452.340. Child support, how allocated--factors to be considered--abatement or termination of support, when--support after age eighteen, when--public policy of state--payments may be made directly to c
Child support, how allocated--factors to be considered--abatement ortermination of support, when--support after age eighteen,when--public policy of state--payments may be made directly tochild, when--child support guidelines, rebuttable presumption,use of guidelines, when--retroactivity--obligation terminated,how.
452.340. 1. In a proceeding for dissolution of marriage, legalseparation or child support, the court may order either or both parents owinga duty of support to a child of the marriage to pay an amount reasonable ornecessary for the support of the child, including an award retroactive to thedate of filing the petition, without regard to marital misconduct, afterconsidering all relevant factors including:
(1) The financial needs and resources of the child;
(2) The financial resources and needs of the parents;
(3) The standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the marriagenot been dissolved;
(4) The physical and emotional condition of the child, and the child'seducational needs;
(5) The child's physical and legal custody arrangements, including theamount of time the child spends with each parent and the reasonable expensesassociated with the custody or visitation arrangements; and
(6) The reasonable work-related child care expenses of each parent.
2. The obligation of the parent ordered to make support payments shallabate, in whole or in part, for such periods of time in excess of thirtyconsecutive days that the other parent has voluntarily relinquished physicalcustody of a child to the parent ordered to pay child support, notwithstandingany periods of visitation or temporary physical and legal or physical or legalcustody pursuant to a judgment of dissolution or legal separation or anymodification thereof. In a IV-D case, the family support division maydetermine the amount of the abatement pursuant to this subsection for anychild support order and shall record the amount of abatement in the automatedchild support system record established pursuant to chapter 454, RSMo. If thecase is not a IV-D case and upon court order, the circuit clerk shall recordthe amount of abatement in the automated child support system recordestablished in chapter 454, RSMo.
3. Unless the circumstances of the child manifestly dictate otherwiseand the court specifically so provides, the obligation of a parent to makechild support payments shall terminate when the child:
(1) Dies;
(2) Marries;
(3) Enters active duty in the military;
(4) Becomes self-supporting, provided that the custodial parent hasrelinquished the child from parental control by express or implied consent;
(5) Reaches age eighteen, unless the provisions of subsection 4 or 5 ofthis section apply; or
(6) Reaches age twenty-one, unless the provisions of the child supportorder specifically extend the parental support order past the child'stwenty-first birthday for reasons provided by subsection 4 of this section.
4. If the child is physically or mentally incapacitated from supportinghimself and insolvent and unmarried, the court may extend the parental supportobligation past the child's eighteenth birthday.
5. If when a child reaches age eighteen, the child is enrolled in andattending a secondary school program of instruction, the parental supportobligation shall continue, if the child continues to attend and progressestoward completion of said program, until the child completes such program orreaches age twenty-one, whichever first occurs. If the child is enrolled inan institution of vocational or higher education not later than October firstfollowing graduation from a secondary school or completion of a graduationequivalence degree program and so long as the child enrolls for and completesat least twelve hours of credit each semester, not including the summersemester, at an institution of vocational or higher education and achievesgrades sufficient to reenroll at such institution, the parental supportobligation shall continue until the child completes his or her education, oruntil the child reaches the age of twenty-one, whichever first occurs. Toremain eligible for such continued parental support, at the beginning of eachsemester the child shall submit to each parent a transcript or similarofficial document provided by the institution of vocational or highereducation which includes the courses the child is enrolled in and hascompleted for each term, the grades and credits received for each such course,and an official document from the institution listing the courses which thechild is enrolled in for the upcoming term and the number of credits for eachsuch course. When enrolled in at least twelve credit hours, if the childreceives failing grades in half or more of his or her courseload in any onesemester, payment of child support may be terminated and shall not be eligiblefor reinstatement. Upon request for notification of the child's grades by thenoncustodial parent, the child shall produce the required documents to thenoncustodial parent within thirty days of receipt of grades from the educationinstitution. If the child fails to produce the required documents, payment ofchild support may terminate without the accrual of any child support arrearageand shall not be eligible for reinstatement. If the circumstances of thechild manifestly dictate, the court may waive the October first deadline forenrollment required by this subsection. If the child is enrolled in such aninstitution, the child or parent obligated to pay support may petition thecourt to amend the order to direct the obligated parent to make the paymentsdirectly to the child. As used in this section, an "institution of vocationaleducation" means any postsecondary training or schooling for which the studentis assessed a fee and attends classes regularly. "Higher education" means anycommunity college, college, or university at which the child attends classesregularly. A child who has been diagnosed with a developmental disability, asdefined in section 630.005, RSMo, or whose physical disability or diagnosedhealth problem limits the child's ability to carry the number of credit hoursprescribed in this subsection, shall remain eligible for child support so longas such child is enrolled in and attending an institution of vocational orhigher education, and the child continues to meet the other requirements ofthis subsection. A child who is employed at least fifteen hours per weekduring the semester may take as few as nine credit hours per semester andremain eligible for child support so long as all other requirements of thissubsection are complied with.
