2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE EIGHT - Public Welfare and Charitable Institutions (§§ 1 — 1422) › Chapter 25 - Special Child Support Act (§§ 501 — 530) › § 518 - Child support order—Determination, review and modification; mandatory guidelines

(a) Mandatory guidelines.— The Administrator, in coordination and consultation with the Administrative Director of the Office of Court Administration, shall prepare and adopt guidelines to determine and modify child support of minors. These guidelines shall be approved pursuant to the provisions set forth in §§ 2101 et seq. of Title 3, known as the “Uniform Administrative Procedures Act of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico”. The guidelines shall be based on numeric and descriptive criteria that will allow the computation of the amount of the child support obligation. They shall be reviewed every four (4) years from the date of their approval, to ensure that the child support resulting from their application is fair and adequate. The Administrator shall assume and answer for the expenses incurred for the preparation, adoption and printing of the guidelines, and may sell them at a fair and reasonable price. The income from said sales shall be deposited in a Special Fund for Services and Representation in Cases of Child Support created by this section.
(b) Determination.— In every case in which the fixing or modification of the guidelines is requested, or an agreement or stipulation of the support payment is reached, it shall be mandatory that the court or the Administrator, as the case may be, determine the amount by using the guidelines adopted pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
If the court or the Administrator, as the case may be, determines that the application of the guidelines may result in unfair or inadequate child support, it shall so be stated in the resolution or judgment that it issues, and shall determine the child support after considering, among others the following factors:
(1) The financial resources of the parents and the minor;
(2) the physical and emotional health of the minor and his/her educational or vocational abilities;
(3) the way of life the minor would have enjoyed had the family remained intact;
(4) the tax effect on the parties, when it is practical and pertinent, and
(5) the nonmonetary contributions of each parent to the care and welfare of the minor.
It shall also state the amount of the pension which would have resulted if the Mandatory Guidelines to Fix and Modify Child Support in Puerto Rico adopted pursuant to the provisions set forth in this section, had been applied.
In determining the financial resources of the obligor to pay child support, in addition to the regular net income, the total capital and property of the obligor shall be taken into consideration. The same criteria of the custodial person shall be considered for the proportional calculation to be adjudicated to him/her.
All support orders shall include a provision requiring the obligor to provide health insurance coverage, if same is available at a reasonable cost. For purposes of this section, the cost of the health insurance coverage shall be considered reasonable if same may be obtained with the insurance provided by an employer to the employee or another group health insurance policy. If the obligor has health insurance coverage, he/she shall have to include the minor, however, it may be stipulated that the obligor defrays the corresponding proportion if the obligee has another health insurance coverage. If the obligor changes employment and the new employer provides health insurance coverage, the court and the Administrator must be notified within the next ten (10) days, and the minor must be included. The court or the Administrator shall order and notify the employer and the parties that the minor shall be included in the health insurance coverage, granting a term of not less than ten (10) days to challenge, and shall order the inclusion of the minor in the health insurance coverage, unless an objection is filed within term and for just cause. When the objection is filed, an informal hearing shall be held for the sole purpose of determining whether there is an error of fact or if the health insurance coverage is available at a reasonable cost, and if appropriate, an order to include the minor in the health insurance plan shall be issued.
Payments for support and increases thereof shall be effective from the date the petition for support was filed in the court and, in administrative cases, from the date of notification of the child support petition to the obligor. The Court of First Instance and the Administrator shall be empowered to set payment plans for the settlement of child support debts in arrears incurred during the process to determine such support. Under no circumstances shall the court or the Administrator reduce support unless the obligor has filed a petition to such effect, after due notice to the obligee or creditor. Likewise, the child support review shall take effect from the date on which the petition for reduction was filed with the court or the Administrator, provided that such petition is deemed meritorious at that moment. However, the court or the Administrator may provide that the child support review shall not be retroactive should there be special circumstances therefor.
