An Act To Enhance Efficiency in the Collection of Child Support Obligations
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 1330
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: SANDERSON, BRAKEY
Amends: 14 MRSA §3128-A, 19-A MRSA §2001, 19-A MRSA §2006, 19-A MRSA §2302, 19-A MRSA §2652, 19-A MRSA §2961, 19-A MRSA §3101-E, 19-A MRSA §3254, 19-A MRSA §3311

Legislative Document 
No. 1330 
H.P. 905 
House of Representatives, April 14, 2015 
An Act To Enhance Efficiency in the Collection of Child Support 
Obligations 
Submitted by the Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
ROBERT B. HUNT 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative SANDERSON of Chelsea. 
Cosponsored by Senator BRAKEY of Androscoggin. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  14 MRSA §3128-A, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2011, c. 34, §1, is further 
amended to read: 
3.  Duration.  The order continues in effect for one year or until the obligor finds 
work, whichever occurs first. 
Sec. 2.  19-A MRSA §2001, sub-§5, ¶D, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 
and affected by Pt. E, §2, is amended to read: 
D.  Gross income may include the difference between the amount a party is earning 
and that party's earning capacity when the party voluntarily becomes or remains 
unemployed or underemployed, if sufficient evidence is introduced concerning a 
party's current earning capacity.  In the absence of evidence in the record to the 
contrary, a party that is personally providing primary care for a child under the age of 
years 6 months is deemed not available for employment.  The court shall consider 
anticipated child care and other work-related expenses in determining whether to 
impute income, or how much income to impute, to a party providing primary care to 
a child between the ages of 3 6 months and 12 years.  A party who is incarcerated in a 
correctional or penal institution is deemed available only for employment that is 
available through such institutions. 
Sec. 3.  19-A MRSA §2006, sub-§5, ¶A, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 
and affected by Pt. E, §2, is amended to read: 
A.  When the parent who is not the primary care provider is legally obligated to 
support a child in that party's household other than the child for whom a support order 
is being sought, an adjustment must be made to that party's parental support 
obligation.  The adjustment is made by using the nonprimary residential care 
provider's annual gross income to compute a theoretical support obligation under the 
support guidelines for each child in that household.  Neither the child support 
received by nor the financial contributions of the other parent of each child in the 
household are considered in the theoretical support calculation.  The obligation is 
then subtracted from the annual gross income, and the adjusted income is the amount 
used to calculate support.  The adjustment is used in all appropriate cases, except 
when the result would be a reduction in an award previously established. 
Sec. 4.  19-A MRSA §2302, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 255, §1, is 
repealed. 
Sec. 5.  19-A MRSA §2652, sub-§6, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 and 
affected by Pt. E, §2, is amended to read: 
6.  Fees.  A notice to the obligor and payor of income that the payor of income shall 
withhold and send to the department a fee of $2 per week pay period in addition to the 
amount withheld for child support. 
Sec. 6.  19-A MRSA §2961, sub-§1, ¶B, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 436, §10, is 
amended to read: 
B.    The individual submits to the jurisdiction of this State by consent in a record, by 
entering a general appearance or by filing a responsive document having the effect of 
waiving any contest to personal jurisdiction; 
Sec. 7.  19-A MRSA §3101-E, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 669, §21, is repealed. 
Sec. 8.  19-A MRSA §3254, first ¶, as amended by PL 2003, c. 436, §44, is 
further amended to read: 
 If a child support order issued by a tribunal of this State is modified by a tribunal of 
another state that assumed jurisdiction pursuant to the Uniform Interstate Family Support 
Act, a tribunal of the this State: 
Sec. 9.  19-A MRSA §3311, sub-§4-A is enacted to read: 
4-A.  Foreign central authority.  "Foreign central authority" means the entity 
designated by a foreign country as defined in section 2802, subsection 3-A to perform the 
functions specified in the Convention. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends laws concerning the collection of child support obligations.  It 
removes from the duration of an order to seek work the provision "or until the obligor 
finds work."  It changes the time frame in which a primary care provider of a child is 
deemed to be unavailable for employment from 3 years to the first 6 months of the child's 
life.  It allows, when appropriate, an adjustment of child support obligations for a child in 
the party's household other than the child for whom a support order is being sought, even 
if that adjustment results in a reduction of a previously established award.  It repeals the 
automatic suspension of the child support obligation of assisted obligors, and it corrects 
an inconsistency in amounts withheld from an obligor's withholding from $2 per week to 
$2 per pay period.