6. The court shall consider ordering a parent to waive the right toclaim the tax dependency exemption for a child enrolled in an institution ofvocational or higher education in favor of the other parent if the applicationof state and federal tax laws and eligibility for financial aid will make anaward of the exemption to the other parent appropriate.
7. The general assembly finds and declares that it is the public policyof this state that frequent, continuing and meaningful contact with bothparents after the parents have separated or dissolved their marriage is in thebest interest of the child except for cases where the court specifically findsthat such contact is not in the best interest of the child. In order toeffectuate this public policy, a court with jurisdiction shall enforcevisitation, custody and child support orders in the same manner. A court withjurisdiction may abate, in whole or in part, any past or future obligation ofsupport and may transfer the physical and legal or physical or legal custodyof one or more children if it finds that a parent has, without good cause,failed to provide visitation or physical and legal or physical or legalcustody to the other parent pursuant to the terms of a judgment ofdissolution, legal separation or modifications thereof. The court shall alsoaward, if requested and for good cause shown, reasonable expenses, attorney'sfees and court costs incurred by the prevailing party.
8. The Missouri supreme court shall have in effect a rule establishingguidelines by which any award of child support shall be made in any judicialor administrative proceeding. Said guidelines shall contain specific,descriptive and numeric criteria which will result in a computation of thesupport obligation. The guidelines shall address how the amount of childsupport shall be calculated when an award of joint physical custody results inthe child or children spending substantially equal time with both parents.The Missouri supreme court shall publish child support guidelines andspecifically list and explain the relevant factors and assumptions that wereused to calculate the child support guidelines. Any rule made pursuant tothis subsection shall be reviewed by the promulgating body not less than onceevery four years to ensure that its application results in the determinationof appropriate child support award amounts.
9. There shall be a rebuttable presumption, in any judicial oradministrative proceeding for the award of child support, that the amount ofthe award which would result from the application of the guidelinesestablished pursuant to subsection 8 of this section is the correct amount ofchild support to be awarded. A written finding or specific finding on therecord in a judicial or administrative proceeding that the application of theguidelines would be unjust or inappropriate in a particular case, afterconsidering all relevant factors, including the factors set out in subsection1 of this section, is required if requested by a party and shall be sufficientto rebut the presumption in the case. The written finding or specific findingon the record shall detail the specific relevant factors that required adeviation from the application of the guidelines.
10. Pursuant to this or any other chapter, when a court determines theamount owed by a parent for support provided to a child by another person,other than a parent, prior to the date of filing of a petition requestingsupport, or when the director of the family support division establishes theamount of state debt due pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection 1 ofsection 454.465, RSMo, the court or director shall use the guidelinesestablished pursuant to subsection 8 of this section. The amount of childsupport resulting from the application of the guidelines shall be appliedretroactively for a period prior to the establishment of a support order andthe length of the period of retroactivity shall be left to the discretion ofthe court or director. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that theamount resulting from application of the guidelines under subsection 8 of thissection constitutes the amount owed by the parent for the period prior to thedate of the filing of the petition for support or the period for which statedebt is being established. In applying the guidelines to determine aretroactive support amount, when information as to average monthly income isavailable, the court or director may use the average monthly income of thenoncustodial parent, as averaged over the period of retroactivity, indetermining the amount of presumed child support owed for the period ofretroactivity. The court or director may enter a different amount in aparticular case upon finding, after consideration of all relevant factors,including the factors set out in subsection 1 of this section, that there issufficient cause to rebut the presumed amount.
11. The obligation of a parent to make child support payments may beterminated as follows:
(1) Provided that the child support order contains the child's date ofbirth, the obligation shall be deemed terminated without further judicial oradministrative process when the child reaches age twenty-one if the childsupport order does not specifically require payment of child support beyondage twenty-one for reasons provided by subsection 4 of this section;
(2) The obligation shall be deemed terminated without further judicialor administrative process when the parent receiving child support furnishes asworn statement or affidavit notifying the obligor parent of the child'semancipation in accordance with the requirements of subsection 4 of section452.370, and a copy of such sworn statement or affidavit is filed with thecourt which entered the order establishing the child support obligation, orthe division of child support enforcement;
(3) The obligation shall be deemed terminated without further judicialor administrative process when the parent paying child support files a swornstatement or affidavit with the court which entered the order establishing thechild support obligation, or the family support division, stating that thechild is emancipated and reciting the factual basis for such statement; whichstatement or affidavit is served by the court or division on the child supportobligee; and which is either acknowledged and affirmed by the child supportobligee in writing, or which is not responded to in writing within thirty daysof receipt by the child support obligee;
(4) The obligation shall be terminated as provided by this subdivisionby the court which entered the order establishing the child supportobligation, or the family support division, when the parent paying childsupport files a sworn statement or affidavit with the court which entered theorder establishing the child support obligation, or the family supportdivision, stating that the child is emancipated and reciting the factual basisfor such statement; and which statement or affidavit is served by the court ordivision on the child support obligee. If the obligee denies the statement oraffidavit, the court or division shall thereupon treat the sworn statement oraffidavit as a motion to modify the support obligation pursuant to section452.370 or section 454.496, RSMo, and shall proceed to hear and adjudicatesuch motion as provided by law; provided that the court may require thepayment of a deposit as security for court costs and any accrued court costs,as provided by law, in relation to such motion to modify.
