By: Van de Putte S.B. No. 899
(In the Senate - Filed February 27, 2013; March 5, 2013,
read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
April 25, 2013, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; April 25, 2013,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 899 By: Hancock
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to determination of the amount of certain child support
obligations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (b), Section 154.062, Family Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) Resources include:
(1) 100 percent of all wage and salary income and other
compensation for personal services (including commissions,
overtime pay, tips, and bonuses);
(2) interest, dividends, and royalty income;
(3) self-employment income;
(4) net rental income (defined as rent after deducting
operating expenses and mortgage payments, but not including noncash
items such as depreciation); and
(5) all other income actually being received,
including severance pay, retirement benefits, pensions, trust
income, annuities, capital gains, social security benefits other
than supplemental security income, United States Department of
Veterans Affairs disability benefits other than
non-service-connected disability pension benefits, as defined by
38 U.S.C. Section 101(17), unemployment benefits, disability and
workers' compensation benefits, interest income from notes
regardless of the source, gifts and prizes, spousal maintenance,
and alimony.
SECTION 2. Section 154.066, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 154.066. INTENTIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT OR UNDEREMPLOYMENT.
(a) If the actual income of the obligor is significantly less than
what the obligor could earn because of intentional unemployment or
underemployment, the court may apply the support guidelines to the
earning potential of the obligor.
(b) In determining whether an obligor is intentionally
unemployed or underemployed, the court may consider evidence that
the obligor is a veteran, as defined by 38 U.S.C. Section 101(2),
who is seeking or has been awarded:
(1) United States Department of Veterans Affairs
disability benefits, as defined by 38 U.S.C. Section 101(16); or
(2) non-service-connected disability pension
benefits, as defined by 38 U.S.C. Section 101(17).
SECTION 3. Section 154.068, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 154.068. WAGE AND SALARY PRESUMPTION. In the absence
of evidence of a party's resources, as defined by Section
154.062(b) [the wage and salary income of a party], the court shall
presume that the party has income [wages or salary] equal to the
federal minimum wage for a 40-hour week to which the support
guidelines may be applied.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
154.062, 154.066, and 154.068, Family Code, apply only to a
proceeding to establish or modify a child support obligation that
is pending in a trial court on or filed on or after the effective
date of this Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
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