
The amount for child care costs; 
(3) 
The amount for extraordinary medical expenses: 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ,~, to H.P. 189, L.D. 234 
(4) 
The percentage of the total child care costs and 
extraordinary medical expenses included in the parental 
support obligation, if applicable; and 
(5) 
The amount for health insurance premiums; 
Sec. 14. 19-A MRSA §2007, sub-§3, 1rA, as enacted by PL 1995, 
c. 694, Pt. B, §2 and affected by Pt. E, §2, is repealed and the 
following enacted in its place: 
A. 
The application of section 2006. subsection 5, paragraph 
D or D-1 would be unjust. inequitable or not in the child's 
best interest:' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment is the minority report of the committee. 
It 
differs from the majority report in that the enhanced basic 
support obligation, after being divided in proportion to the 
obligors' gross income, is divided so that each parent ends up 
wi th 1/2 of the enhanced amount in that parent's home. 
The 
higher income party's payment is the enhanced support entitlement 
mul tiplied by the difference between that party's percentage of 
income and 50". 
The obligation, however, is never greater than 
it would be under the basic support obligation. 
This amendment adds definitions for the terms used in the 
formula for calculating child support when the parents have 
unequal 
incomes but provide substantially equal care for the 
child. 
It 
also 
clarifies 
that 
the 
child 
care 
costs, 
extraordinary medical expenses and health insurance premiums are 
not included in the calculations, but are shared by the parties 
in proportion to their incomes. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT