DAR File No. 41170

Human Services, Recovery Services

Rule R527-250

Emancipation

Notice of Proposed Rule

(Amendment)

DAR File No.: 41170
Filed: 01/12/2017 09:59:44 AM

RULE ANALYSIS

Purpose of the rule or reason for the change:

In recent years, there has been a marked increase in Utah high school students graduating earlier than the anticipated graduation month of May with their high school graduating class. With many high schools offering and incentivizing early graduation, the Office of Recovery Services/Child Support Services (ORS/CSS) needs to provide additional direction on how the office will proceed when a child is 18 years old and graduates early from high school. The proposed changes to this rule will help clarify when ORS/CSS will cease collection of child support in these types of situations. A new citation was added to the citation block at the end of the rule text, Section 62A-11-107.

Summary of the rule or change:

Subsection R527-250-2(1) and (4) were updated to help clarify what other type of information may be provided to the office as proof of graduation, as well as to delete unnecessary words to help the sentence flow better. Section R527-250-3 has been deleted and rewritten to include early emancipation situations and the documentation that the parents must provide to the office verifying the child's early completion of high school course requirements. Section R527-250-4 was updated to help provide clarification for that section. In Subsection R527-250-5(3), the last part of the sentence was deleted as it is not needed, and in Subsection R527-250-5(4), other minor changes were made to better help the flow of the sentence. A new citation was added to the citation block at the end of the rule text, Section 62A-11-107.

Statutory or constitutional authorization for this rule:

• Section 62A-11-401
• Section 62A-11-107
• Section 62A-11-303
• Section 78B-12-219
• Section 78B-12-102

Anticipated cost or savings to:

the state budget:

These amendments provide clarification about which month ORS will process the emancipation of the children in its caseload; it does not change the number of children who will need to be emancipated from its caseload. Therefore, there is no anticipated cost or savings to the state budget due to the amendments to this rule.

local governments:

Administrative rules of ORS/CSS do not apply to local government. This rule only pertains to graduating high school students and their parents. Therefore, there are no anticipated costs or savings to local government.

small businesses:

There are no anticipated costs or savings to small businesses because the changes to the rule only affect graduating high school students and their parents.

persons other than small businesses, businesses, or local governmental entities:

It is possible that there may be some costs for parents with an 18-year-old child that chooses to graduate early from high school; the non-custodial parent may have costs associated with providing ORS with documentation of the child's early graduation from high school. For example, there may be costs associated with making copies of the child's high school transcript or a letter from the high school as proof of completion and early graduation when a copy of a high school diploma is not yet released or granted. There may be costs associated with mailing or faxing documentation to the office, etc. If the child support ends earlier, the custodial parent may have added costs during the months that he or she would have anticipated receiving child support had the child not graduated early. However, it is not possible to determine what those costs will be because there is no way of knowing how many 18-year-old students in the state of Utah will take advantage of early graduation, causing their emancipation.

Compliance costs for affected persons:

It is possible that there may be some costs for parents with an 18-year-old child that chooses to graduate early from high school; the non-custodial parent may have costs associated with providing ORS with documentation of the child's early graduation from high school. For example, there may be costs associated with making copies of the child's high school transcript or a letter from the high school as proof of completion and early graduation when a copy of a high school diploma is not yet released or granted. There may be costs associated with mailing or faxing documentation to the office, etc. If the child support ends earlier, the custodial parent may have added costs during the months that he or she would have anticipated receiving child support had the child not graduated early. However, it is not possible to determine what those costs will be because there is no way of knowing how many 18-year-old students in the state of Utah will take advantage of early graduation, causing their emancipation.

Comments by the department head on the fiscal impact the rule may have on businesses:

There are no anticipated fiscal impacts to businesses because the changes to this rule do not affect businesses.

