LD 1589
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LD 1589 Title Page An Act To Improve Child Support Services Page 2 of 6
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LR 614
Item 1

 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

 
Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §3314, sub-§5, as amended by PL 1997, c. 752, §23 and
PL 2003, c. 689, Pt. B, §6, is further amended to read:

 
5. Support orders. Whenever the court commits a juvenile to
the Department of Health and Human Services, to a Department of
Corrections juvenile correctional facility or to a relative or
other person, the court may shall order either or both parents of
the juvenile to pay a reasonable amount of support for the
juvenile child support in accordance with the child support
guidelines under Title 19-A, section 2006. The order is
enforceable under Title 19-A, section 2603.

 
Sec. 2. 19-A MRSA §1615, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 466, §3 and
affected by §28, is amended to read:

 
§1615. Representation of department

 
The commissioner may designate employees of the department who
are not attorneys to file the record of proceedings commenced
under this subchapter in District Court and to represent the
department in court in both those proceedings and proceedings
filed by other parties. The commissioner shall ensure that
appropriate training is provided to all employees designated to
represent the department under this subchapter.

 
Sec. 3. 19-A MRSA §2006, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2003, c. 415, §8, is
further amended to read:

 
4. Computation of parental support obligation. The total
basic support obligation must be divided between the parties in
proportion to their respective gross incomes. The court or
hearing officer shall order the party not providing primary
residential care to pay, in money, that party's share of the
total basic support obligation to the party providing primary
residential care. The primary residential care provider is
presumed to spend the primary care provider's share directly on
each child. If the court or hearing officer determines that the
parties provide substantially equal care for a child for whom
support is sought, presumptive support must be calculated in
accordance with subsection 5, paragraph D-1. Both parents are
responsible for child support if a caretaker relative provides
primary residential care for the child.__The caretaker relative's
income may not be considered in determining the parents' child
support obligation.


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