2013 Kentucky Revised Statutes CHAPTER 403 - DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE -- CHILD CUSTODY 403.211 Action to establish or enforce child support -- Rebuttable presumption for award -- Allocation of child-care costs and health care expenses -- Order for payment of health insurance coverage -- Noncustodial parent's health plan -- Attachment of income -- Credit for disability payments.
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403.211 Action to establish or enforce child support -- Rebuttable
presumption for award -- Allocation of child-care costs and health care
expenses -- Order for payment of health insurance coverage -Noncustodial parent's health plan -- Attachment of income -- Credit for
disability payments.
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An action to establish or enforce child support may be initiated by the parent,
custodian, or agency substantially contributing to the support of the child. The
action may be brought in the county in which the child resides or where the
defendant resides.
At the time of initial establishment of a child support order, whether temporary
or permanent, or in any proceeding to modify a support order, the child support
guidelines in KRS 403.212 shall serve as a rebuttable presumption for the
establishment or modification of the amount of child support. Courts may
deviate from the guidelines where their application would be unjust or
inappropriate. Any deviation shall be accompanied by a written finding or
specific finding on the record by the court, specifying the reason for the
deviation.
A written finding or specific finding on the record that the application of the
guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate in a particular case shall be
sufficient to rebut the presumption and allow for an appropriate adjustment of
the guideline award if based upon one (1) or more of the following criteria:
(a) A child's extraordinary medical or dental needs;
(b) A child's extraordinary educational, job training, or special needs;
(c) Either parent's own extraordinary needs, such as medical expenses;
(d) The independent financial resources, if any, of the child or children;
(e) Combined monthly adjusted parental gross income in excess of the
Kentucky child support guidelines;
(f) The parents of the child, having demonstrated knowledge of the amount
of child support established by the Kentucky child support guidelines,
have agreed to child support different from the guideline amount.
However, no such agreement shall be the basis of any deviation if public
assistance is being paid on behalf of a child under the provisions of Part
D of Title IV of the Federal Social Security Act; and
(g) Any similar factor of an extraordinary nature specifically identified by the
court which would make application of the guidelines inappropriate.
"Extraordinary" as used in this section shall be determined by the court in its
discretion.
When a party has defaulted or the court is otherwise presented with insufficient
evidence to determine gross income, the court shall order child support based
upon the needs of the child or the previous standard of living of the child,
whichever is greater. An order entered by default or due to insufficient
evidence to determine gross income may be modified upward and arrearages
awarded from the date of the original order if evidence of gross income is
presented within two (2) years which would have established a higher amount
of child support pursuant to the child support guidelines set forth in KRS
403.212.
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The court shall allocate between the parents, in proportion to their combined
monthly adjusted parental gross income, reasonable and necessary child care
costs incurred due to employment, job search, or education leading to
employment, in addition to the amount ordered under the child support
guidelines.
(a) If private health care insurance coverage is reasonable in cost and
accessible to either parent at the time the request for coverage is made,
the court shall order the parent to obtain or maintain coverage, and the
court shall allocate between the parents, in proportion to their combined
monthly adjusted parental gross income, the cost of health care insurance
coverage for the child, in addition to the support ordered under the child
support guidelines.
(b) A parent, who has one hundred percent (100%) of the combined monthly
adjusted parental gross income, shall be entitled to a reduction in gross
income of the entire amount of premiums incurred and paid.
(c) The court shall order the cost of health care of the child to be paid by
either or both parents of the child regardless of who has physical custody.
The court order shall include:
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A judicial directive designating which parent shall have financial
responsibility for providing health care for the dependent child, which
shall include but not be limited to private health care insurance
coverage, payments of necessary health care deductibles or
copayments;
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If appropriate, cash medical support. "Cash medical support" means
an amount to be paid toward the cost of health care insurance
coverage that is provided by a public entity, including the Kentucky
Children's Health Insurance Program or the Kentucky Medicaid
program, or another parent or person with whom the child resides
through employment or otherwise, fixed payments for ongoing
medical costs, extraordinary medical expenses, or any combination
thereof; and
3.
