Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 0234
Committee Amendment CA_A_H499 (House)
Amends: 19-A MRSA §2001, 19-A MRSA §2005, 19-A MRSA §2006, 19-A MRSA §2007

AMENDMENT "~,, 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: 
3-A. 
Enhanced 
support 
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 
obliqation. 
"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. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT .. ~ 
.. to H.P. 189, L.D. 234 
Sec.3. 19-A MRSA §2001, sub-§8-A is enacted to read: 
8-A. 
Substantially egyal 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 MRSA §2001, sub-§lO, 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 basic 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-§lO-A is enacted to read: 
A. 
Total enhanced support obligation. 
"Total enhanced 
pupport 
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: 
§2005. 
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 2QQ6, 
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 basic 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 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT .. n 
. to H.P. 189, L.D. 234 
to the basic support entitlement to determine the total 
basic 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 basic 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 
~ 
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 
residential care to pay, in money, that party's share of the 
total ~ 
support obligation to the party providing primary 
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, 
presumptive support must be calculated in 
accordance with subsection 5, paragraph D-l. 
Sec. 9. 19-A MRSA §2006, sub-§5, 1fD, 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 
reS~QeB~~a± substantially equal care 
e~Qa±±y 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-§5, 1fD-l is enacted to read: 
D-l. 
When 
the parties do 
not have 
equal annual gross 
incomes but provide substantially equal care for each child 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
.... ~ 
}l. ~ ", 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT .. a 
. 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 
dividing the total enhanced support obligation between 
the parties in proportion to their respective gross 
incomes. 
(3) 
The party with the higher annual gross income has 
a presumptive obligation to pay the other party the 
lower of: 
(a) 
The difference between their parental support 
obligations as calculated in subparagraph (2); and 
(b) 
The presumptive parental support obligation 
determined for the payor 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, 1[G, as amended by PL 2001, 
c. 264, §5, is further amended to read: 
G. 
The parental support obligation of the :a9:aFFimaF-y--eaFe 
FF9vieeF party ordered to pay child sypport; and 
Sec. 13. 19-A MRSA §2006, sub-§8, 1[C, 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; 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
:!:~. :J~ ~~ 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT .. If, 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, 1fA, 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-l would be unjust, ineguitable or not in the child's 
best interest:' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment is the majority report of the committee. 
It 
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