Children And Domestic Matters - Digest of Bills

Digest of Bills - 1998

CHILDREN AND DOMESTIC MATTERS

S.B. 98-114 Dissolution of marriage - disposition of property - division of public employee retirement benefits. Allows parties to a domestic relations action who agree in writing to a direct division of public employee retirement benefits in a defined benefit plan to select the single method or formula by which to divide such benefits. Specifies the methods and formulae that the parties may select, including a fixed monetary amount, a fixed percentage of the payment to the participant, a time-rule formula based on the participant's years of service at the time of the decree, regardless of when the participant is expected to retire, or any other method or formula mutually agreed upon by the parties that specifies a dollar amount or percentage payable to the alternate payee.

Instructs the parties to submit the written agreement to the plan administrator at the time of the dissolution of marriage, legal separation, or declaration of invalidity of marriage.

APPROVED by Governor April 20, 1998
EFFECTIVE August 5, 1998
NOTE: This act shall take effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly that is allowed for submitting a referendum petition pursuant to article V, section 1 (3) of the state constitution; except that, if a referendum petition is filed against this act or an item, section, or part of this act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part, if approved by the people, shall take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by proclamation of the governor.

S.B. 98-139 Child support - establishment and enforcement - appropriation. Makes the following changes to the "Uniform Interstate Family Support Act":

Directs employers to treat authenticated copies of an administrative income-withholding order issued in another state as if it had been issued by a delegate child support enforcement unit of this state.
Repeals the venue provisions.
Repeals the jurisdiction by arrest provision that had previously been a part of the "Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act".
Repeals the provision specifying the duty of Colorado officials where Colorado is the responding state.
Repeals provisions related to the enforcement of interstate income withholding that had previously been part of the "Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act" and that are inconsistent with the "Uniform Interstate Family Support Act".

Requires that the notice of the deduction for health insurance be sent in all circumstances and not just upon the discovery of current or changed employment.

Makes the following changes to the state parent locator service:

Clarifies that departments and agencies of the state and local governments are to cooperate in the location of parents or children who qualify to receive child support enforcement services.
Specifies that location information includes the individual's social security number, most recent address, and the name, address, and employer identification number of the individual's employer.
Adds that the equivalent of a state child support enforcement agency or delegate child support enforcement unit of any other state may initiate a request for an employer, trustee, payor of funds, or other employer located or doing business in the state to provide information on the employment, compensation, and benefits of any individual for whom information is known.
Prohibits the state department from using the state parent locator service for the information-gathering purposes of the financial institution datamatch system.
Authorizes the equivalent of a state child support enforcement agency or delegate child support enforcement unit of any other state to issue an administrative subpoena directly to gather financial or other information, including information held by a public utility. Removes the limited liability provision for public utilities.

Repeals provisions for maintenance payments to be made through the court registry. Directs the child support enforcement agency and the state court administrator to jointly begin implementing the family support registry for the receipt of support payments in non-Title IV-D cases. Provides for implementation to be phased in over time. Directs the executive director of the state department to notify the state court administrator as each county or judicial district is able to participate in the family support registry system for non-Title IV-D cases. Specifies that the family support registry shall be available for use by all counties and judicial districts by October 1, 1999. Directs the court to send notices in non-Title IV-D cases to redirect payments from the court registry to the family support registry.

Specifies that investment earnings on moneys deposited with the state treasurer and accruing from collections for child support shall remain in the family support registry fund. Directs that such moneys be used to reimburse the family support registry for unfunded payments by noncustodial parents or other incidental expenditures associated with the operation of the family support registry.

Specifies that only federal income tax intercepts shall be allocated to arrears owed to the state, and not state income tax refund offsets.

Adds the following information to the list of information that the judicial department must collect and transfer to the department of human services in all child support orders for child support collection purposes:

The children's names;
The date of birth of each child for whom the order requires the payment of support; and
The amount of monthly or other periodic support owed under the order.

Restores law that allows a court to modify the child support payable by the obligor, retroactive to the date of a mutually agreed upon change of physical custody.

For any Colorado works participant receiving a diversion grant, establishes an exception to the requirement that Colorado works participants assign child support to the county and cooperate with county efforts to collect child support.

