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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 349 FILED ON: 1/8/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2053
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Christopher J. Worrell
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act modernizing child support.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Christopher J. Worrell5th Suffolk1/8/2025 1 of 3
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 349 FILED ON: 1/8/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2053
By Representative Worrell of Boston, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2053) of
Christopher J. Worrell relative to child support. The Judiciary.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act modernizing child support.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Section 3A of chapter 119A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022
2Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 10 and 11, the words “in accordance
3with rule 4(d)(2) of the Massachusetts Rules of Domestic Relations Procedure” and inserting in
4place thereof the following words:- by summons personally.
5 SECTION 2. Paragraph (3) of section 10 of said chapter 119A, as so appearing, is hereby
6amended by adding the following sentence:- Annually, not later than October 15, said report
7shall be published on the Mass.gov website or any successor website.
8 SECTION 3. Section 12 of said chapter 119A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
9adding the following subsection:-
10 (n) If a noncustodial parent is incarcerated for a period exceeding 90 consecutive days,
11their child support obligation shall be automatically modified to reflect an income based on the
12state minimum wage, unless the custodial parent or the child support enforcement division 2 of 3
13presents evidence to the probate and family court that the noncustodial parent has alternative
14income or assets available to meet their support obligation.
15 SECTION 4. Subsection (b) of section 16 of said chapter 119A, as so appearing, is
16hereby amended by inserting after the first sentence the following sentence:- The division of
17child support enforcement shall not notify the licensing authority, for the purpose of suspending,
18revoking, prohibiting issuance or renewal of a driver's license, for any support obligor who is
19determined to be out of compliance with a judgment or order for support in a case enforced
20under Title IV-D of the federal Social Security Act, if the annual household income of the
21support obligor is at or below 70 per cent of the median income for the county in which the
22department or the local child support enforcement agency determines the support obligor resides,
23based on the most recent available data published by the United States Department of Housing
24and Urban Development or any successor agency.
25 SECTION 5. The second sentence of said section (b) of said section 16 of said chapter
26119A, inserted by section 4, is hereby amended by striking out the words “driver’s license” and
27inserting in place thereof the following words:- noncommercial driver’s license.
28 SECTION 6. Section 8 of chapter 209C of the General Laws, as most recently amended
29by section 37 of chapter 166 of the acts of 2024, is hereby further amended by striking out the
30words “in accordance with the applicable rules of court” and inserting in place thereof the
31following words:- by summons personally.
32 SECTION 7. Subsection (a) of section 9 of said chapter 209C, as most recently amended
33by section 39 of said chapter 166, is hereby further amended by striking out the words “In 3 of 3
34accordance with the applicable rules of court” and inserting in place thereof the following
35words:- by summons personally.
36 SECTION 8. The executive office of the trial court shall promulgate amendments to the
37child support guidelines to reflect the following:
38 (i) if the noncustodial parent earned a yearly income within the last 5 years of $100,000
39or more, and is currently making below that amount, a child support order may be established
40attributed to that previous income. Otherwise, income may not be attributed to potential earning
41capacity; and
42 (ii) if the obligor is unemployed at the time of the attribution, or employed but earning an
43amount less than the income attributed to them, the obligor shall be granted a grace period of 60
44days from the date of the income attribution determination to obtain employment or increase
45their earnings to reflect the attributed income. During said grace period, no enforcement action,
46including but not limited to license suspension, wage garnishment, bank levies or contempt
47proceedings, shall be initiated solely based on the attributed income, and the obligor shall
48provide reasonable documentation of job search efforts or employment status to the court or the
49division of child support enforcement of the department of revenue.
50 SECTION 9. Section 4 shall take effect January 1, 2027.
51 SECTION 10. Section 5 shall take effect January 1, 2028.