However, if it is provided that a child support reduction shall be retroactive to the date of petition and the obligor continued to pay the support for the period during which the court evaluated the same, the obligee shall not be required to refund the difference in the amount received, if any. Nevertheless, a credit on account of the difference in the payments already made may be granted to the obligor if he/she so requests in a timely manner. Provided, That such credit shall be prorated on a monthly basis so as not to result in a reduction of more than ten percent of the monthly revised payment. In the event that the child support review results in the increase thereof, the balance due shall be likewise prorated as of the filing date. The monthly installments to be made in order to pay off the balance due shall not exceed 10% of the reviewed monthly payment. Any payment or installment due under a support order issued through the expedited administrative procedure, or through the judicial proceeding set forth in this chapter, becomes a judgment from its due date for all legal purpose, and thus shall have all the force, effect, and attributes of a judicial judgment, including the capability of being enforced, and deserving that full faith and credit be granted to it in Puerto Rico or in any state. The retroactive reduction of the amount of the support payments due and unpaid shall not be permitted.
The modification of the agreements or of the judgments, resolutions or support orders may only be requested by the obligee or the obligor the court or the Administrator. Under no circumstances shall support be modified within the procedure to object the withholding of the obligor’s income at the source, as provided in § 523 of this title.
(c) Review.— All support orders [sic] each (3) years from the date in which the order was established by the court. In those cases in which the support was established by the court, the Administrator shall carry out the review and immediately notify said forum, by means of a motion, of the facts and results of such review.
In addition to carrying out the review of an order through the Mandatory Guidelines to Fix and Modify Child Support, the review every three (3) years may be based upon the application of a cost of life adjustment. The parties shall have the right to challenge the result of the review filed in the forum that ordered the review within thirty (30) days from the date of notice of the adjustment. During such term, the order may be established through the application of the Mandatory Guidelines to Fix and Modify Child Support.
(d) Modification.— The Administrator or the court, at the request of a party or at their own discretion, shall initiate the procedure to modify a child support order at any time and out of the cycle of three (3) years, when it is deemed that there is just cause to do so, such as significant variations and changes or unforeseen events in the income, capacity to generate income, disbursements, expenses or capital of the obligor or obligee, or in the expenses, needs, or circumstances of the minor, or when there is any other evidence of substantial change of circumstances. When the petition to modify a child support order is made as a result of the loss of employment of the obligor and it is thus certified in the petition, the court or the Administrator of ASUME shall set the date for the child support modification hearing within seven (7) days after the petition’s filing date. If the court grants such petition, it shall be understood that the obligor’s loss of employment or of income is a change of circumstances for the purposes of determining whether the child support shall be modified retroactively. The modified child support order shall take effect or be retroactive to the date on which the petition was filed. The court or the ASUME Official shall take into consideration the obligor’s concern for the obligee in requesting such modification. Every child support order issued by the Court or the Administration shall instruct the parties of their right to request a modification of a child support obligation and in those cases under the jurisdiction of the Administration, said notice shall continue to be issued at least once every three (3) years. Notwithstanding any law or provision to the contrary, the requirement of significant or unforeseen change of circumstances of any of the parties is met if the application of the Mandatory Guidelines to Fix and Modify Child Support in Puerto Rico adopted pursuant to the provisions set forth in this chapter, results in an amount that is different to child support previously ordered. The need to provide for the medical needs of a minor in an order shall also be the basis for the modification of a child support obligation. The Administrator shall prescribe by regulations the procedure for modification review, for determining the effective date of modifications, for providing notice, and for the application of federal requirements.
History —Dec. 30, 1986, No. 5, p. 749, art. VI, § 19; Apr. 24, 1987, No. 16, p. 41, § 4, Aug. 5, 1989, No. 47, p. 180, § 1; July 31, 1991, No. 40, § 2; Aug. 17, 1994, No. 86, § 26; Aug. 12, 1995, No. 202, § 7; Dec. 18, 1997, No. 169, § 15; Aug. 1, 2003, No. 178, § 22; Dec. 30, 2010, No. 232, § 1; June 23, 2011, No. 100, § 1.