An Act To Make Technical Changes to the Laws Governing Child Support
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 0364
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: CARDONE, HILL, McCREIGHT, SHERMAN, KATZ
Amends: 19-A MRSA §1653, 19-A MRSA §2001, 19-A MRSA §2006

Legislative Document
No. 364
H.P. 270
House of Representatives, February 2, 2017
An Act To Make Technical Changes to the Laws Governing Child 
Support
Submitted by the Department of the Attorney General pursuant to Joint Rule 204.
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative CARDONE of Bangor.
Cosponsored by Senator HILL of York and Representatives: McCREIGHT of Harpswell, 
SHERMAN of Hodgdon, Senator: KATZ of Kennebec.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  19-A MRSA §1653, sub-§13, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 
and affected by Pt. E, §2, is repealed. 
Sec. 2.  19-A MRSA §2001, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 and 
affected by Pt. E, §2, is amended to read: 
1.  Basic support entitlement.  "Basic support entitlement" means the sum derived 
from the child support table appropriate to the age of for each child and the parties' gross 
income. 
Sec. 3.  19-A MRSA §2001, sub-§11, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 
and affected by Pt. E, §2, is repealed. 
Sec. 4.  19-A MRSA §2006, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 and 
affected by Pt. E, §2, is amended to read: 
1.  Determination of basic support entitlement.  After the court or hearing officer 
determines the annual gross income of both parties, the 2 incomes must be added together 
to provide a combined annual gross income and applied to the child support table to 
determine the basic support entitlement for each child. 
When there is a child within each age category, the The court or hearing officer shall 
refer to the table and locate the figure in the left-hand column that is closest to the 
parents' combined annual gross income.  In each age category the The court or hearing 
officer shall determine the dollar figure for the total number of children for whom support 
is being determined, and multiply the dollar figure in each age category by the number of 
children in that category and add the 2 products.  The resulting dollar amount represents 
the basic support entitlement. 
Sec. 5.  19-A MRSA §2006, sub-§6, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 and 
affected by Pt. E, §2, is repealed. 
Sec. 6.  19-A MRSA §2006, sub-§7, ¶C, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 
and affected by Pt. E, §2, is amended to read: 
C.  The amount of the basic weekly support entitlement attributable to each child 
under 12 years of age, as indicated per child per week on the child support table; 
Sec. 7.  19-A MRSA §2006, sub-§7, ¶D, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 
and affected by Pt. E, §2, is repealed. 
Sec. 8.  19-A MRSA §2006, sub-§8, ¶D, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 
and affected by Pt. E, §2, is repealed. 
Sec. 9.  19-A MRSA §2006, sub-§8, ¶E, as amended by PL 2005, c. 352, §4, is 
further amended to read: 
E.  If each child for whom a parental support obligation is being established for more 
than one child and a child has attained 12 15 years of age, a specific sum to be paid 
depending on the number of minor children remaining with the primary care 
provider.  Because the support guidelines are based on the actual costs of raising a 
given number of children in a household, the order must provide a specific dollar 
amount for every combination of minor children.  Except as provided in paragraph G, 
the court or hearing officer may not apportion support between the parents by 
determining the parental support obligation amount and dividing by the total number 
of children; 
Sec. 10.  19-A MRSA §2006, sub-§11 is enacted to read: 
11.  Child between 18 and 19 years of age attending secondary school.  The child 
support table and the support guidelines include a child between 18 and 19 years of age 
who is attending a secondary school for whom an obligation of support is established or 
deemed to remain in force pursuant to section 1653, subsection 8, paragraph B; section 
1653, subsection 12, paragraph A; or section 2306, subsection 4, paragraph D. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the laws governing child support guidelines to conform to changes 
made by the Department of Health and Human Services by rule that eliminate the age 
categories in the child support table.