Bill would relieve parents with several families to support

Jennifer Coleman

Monday, March 8, 1999 | 10:35 a.m.

CARSON CITY - A divorced parent whose paycheck is split up among more than one family could get some relief in child support payments under a bill heard Monday in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

But a key lawmaker objected, saying Nevada law already allows judges to consider multiple families as one of 12 factors that might justify lowering child support payments.

Absent such factors, 18 percent to 31 percent of the noncustodial parent's income must go to child support, according to a state formula.

Besides multiple families, a judge calculating child support can consider factors such as travel expenses for visitation, child care costs, health insurance and education costs.

SB150, introduced by Sen. Maurice Washington, R-Sparks, would give top priority to the multiple family provision. There's no ranking in the bill for the remaining factors.

The bill isn't about lessening the responsibilities of noncustodial parents, Washington stressed. "They should step up to the plate and take responsibility. We ought to assist in helping them do that," he said.

But Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said multiple-family responsibilities should not be the judge's first concern.

"He wants to pull this out and put it at the top of the list of things that should be considered. But if we are going to prioritize this list, we need to examine all the others on the list," said Titus.

Washington said he received numerous phone calls from fathers who were going broke paying child support.

"The fathers I've talked to, most of them have been ordered to pay child support, then later obtained another family to support," he said.

This causes them to fall behind in support payments and even end up in prison for not paying, Washington said.

SB150 also is supported by attorney John Morrow of the Washoe County Public Defender's office. Many of his clients are in arrears over child support payments.

"They are unable to support their current family because of other obligations," Morrow said.

But Titus said judges already have the authority to consider multiple payments when necessary.

"We have a formula for child support that works. We have 12 exceptions to the formula a judge can consider," she said. "This bill takes it out of the list and says this is the first thing to consider."

And Valerie Cooney of the Nevada Trial Lawyers Association said the bill's supporters weren't considering the well-being of the children who would be receiving less money each month.

That offended Washington and Judiciary Chairman Mark James, R-Las Vegas.

"We did take under consideration the children. The children are pawns in the middle of this," Washington said.