During the 2010 session, the Florida Legislature considered two separate bills, making significant changes in Florida’s alimony statute and Florida’s child support statute.
As the legislative session ground toward its mandatory close, the two separate measures were merged into one bill, which passed both the Senate and the House, was signed by the Governor and became the law of Florida. Our last column discussed the changes in the alimony statue which went into effect on July 1, 2010.
The second part of the bill, which made changes to the child support statute, goes into effect on October 1, 2010 and on January 1, 2011. This column summarizes 
the highlights of the child support changes. The complete text of the new statute can be easily found online.
The first change required that guidelines for child support provisions in settlement agreements and/or final judgments, for families with two or more children, under the age of 18 must include the child support guidelines amount for the children and also the remaining child support payable after each child reaches the age of 18.
Initially, support must be based upon the income of the parents at the time of the divorce, but the amount may be modified by either parent filing a petition for modification under the existing modification part of the statute. The month, day and year of the reduction, or reductions must be stated. This change makes the reduction automatic, and reduces the need for the filing of modification petitions each time a child reaches the age of majority.
The extension of child support to the age of nineteen for a child enrolled in high school after 18, but before 19, was left intact.
A second change spells out the purpose for child support as fulfilling the mutual obligation of both parents to support his or her minor or legally dependant child. This section contains a re-statement or codification of existing appellate decisions, as opposed to a major change.
The second major change requires the imputation of income to any parent who is voluntarily unemployed or under employed, or who fails to participate in the child support case. The statute creates a rebuttable presumption that such a parent’s imputed income be at a level described as “income equivalent to the median income of year-round full time workers as derived from current population reports or replacement reports published by the United States Bureau of the Census.”
Under previous law, automatic imputation did not exist, but there was a presumption that income could be included at the “minimum wage” level under federal law. This change would, approximately double the imputed income, which could be imputed, and used in calculating child support.
The courts specifically retained the power to impute a higher income based upon proof that was competent and substantial that a party could earn more than income then provided for in the statute, but voluntarily refused to do so. Records of past income cannot be more than five years old to be used as a basis for imputation, and under most circumstances cannot be based on a level of income that the party has never earned.
Only nominal changes were made to the child support guidelines schedule. If the parents’ combined income falls below the bottom range in the child support guidelines, the court must set the child support on a case by case basis to establish a base which can be modified if the parents beginning to make more money.
Under the amended statute, the 25 percent discount of the expense of reimbursement of childcare money spent for work purposes has disappeared and the responsibility for such reimbursement shall be based upon the parties’ relative net earnings on 100 percent of the day care cost.
A major change requires the adjustment of standard child support in every case in which the parent with fewer over-nights has 20 percent or more of the over-night. Previously that parent had to have at least of 40 percent of the overnights to obtain an adjustment. This part of the statute shall not go into effect until January 1, 2011.
This change will usually benefit the parent who has the fewer over-nights at the expense of the parent with more over-nights.
Michael H. Gora has been certified by the Board of Legal Specialization and Education of the Florida Bar as a specialist in family and matrimonial law and is a partner with Shapiro Blasi Wasserman & Gora P.A. in Boca Raton. Contact Mr. Gora at mhgora@sbwlawfirm.com or at (561)477-7800.