Adds extraordinary costs associated with parenting time to the list of examples for which a court may deviate from the child support guidelines. Makes the expenses of transporting an adult accompanying a child who is less than 12 years of age an extraordinary adjustment in the calculation of child support. Restricts the credit allowed for the support of other children who are not the subject of the child support order to only those children who are born prior to the children who are the subject of the child support order.

Appropriates $723,024 to the department of human services for the implementation of the act.

Makes the act effective July 1, 1998; except that the provisions relating to the family support registry fund are effective upon passage, and the provisions repealing the fees associated with the court registries are effective October 1, 1999.

APPROVED by Governor May 22, 1998
PORTIONS EFFECTIVE July 1, 1998, October 1, 1999

H.B. 98-1183 Parental responsibilities - parenting time and decision-making responsibility. Eliminates traditional references to "child custody" by changing such terminology to "parental responsibilities". Specifies that by changing the terminology, the general assembly does not intend to alter the legal rights of a custodial parent. Declares that the general assembly recognizes that, in most, cases, it is in the best interests of the children of a marriage to have a relationship with both parents and that, in most cases, it is the parent's right to have a relationship with their children. Allows any party allocated parental responsibilities to access information pertaining to a minor child, including medical, dental, and school records, unless otherwise ordered by the court for good cause shown.

Specifies that the court shall determine the allocation of parental responsibilities, including parenting time and decision-making responsibilities, in accordance with the best interests of the child. Redefines those relevant factors that the court shall consider in determining what parenting time plan would serve the best interests of the child. Lists those factors that the court shall consider in allocating decision-making responsibility between the parties in the best interests of the child. Specifies that the court may allocate the decision-making responsibility with respect to each issue affecting the child mutually between both parties or individually to one or the other party or any combination thereof.

In order to implement an order allocating parental responsibilities, authorizes both parties to submit a parenting plan or plans for the court's approval that shall address parenting time and the allocation of decision-making responsibility. Directs the court to formulate a parenting plan if no parenting plan is submitted by the parties or if the court does not approve a parenting plan that has been submitted. Permits the court to order mediation to assist the parties in formulating or modifying a parenting plan or in implementing a parenting plan.

Repeals prior law authorizing the award of joint custody. Maintains prior law requiring the parties to a proceeding concerning the allocation of parental responsibilities to disclose to the court the existence of any prior restraining orders. Maintains the prior law authorizing the court to order the parents to participate in parental education classes. Preserves existing law allowing for court interviews of the child. Specifies that the written reports resulting from mandatory evaluations concerning parental responsibilities, formerly referred to as custody evaluations, must address the disputed issues relating to the allocation of parental responsibilities.

Specifies that no subsequent motion for the modification of parenting time may be filed within 2 years after the disposition of a prior motion for a substantial modification of parenting time that also changes the party with whom the child resides a majority of the time, unless there is endangerment. Prohibits a court from modifying a prior parenting time order, which modification is substantial and changes the party with whom the child resides a majority of the time, unless a change has occurred in the circumstances of the child or the party with whom the child resides the majority of the time and a modification is necessary to serve the best interests of the child. Lists agreement, integration into the new home with consent, and endangerment as the 3 circumstances under which the court may so modify the decree.

Maintains the 2-year restriction on motions for modification of custody or decision-making responsibility. Prohibits a court from modifying a custody order or order allocating decision-making responsibility unless a change has occurred in the circumstances of the child or the party with custody or decision-making responsibility and a modification is necessary to serve the best interests of the child. Lists agreement, integration into the new home with consent, modification of parenting time that warrants a modification of decision-making responsibility, acquiescence, and endangerment as the 5 circumstances under which the court may so modify the custody order or order allocating decision-making responsibility.

For purposes of federal law and other state laws, provides that the responsibilities and rights of each party shall be identified in the parenting plan set forth in the court order. Specifies that the enactment of the act does not constitute substantially changed circumstances for the purposes of modifying decrees involving child custody, parenting time, or grandparent visitation.

Specifies that the act applies to causes of action filed on or after February 1, 1999, and to motions filed on or after February 1, 1999, for modifications of previously entered court orders.

