Act No. 569

Public Acts of 2002

Approved by the Governor

October 3, 2002

Filed with the Secretary of State

October 3, 2002

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 1, 2002

STATE OF MICHIGAN

91ST LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2002

Introduced by Reps. Vander Veen, Tabor, Hummel, DeRossett, Howell, Newell, Voorhees, Raczkowski, Patterson, Caul, Julian, Vear, George and Bisbee

ENROLLED HOUSE BILL No. 6009

AN ACT to amend 1982 PA 294, entitled "An act to revise and consolidate the laws relating to the friend of the court; to provide for the appointment or removal of the friend of the court; to create the office of the friend of the court; to establish the rights, powers, and duties of the friend of the court and the office of the friend of the court; to establish a state friend of the court bureau and to provide the powers and duties of the bureau; to prescribe powers and duties of the circuit court and of certain state and local agencies and officers; to establish friend of the court citizen advisory committees; to prescribe certain duties of certain employers and former employers; and to repeal acts and parts of acts," by amending sections 17d and 19 (MCL 552.517d and 552.519), section 17d as amended by 1996 PA 144 and section 19 as amended by 2001 PA 193, and by adding sections 11a and 11b.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 11a. (1) A complaint seeking enforcement for payment of a health care expense must include information showing that all of the following conditions have been met:

(a) The parent against whom the complaint is directed is obligated to pay the child's uninsured health care expenses, a demand for payment of the uninsured portion was made to that parent within 28 days after the insurers' final payment or denial of coverage, and that parent did not pay the uninsured portion within 28 days after the demand.

(b) The complaint is submitted to the office on or before any of the following:

(i) One year after the expense was incurred.

(ii) Six months after the insurers' final payment or denial of coverage for the expense, if all measures necessary to submit a claim for the health care expense to all insurers that might be obligated to pay the expense were completed within 2 months after the expense was incurred.

(iii) Six months after a parent defaults in paying for the health care expense as required under a written agreement, signed by both parents, that lists the specific bills covered by the agreement, states the amount to be paid in total, and sets forth the schedule for the payment of that amount, whether by installments or otherwise.

(2) If an office receives a complaint that meets the requirements of subsection (1), the office shall send a copy of the complaint to the parent who is named in the complaint as obligated to pay the child's uninsured health care expenses. The office shall include with the copy of the complaint sent to that parent a notice advising the parent of the provisions of subsection (3).

(3) If, within 21 days after the complaint and notice are sent to a parent under subsection (2), the parent does not file with the office a written objection to the complaint, the amount of the health care expense stated in the complaint becomes a support arrearage and is subject to any enforcement process available to collect a support arrearage. If the parent files a written objection within the 21-day time limit, the office shall set a court hearing, before a judge or referee, to resolve the complaint.

Sec. 11b. (1) An office shall initiate enforcement under the support and parenting time enforcement act if the office receives a written complaint that states specific facts constituting a custody or parenting time order violation. Upon request of a parent who has the right to interact with his or her child under a custody or parenting time order, an office shall assist the parent in preparing a complaint under this subsection.

(2) Within 14 days after an office receives a complaint under subsection (1), the office shall send a copy of the complaint to the individual accused of interfering and to each other party to the custody or parenting time order.

(3) If, in the opinion of the office, the facts as stated in the complaint allege a custody or parenting time order violation that can be addressed by taking an action authorized under section 41 of the support and parenting time enforcement act, MCL 552.641, the office shall proceed under section 41 of the support and parenting time enforcement act, MCL 552.641.

Sec. 17d. (1) After a final judgment containing a parenting time order is entered in a domestic relations matter for which there is an open friend of the court case, if there is an unresolved dispute as to parenting time, the office may file a motion with the court for a modification of the parenting time order. The office shall send each party to the parenting time order notice of the filing of the motion. With a motion filed and each notice sent under this subsection, the office shall include the following:

(a) Subject to subsection (2), a written report and recommendation.

(b) Either as a separate document or in the motion document under a separate heading, a notice, in not less than 12-point, boldfaced type, that states substantially the following:

"A party may object to the office of the friend of the court's recommendation for modification of the parenting time order. If a party does not object to the recommendation within 21 days after this notice was sent to the party, the office of the friend of the court may submit to the court a parenting time order that incorporates the recommendation.".

(2) The office shall prepare a written report and recommendation required for subsection (1) after making an evaluation that is commensurate with the scope of the unresolved dispute as to parenting time.

(3) If, within 21 days after the notice under subsection (1) is sent to each party, no party objects to the recommendation for modification of the parenting time order, the office may submit an order, incorporating the recommendation, to the court for the court's adoption. If a party objects within the 21 days, the motion for modification of the parenting time order shall be noticed for a hearing before a judge or referee.

(4) At a hearing on a motion filed under this section, the judge or referee may admit a statement of fact in the office's report or recommendation as evidence to prove a fact relevant to the proceeding, but only if all parties stipulate to or no party objects to the admission of the statement of fact and no other evidence is presented concerning the fact to be proved.

Sec. 19. (1) The state friend of the court bureau is created within the state court administrative office, under the supervision and direction of the supreme court.

