HOUSE BILL No. 4532
March 19, 1997, Introduced by Reps. Nye, Dalman, Goschka, Jellema, Bodem, Walberg, Law, Curtis and McNutt and referred to the Committee on Judiciary. A bill to amend 1956 PA 205, entitled "The paternity act," by amending sections 7, 10, and 11 (MCL 722.717, 722.720, and 722.721), sections 7 and 10 as amended by 1996 PA 18 and section 11 as amended by 1990 PA 244; and to repeal acts and parts of acts. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 7. (1) The court shall enter an order of filiation 2 declaring paternity and providing for the support of the child 3 under 1 or more of the following circumstances: 4 (a) The finding of the court or the verdict determines that 5 the man is the father. 6 (b) The defendant acknowledges paternity either orally to 7 the court or by filing with the court a written acknowledgment of 8 paternity. 01895'97 c SAT 2 1 (c) The defendant is served with summons and a default 2 judgment is entered against him or her. 3 (2) An order of filiation entered under subsection (1) shall 4 specify the sum to be paid weekly or otherwise, until the child 5 reaches the age of 18. Subject to section 7a 30 OF THE SUPPORT 6 AND PARENTING TIME ENFORCEMENT ACT, 1982 PA 295, MCL 552.630, the 7 court may also order support for a child after he or she reaches 8 18 years of age. In addition to providing for the support of the 9 child, the order shall also provide for the payment of the neces- 10 sary expenses incurred by or for the mother in connection with 11 her confinement, for the funeral expenses if the child has died, 12 for the support of the child before the entry of the order of 13 filiation, and for the expenses in connection with the pregnancy 14 of the mother or of the proceedings as the court considers 15 proper. However, if proceedings under this act are commenced 16 after the lapse of more than 6 years from the birth of the child, 17 an amount shall not be awarded for expenses or support that 18 accrued before the date on which the complaint was filed unless 1 19 or more of the following circumstances exist: 20 (a) Paternity has been acknowledged by the father in writing 21 in accordance with statutory provisions. 22 (b) One or more payments were made for support of the child 23 during the 6-year period and proceedings are commenced within 6 24 years from AFTER the date of the most recent payment. 25 (c) The defendant was out of the state, was avoiding service 26 of process, or threatened or coerced the complainant not to file 27 a proceeding under this act during the 6-year period. The court 01895'97 c 3 1 may award an amount for expenses or support that accrued before 2 the date the complaint was filed if the complaint was filed 3 within a period of time equal to the sum of 6 years and the time 4 that the defendant was out of state, was avoiding service of pro- 5 cess, or threatened or coerced the complainant not to file a pro- 6 ceeding under this act. 7 (3) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the court 8 shall order support in an amount determined by application of the 9 child support formula developed by the state friend of the court 10 bureau. The court may enter an order that deviates from the for- 11 mula if the court determines from the facts of the case that 12 application of the child support formula would be unjust or inap- 13 propriate and sets forth in writing or on the record all of the 14 following: 15 (a) The support amount determined by application of the 16 child support formula. 17 (b) How the support order deviates from the child support 18 formula. 19 (c) The value of property or other support awarded instead 20 of the payment of child support, if applicable. 21 (d) The reasons why application of the child support formula 22 would be unjust or inappropriate in the case. 23 (4) Subsection (3) does not prohibit the court from entering 24 a support order that is agreed to by the parents and that devi- 25 ates from the child support formula, if the requirements of sub- 26 section (3) are met. 01895'97 c 4 1 (5) Beginning January 1, 1991, each support order entered by 2 the court shall provide that each parent keep the office of the 3 friend of the court informed of both of the following: 4 (a) The name and address of the parent's current source of 5 income. As used in this subdivision, "source of income" means 6 that term as defined in section 2 of the support and parenting 7 time enforcement act, Act No. 295 of the Public Acts of 1982, 8 being section 552.602 of the Michigan Compiled Laws. 9 (b) The health care coverage that is available to the parent 10 as a benefit of employment or that is maintained by the parent; 11 the name of the insurance company, nonprofit health care corpora- 12 tion, or health maintenance organization; the policy, certifi- 13 cate, or contract number; and the names and birth dates of the 14 persons for whose benefit the parent maintains health care cover- 15 age under the policy, certificate, or contract. 16 (6) For the purposes of this act, "support" may include pay- 17 ment of medical, dental, and other health care expenses, child 18 care expenses, and educational expenses. The court shall require 19 that 1 or both parents obtain or maintain any health care cover- 20 age that is available to them at a reasonable cost, as a benefit 21 of employment, for the benefit of a child who is the subject of 22 an order of filiation under this section. If a parent is 23 self-employed and maintains health care coverage, the court shall 24 require the parent to obtain or maintain dependent coverage for 25 the benefit of the child, if available at a reasonable cost. 26 (3) (7)