APPROVED by Governor June 2, 1998
EFFECTIVE February 1, 1999
NOTE: This act shall take effect February 1, 1999, unless a referendum petition is filed during the ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly that is allowed for submitting a referendum petition pursuant to article V, section 1 (3) of the state constitution. If such a referendum petition is filed against this act or an item, section, or part of this act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part, if approved by the people, shall take effect February 1, 1999.

H.B. 98-1307 Dependency and neglect - adoption - safe placement of children - appropriation. Makes the following changes to the "Colorado Children's Code" in order to comply with the federal "Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997":

Recognizes that one of the goals of all child placement decisions is the safety of the child;
Defines the term "foster care" as the placement of a child into the legal custody or legal authority of a county department of social services for physical placement of the child in a certified or licensed facility;
Amends the definition of "reasonable efforts" to specify that in determining whether reasonable efforts are appropriate, the child's health and safety is to be the paramount concern;
In determining reasonable efforts with respect to a child, requires a guardian ad litem to make the child's health and safety the paramount concern;
Requires the court to provide notice of hearings and reviews concerning a child to the following parties with whom a child is placed: Foster parents, preadoptive parents, and relatives providing care to a child. Specifies that the notices shall not reveal addresses, last names, or other identifying information;
Directs the court to proceed with a permanency planning hearing when it finds that an appropriate treatment plan cannot be devised, unless a motion for termination of parental rights has been filed within 30 days after the court's finding;
Specifies that efforts to place a child for adoption or with a legal guardian or custodian may be made concurrently with reasonable efforts to reunify the family;
With regard to the criteria for terminating the parent-child relationship, changes the phrase "gravely disabling injury" to "serious bodily injury" and adds the existence of an identifiable pattern of sexual abuse of the child as a criterion;
Makes the fact that a child has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months a basis for finding that a parent is unfit in relation to the termination of parental rights unless certain factors exist;
Makes the murder or the voluntary manslaughter of a child's sibling and related inchoate crimes the basis for termination of parental rights;
Makes felony assault that results in serious bodily injury to the child or another child of the parent a basis for termination of parental rights;
Requires a permanency planning hearing to be held no later than 12, rather than 18, months after the child has entered foster care;
States that a child is deemed to have entered foster care on the date the court approves transfer of custody or approves out-of-home placement of the child or the date that is 60 days after the date on which the child was removed form the home, whichever is earlier;
Directs the permanency planning hearing to occur no later than 30 days after a determination that an appropriate treatment plan cannot be devised, unless a motion for termination of parental rights has been filed within 30 days after the court's hearing;
Specifies what the court findings shall include with respect to placement goals for the child;
Changes focus of periodic reviews to the safety of the child;
Requires the county department of social services or child placement agency to conduct a criminal background check of the prospective adoptive parent and directs the court to deny the final adoption decree if it determines that the prospective adoptive parent has been convicted of certain felony offenses.

Appropriates $1,381,489 and 28.0 FTE to the judicial department for the implementation of the act.

APPROVED by Governor June 2, 1998
EFFECTIVE July 1, 1998

H.B. 98-1385 Juveniles - detention facilities - catchment areas. Instructs the executive director of the department of human services and the state court administrator to establish geographical catchment areas for juvenile detention facilities. To the extent practicable, requires the catchment areas to ensure that each juvenile is held in a juvenile detention facility located in the judicial district in which the offense was committed. Specifies criteria to consider in establishing catchment areas for judicial districts in which no juvenile detention facility is located. Requires the working group for juvenile placement criteria to annually submit to the executive director and the state court administrator recommendations concerning the catchment areas and placement of detained juveniles.

Instructs the executive director and the state court administrator to submit a description of the juvenile detention catchment areas to the joint budget committee and to the judiciary committees of the senate and house of representatives on or before December 1, 1998. Instructs the executive director and the state court administrator to reexamine the catchment area boundaries annually and submit any changes to said committees by December 1.

APPROVED by Governor June 1, 1998
EFFECTIVE August 5, 1998
NOTE: This act shall take effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly that is allowed for submitting a referendum petition pursuant to article V, section 1 (3) of the state constitution; except that, if a referendum petition is filed against this act or an item, section, or part of this act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part, if approved by the people, shall take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by proclamation of the governor.