(2) The bureau shall have its main office in Lansing.

(3) The bureau shall do all of the following:

(a) Develop and recommend guidelines for conduct, operations, and procedures of the office and its employees, including, but not limited to, the following:

(i) Case load and staffing standards for employees who perform domestic relations mediation functions, investigation and recommendation functions, referee functions, enforcement functions, and clerical functions.

(ii) Orientation programs for clients of the office.

(iii) Public educational programs regarding domestic relations law and community resources, including financial and other counseling, and employment opportunities.

(iv) Procedural changes in response to the type of grievances received by an office.

(v) Model pamphlets and procedural forms, which shall be distributed to each office.

(vi) A formula to be used in establishing and modifying a child support amount and health care obligation. The formula shall be based upon the needs of the child and the actual resources of each parent. The formula shall establish a minimum threshold for modification of a child support amount. The formula shall consider the child care and dependent health care coverage costs of each parent. The formula shall include guidelines for setting and administratively adjusting the amount of periodic payments for overdue support, including guidelines for adjustment of arrearage payment schedules when the current support obligation for a child terminates and the payer owes overdue support.

(b) Provide training programs for the friend of the court, domestic relations mediators, and employees of the office to better enable them to carry out the duties described in this act and supreme court rules. After September 30, 2002, the training programs shall include training in the dynamics of domestic violence and in handling domestic relations matters that have a history of domestic violence.

(c) Gather and monitor relevant statistics.

(d) Annually issue a report containing a detailed summary of the types of grievances received by each office, and whether the grievances are resolved or outstanding. The report shall be transmitted to the legislature and to each office and shall be made available to the public. The annual report required by this subdivision shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(i) An evaluative summary, supplemented by applicable quantitative data, of the activities and functioning of each citizen advisory committee during the preceding year.

(ii) An evaluative summary, supplemented by applicable quantitative data, of the activities and functioning of the aggregate of all citizen advisory committees in the state during the preceding year.

(iii) An identification of problems that impede the efficiency of the activities and functioning of the citizen advisory committees and the satisfaction of the users of the committees' services.

(e) Develop and recommend guidelines to be used by an office in determining whether or not parenting time has been wrongfully denied by the custodial parent.

(f) Develop standards and procedures for the transfer of part or all of the responsibilities for a case from one office to another in situations considered appropriate by the bureau.

(g) Certify domestic relations mediation training programs as provided in section 13.

(h) Establish a 9-person state advisory committee, serving without compensation except as provided in subsection (4), composed of the following members, each of whom is a member of a citizen advisory committee:

(i) Three public members who have had contact with an office of the friend of the court.

(ii) Three attorneys who are members of the state bar of Michigan and whose practices are primarily domestic relations law. Not more than 1 attorney may be a circuit court judge.

(iii) Three human service professionals who provide family counseling.

(i) Cooperate with the office of child support in developing and implementing a statewide information system as provided in the office of child support act, 1971 PA 174, MCL 400.231 to 400.240.

(j) Develop and make available guidelines to assist the office of the friend of the court in determining the appropriateness in individual cases of the following:

(i) Imposing a lien or requiring the posting of a bond, security, or other guarantee to secure the payment of support.

(ii) Implementing the offset of a delinquent payer's state income tax refund.

(k) Develop and provide the office of the friend of the court with all of the following:

(i) Form motions, responses, and orders for use by an individual in requesting the court to modify his or her child support, custody, or parenting time order, or in responding to a motion for modification without the assistance of legal counsel.

(ii) Instructions on preparing and filing the forms, instructions on service of process, and instructions on scheduling a support, custody, or parenting time modification hearing.

(l) Develop guidelines for, and encourage the use of, plain language within the office of the friend of the court including, but not limited to, the use of plain language in forms and instructions within the office and in statements of account provided as required in section 9.

(m) In consultation with the domestic violence prevention and treatment board created in section 2 of 1978 PA 389, MCL 400.1502, develop guidelines for the implementation of section 41 of the support and parenting time enforcement act, MCL 552.641, that take into consideration at least all of the following regarding the parties and each child involved in a dispute governed by section 41 of the support and parenting time enforcement act, MCL 552.641:

(i) Domestic violence.

(ii) Safety of the parties and child.

(iii) Uneven bargaining positions of the parties.

(4) The state advisory committee established under subsection (3)(h) shall advise the bureau in the performance of its duties under this section. The bureau shall make a state advisory committee report or recommendation available to the public. State advisory committee members shall be reimbursed for their expenses for mileage, meals, and, if necessary, lodging, under the schedule for reimbursement established annually by the legislature. A state advisory committee meeting is open to the public. A member of the public attending a state advisory committee meeting shall be given a reasonable opportunity to address the committee on any issue under consideration by the committee. If a vote is to be taken by the state advisory committee, the opportunity to address the committee shall be given before the vote is taken.

(5) The bureau may call upon each office of the friend of the court for assistance in performing the duties imposed in this section.

Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect December 1, 2002.

Enacting section 2. This amendatory act does not take effect unless House Bill No. 6011 of the 91st Legislature is enacted into law.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Secretary of the Senate.

Approved

Governor.