This document includes Senate 3rd Reading Floor Amendments incorporated into the bill on Fri, Feb 19, 2021 at 2:46 PM by lpoole.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7 LONG TITLE
8 General Description:
9 This bill amends the Utah Child Support Act in relation to medical costs of pregnancy.
10 Highlighted Provisions:
11 This bill:
12 ▸ defines terms; and
13 ▸ requires a biological father to pay 50% of a mother's:
14 • insurance premiums while she is pregnant; and
15 • pregnancy-related medical costs, including the hospital birth of the child, that are
16 not paid by another person.
17 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
18 None
19 Other Special Clauses:
20 None
21 Utah Code Sections Affected:
22 AMENDS:
23 78B-12-102, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2018, Chapter 96
24 ENACTS:
25 78B-12-105.1, Utah Code Annotated 1953
26 78B-12-212.1, Utah Code Annotated 1953
27
28 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
29 Section 1. Section 78B-12-102 is amended to read:
30 78B-12-102. Definitions.
31 As used in this chapter:
32 (1) "Adjusted gross income" means income calculated under Subsection 78B-12-204(1).
33 (2) "Administrative agency" means the Office of Recovery Services or the Department
34 of Human Services.
35 (3) "Administrative order" means an order that has been issued by the Office of
36 Recovery Services, the Department of Human Services, or an administrative agency of another
37 state or other comparable jurisdiction with similar authority to that of the office.
38 (4) "Base child support award" means the award that may be ordered and is calculated
39 using the guidelines before additions for medical expenses and work-related child care costs.
40 (5) "Base combined child support obligation table," "child support table," "base child
41 support obligation table," "low income table," or "table" means the appropriate table in Part 3,
42 Tables.
43 (6) "Cash medical support" means an obligation to equally share all reasonable and
44 necessary medical and dental expenses of children.
45 (7) "Child" means:
46 (a) a son or daughter under the age of 18 years who is not otherwise emancipated,
47 self-supporting, married, or a member of the armed forces of the United States;
48 (b) a son or daughter over the age of 18 years, while enrolled in high school during the
49 normal and expected year of graduation and not otherwise emancipated, self-supporting,
50 married, or a member of the armed forces of the United States; or
51 (c) a son or daughter of any age who is incapacitated from earning a living and, if able
52 to provide some financial resources to the family, is not able to support self by own means.
53 (8) "Child support" means a base child support award, or a monthly financial award for
54 uninsured medical expenses, ordered by a tribunal for the support of a child, including current
55 periodic payments, arrearages that accrue under an order for current periodic payments, and sum
56 certain judgments awarded for arrearages, medical expenses, and child care costs.
57 (9) "Child support order" or "support order" means a judgment, decree, or order of a
58 tribunal whether interlocutory or final, whether or not prospectively or retroactively modifiable,
59 whether incidental to a proceeding for divorce, judicial or legal separation, separate
60 maintenance, paternity, guardianship, civil protection, or otherwise that:
61 (a) establishes or modifies child support;
62 (b) reduces child support arrearages to judgment; or
63 (c) establishes child support or registers a child support order under Chapter 14, Utah
64 Uniform Interstate Family Support Act.
65 (10) "Child support services" or "IV-D child support services" means services provided
66 pursuant to Part D of Title IV of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 651 et seq.
67 (11) "Court" means the district court or juvenile court.
68 (12) "Guidelines" means the directions for the calculation and application of child
69 support in Part 2, Calculation and Adjustment.
70 (13) "Health care coverage" means coverage under which medical services are
71 provided to a dependent child through:
72 (a) fee for service;
73 (b) a health maintenance organization;
74 (c) a preferred provider organization;
75 (d) any other type of private health insurance; or
76 (e) public health care coverage.
77 (14) (a) "Income" means earnings, compensation, or other payment due to an individual,
78 regardless of source, whether denominated as wages, salary, commission, bonus, pay,
79 allowances, contract payment, or otherwise, including severance pay, sick pay, and incentive
80 pay.