12. The court may enter a judgment terminating child support pursuant tosubdivisions (1) to (3) of subsection 11 of this section without necessity ofa court appearance by either party. The clerk of the court shall mail a copyof a judgment terminating child support entered pursuant to subsection 11 ofthis section on both the obligor and obligee parents. The supreme court maypromulgate uniform forms for sworn statements and affidavits to terminateorders of child support obligations for use pursuant to subsection 11 of thissection and subsection 4 of section 452.370.
(L. 1973 H.B. 315 § 9, A.L. 1988 H.B. 1272, et al., A.L. 1989 1st Ex. Sess. H.B. 2, A.L. 1990 S.B. 834, A.L. 1993 S.B. 253, A.L. 1994 H.B. 1491 & 1134, A.L. 1995 S.B. 174, A.L. 1997 S.B. 361, A.L. 1998 S.B. 910, A.L. 1999 S.B. 1, et al. merged with S.B. 291, A.L. 2005 S.B. 420 & 344, A.L. 2007 S.B. 25)(1974) For discussion of child support criteria see Williams v. Williams (Mo.), 510 S.W.2d 452.
(1977) Held, trial court did not abuse its discretion in awarding income tax exemption for children to father who did not have custody and was required to pay twenty dollars a week per child as child support. Roberts v. Roberts (A.), 553 S.W.2d 305.
(1977) An adopted child is a "child of the marriage" see § 453.090 RSMo. D.L.C. v. L.C.C. (A.), 559 S.W.2d 623.
(1993) Parental child support obligation should not be terminated as a result of child's temporary inability to attend classes due to illness or physical disability when substantial evidence supports finding that interruption is temporary and that child intends to continue education. Braun v. Lied, 851 S.W.2d 93 (Mo.App.W.D.).
(1993) Statute relating to parental support obligation does not require that child attend an institution of higher education on full-time basis. Age limitation protects parent from protracted college education. Harris v. Rattini, 855 S.W.2d 410 (Mo.App.E.D.).
(1993) Where child brought action against health care providers for injuries sustained during mother's pregnancy and child was not conceived at time of alleged negligent medical treatment, tort recovery was not barred by two-year statute of limitation. Exception to statute of limitations for children under age ten applied to action. Lough v. Rolla Women's Clinic, Inc., 866 S.W.2d 851 (Mo. en banc).
(1994) Cadet at West Point was considered emancipated for purposes of child support even though academy provided education. Cadet's life at West Point is largely controlled by the government, which also provides for the bulk of the cadet's material needs. Federal law establishes that a cadet is part of the regular Army. Porath v. McVey, 884 S.W.2d 692 (Mo.App.S.D.).
(1997) Per diem payments received from an employer can be included in gross income when calculating a parent's child support obligation. Buckner v. Jordan, 952 S.W.2d 710 (Mo.banc).
(1997) Home-study program for attaining high school diploma was not "secondary school program of instruction" absent a showing of seriousness and good faith efforts on child's part to complete his education. Russell v. Russell, 949 S.W.2d 87 (Mo.App.W.D.).
(1999) Section requiring unmarried, divorced or legally separated parents to pay child support for college expenses does not violate equal protection clauses of federal and state constitutions. In re Marriage of Kohring, 999 S.W.2d 228 (Mo.banc).
(2000) Section requires child to receive credit for at least twelve hours to maintain eligibility to receive child support. Lombardo v. Lombardo, 35 S.W.3d 386 (Mo.App.W.D.).
(2004) Child's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was manifest circumstance preventing successful completion of twelve credit hour requirement and thus continuing child support obligation. Pickens v. Brown, 147 S.W.3d 89 (Mo.App.W.D.).
(2004) Death of custodial parent of college student in compliance with section does not terminate existing child support obligation. Kreutzer v. Kreutzer, 147 S.W.3d 173 (Mo.App.S.D.).