A statement providing that if the designated parent's health care
coverage provides for covered services for dependent children
beyond the age of majority, then any unmarried children up to
twenty-five (25) years of age who are full-time students enrolled in
and attending an accredited educational institution and who are
primarily dependent on the insured parent for maintenance and
support shall be covered.
(d) If private health care insurance coverage is not reasonable in cost and
accessible at the time the request for the coverage is made, the court
order shall provide for cash medical support until private health care
insurance coverage becomes reasonable in cost and accessible.
(a) For purposes of this section, "reasonable in cost" means that the cost of
coverage to the responsible parent does not exceed five percent (5%) of
his or her gross income. The five percent (5%) standard shall apply to the
cost of adding the child to an existing policy, the difference in the cost
between a single and a family policy, or the cost of acquiring a separate
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policy to cover the child. If the parties agree or the court finds good cause
exists, the court may order medical coverage in excess of five percent
(5%) of the parent's gross income.
(b) For purposes of this section, "accessible" means that there are providers
who meet the health care needs of the child and who are located no more
than sixty (60) minutes or sixty (60) miles from the child's primary
residence, except that nothing shall prohibit use of a provider located
more than sixty (60) minutes or sixty (60) miles from the child's primary
residence.
The cost of extraordinary medical expenses shall be allocated between the
parties in proportion to their combined monthly adjusted parental gross
incomes. "Extraordinary medical expenses" means uninsured expenses in
excess of one hundred dollars ($100) per child per calendar year.
"Extraordinary medical expenses" includes but is not limited to the costs that
are reasonably necessary for medical, surgical, dental, orthodontal, optometric,
nursing, and hospital services; for professional counseling or psychiatric
therapy for diagnosed medical disorders; and for drugs and medical supplies,
appliances, laboratory, diagnostic, and therapeutic services.
The court order shall include the Social Security numbers, provided in
accordance with KRS 403.135, of all parties subject to a support order.
In any case administered by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, if the
parent ordered to provide health care coverage is enrolled through an insurer
but fails to enroll the child under family coverage, the other parent or the
Cabinet for Health and Family Services may, upon application, enroll the child.
In any case administered by the cabinet, information received or transmitted
shall not be published or be open for public inspection, including reasonable
evidence of domestic violence or child abuse if the disclosure of the information
could be harmful to the custodial parent or the child of the parent. Necessary
information and records may be furnished as specified by KRS 205.175.
In the case in which a parent is obligated to provide health care insurance
coverage, and changes employment, and the new employer provides health
care insurance coverage, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services shall
transfer notice of the provision for coverage for the child to the employer, which
shall operate to enroll this child in the obligated parent's health plan, unless the
obligated parent contests the notice as specified by KRS Chapter 13B.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any wage or income shall
not be exempt from attachment or assignment for the payment of current child
support or owed or to-be-owed child support.
A payment of money received by a child as a result of a parental disability shall
be credited against the child support obligation of the parent. A payment shall
not be counted as income to either parent when calculating a child support
obligation. An amount received in excess of the child support obligation shall
be credited against a child support arrearage owed by the parent that accrued
subsequent to the date of the parental disability, but shall not be applied to an
arrearage that accrued prior to the date of disability. The date of disability shall
be as determined by the paying agency.
Effective:June 25, 2009
History: Amended 2009 Ky. Acts ch. 82, sec. 1, effective June 25, 2009. -Amended 2006 Ky. Acts ch. 126, sec. 4, effective July 12, 2006. -- Amended
2005 Ky. Acts ch. 99, sec. 624, effective June 20, 2005. -- Amended 2000 Ky.
Acts ch. 430, sec. 18, effective July 14, 2000. -- Amended 1998 Ky. Acts
ch. 255, sec. 19, effective July 15, 1998; and ch. 426, sec. 579, effective July
15, 1998. -- Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 328, sec. 3, effective July 15, 1996. -Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 330, sec. 10, effective July 15, 1994. -- Created
1990 Ky. Acts ch. 418, sec. 2, effective July 13, 1990.
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