81 (b) "Income" includes:
82 (i) all gain derived from capital assets, labor, or both, including profit gained through
83 sale or conversion of capital assets;
84 (ii) interest and dividends;
85 (iii) periodic payments made under pension or retirement programs or insurance
86 policies of any type;
87 (iv) unemployment compensation benefits;
88 (v) workers' compensation benefits; and
89 (vi) disability benefits.
90 (15) "Joint physical custody" means the child stays with each parent overnight for more
91 than 30% of the year, and both parents contribute to the expenses of the child in addition to
92 paying child support.
93 (16) "Medical expenses" means health and dental expenses and related insurance costs.
94 (17) "Obligee" means an individual, this state, another state, or another comparable
95 jurisdiction to whom child support is owed or who is entitled to reimbursement of child support
96 or public assistance.
97 (18) "Obligor" means a person owing a duty of support.
98 (19) "Office" means the Office of Recovery Services within the Department of Human
99 Services.
100 (20) "Parent" includes a natural parent, or an adoptive parent.
101 (21) "Pregnancy expenses" means an amount equal to:
102 (a) the sum of a pregnant mother's:
103 (i) health insurance premiums while pregnant Ŝ→ that are not paid by an employer or
103a government program ←Ŝ ; and
104 (ii) medical costs related to the pregnancy, incurred after the date of conception and
105 before the pregnancy ends; minus
106 (b) any portion of the amount described in Subsection (21)(a) that a court determines is
107 equitable based on the totality of the circumstances, not including any amount paid by the mother
108 or father of the child.
109 [
110 the children.
111 [
112 District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Native American Tribe, or other
113 comparable domestic or foreign jurisdiction.
114 [
115 months in duration.
116 [
117 adoptive parent or a child who provides care, maintenance, and support to a child.
118 [
119 Office of Recovery Services, or court or administrative agency of a state, territory, possession
120 of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Native
121 American Tribe, or other comparable domestic or foreign jurisdiction.
122 [
123 a full-time work week or training schedule as necessitated by the employment or training of a
124 parent under Section 78B-12-215.
125 [
126 support award.
127 Section 2. Section 78B-12-105.1 is enacted to read:
128 78B-12-105.1. Duty of biological father to share pregnancy expenses.
129 (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a biological father of a child has a duty
130 to pay 50% of the mother's pregnancy expenses.
131 (2) (a) If paternity is disputed, a biological father owes no duty under this section until
132 the biological father's paternity is established.
133 (b) Once paternity is established, the biological father is subject to Subsection (1).
134 (3) (a) Any portion of a mother's pregnancy expenses paid by the mother or the
135 biological father reduces that parent's 50% share under Subsection (1), not the total amount of
136 pregnancy expenses.
137 (b) Subsection (3)(a) applies regardless of when the mother or biological father pays the
138 pregnancy expense.
139 (4) If a mother receives an abortion, as defined in Section 76-7-301, without the
140 biological father's consent, the biological father owes no duty under this section, unless:
141 (a) the abortion is necessary to avert the death of the mother; or
142 (b) the mother was pregnant as a result of:
143 (i) rape, as described in Section 76-5-402;
144 (ii) rape of a child, as described in Section 76-5-402.1; or
145 (iii) incest, as described in Subsection 76-5-406(2)(j) or Section 76-7-102.
146 (5) Subsection (1) does not apply if a court apportions pregnancy expenses under
147 Section 30-3-5.
148 (6) A person may seek payment under Subsection (1) in accordance with Section
149 78B-12-113.
150 (7) Nothing in this section or Section 78B-12-212.1 requires a person to separately bill
151 a biological father for pregnancy expenses.
152 Section 3. Section 78B-12-212.1 is enacted to read:
153 78B-12-212.1. Pregnancy expenses.
154 If a person seeks payment under Section 78B-12-105.1 by providing documentation of
155 payments, medical expenses, and insurance premiums, the district court shall, after review, order
156 the payment of the expenses.