Ann Silverberg Williamson, Executive Director

The full text of this rule may be inspected, during regular business hours, at the Office of Administrative Rules, or at:

Human Services
Recovery Services
515 E 100 S
SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84102-4211

Direct questions regarding this rule to:

• Julene Robbins at the above address, by phone at 801-538-4521, by FAX at 801-538-3942, or by Internet E-mail at [email protected]
• Casey Cole at the above address, by phone at 801-741-7523, by FAX at 801-536-8509, or by Internet E-mail at [email protected]
• Andrew Clement at the above address, by phone at 801-741-7434, by FAX at 801-536-8509, or by Internet E-mail at [email protected]

Interested persons may present their views on this rule by submitting written comments to the address above no later than 5:00 p.m. on:

03/03/2017

This rule may become effective on:

03/10/2017

Authorized by:

Liesa Stockdale, Director

R527. Human Services, Recovery Services.

R527-250. Emancipation.

R527-250-1. Purpose and Authority.

1. Section 62A-11-107 authorizes the Office of Recovery Services/Child Support Services (ORS/CSS) to adopt, amend and enforce rules.

2. The purpose of this rule is to outline how ORS/CSS will apply Utah statute when determining the appropriate emancipation date for IV-D child support cases, particularly when determining the "child's normal and expected year of graduation" referenced in U.C.A. 78B-12-219 for Utah child support orders issued on or after July 1, 1994.

 

R527-250-2. Normal and Expected Year of Graduation.

1. For a child attending school in Utah, the normal and expected year of graduation is based on kindergarten plus twelve years of school, unless an exception [is]as listed below applies.

2. For a child attending school in Utah, ORS/CSS will presume that the normal and expected month of graduation is May of the expected graduating year, unless the parents provide documentation of a specific graduation date for their child.

3. If a deviation to the "kindergarten plus twelve years" standard is known at the time of entry of the child support order, the expected year of graduation is altered accordingly. If a child has been held back a grade or experienced another delay in education before the child support order is entered, the "expected" year of graduation will be changed to extend the support obligation based on the known facts about the delay in education. If the child has been advanced a grade or experienced some other acceleration in education before the child support order is entered, the "expected" year of graduation will be changed to potentially shorten the support obligation based on the facts about the acceleration in education.

4. If a deviation to the "kindergarten plus twelve years" standard is not known until after the entry of the child support order, the "expected" year of graduation is not altered based on the new facts unless the child receives an early high school diploma , [or other]a high school equivalency diploma , or documentation is provided of early completion of high school course requirements.

 

R527-250-3. Early Graduation, High School Equivalency Diploma, and General Educational Development (GED).

[A child who receives a high school diploma or another documented form of high school equivalency is no longer enrolled in school or expected to graduate with the normal graduating class. The emancipation date will be determined based on when the child becomes 18 years of age or that child's high school diploma or high school equivalency date.]ORS may cease collection of child support the month following in which the child is no longer enrolled in school, is 18 years old, and:

1. the child receives a high school diploma at the time of early graduation;

2. documentation is provided of the child's early completion of high school course requirements; or

3. the child receives a high school equivalency diploma.

 

R527-250-4. Dropping Out of School.

A child who no longer attends school is not considered emancipated until becoming 18 years old or the graduation of [the]his/her normal and expected graduating class has occurred, whichever occurs later.

 

R527-250-5. Burden of Proof.

1. ORS/CSS will enforce child support based on the "kindergarten plus twelve years" standard until a parent or guardian has provided appropriate documentation to support an emancipation date other than that standard.

2. A parent or guardian requesting the deviation from the standard is responsible for gathering the appropriate documentation and providing the information to ORS/CSS.

3. Changes to the child support amount due will not be effective until the month following the emancipation date[based on the 18th birthday, normal and expected graduating class, or other appropriate date as described above].

4. Changes to the child support amount which are based on a date other than the 18th birthday or the "kindergarten plus twelve year" standard will not be effective until the month following the determined date of emancipation or the month following [when]in which the parent or guardian provides sufficient documentation to support the new emancipation date, whichever occurs later. If an over collection occurs due to the parent not providing documentation, the parent will be responsible for recovering any overpaid amounts without involving ORS/CSS.

 

KEY: child support, emancipation

Date of Enactment or Last Substantive Amendment: [July 1, 2011]2017

Authorizing, and Implemented or Interpreted Law: 62A-11-107; 62A-11-303; 62A-11-401; 78B-12-102; 78B-12-219