Incarcerated parent not automatically entitled to child support reduction but should have ability to petition court for change

Law Reporter, Aug 2003

Department of Revenue v. Jackson, _ So. 2d _, Nos. SCO1-913, SCO1-914,2003 WL 1922661 (Fla. Apr. 24,2003).

The Florida Supreme Court held that courts should not automatically reduce the child support obligation of a parent who is sent to prison. The court, however, also delineated a procedure by which such obligations can be modified to best serve the interests of the child.

Here, the state high court reviewed the consolidated appeals of several individuals who had child support obligations and had been incarcerated. The court observed that a parent newly released from prison will probably be without the means to satisfy a large accrued child support debt. The sensible approach is to find a procedure that will most benefit the child, through a plan designed for realistic payments, the court said, noting that the goal is not a mere paper judgment but to see that payments are actually made.

The court found that, initially, a parent seeking modification of child support payments due to incarceration should be able to file a petition to modify with the trial court that entered the original child support order. Thereafter, the trial court should hold the petition in abeyance and place the matter on its inactive calendar for the term of the parent's incarceration. Under this system, the support installments, although still outstanding according to the original payment schedule, would not accrue as a vested interest of the child to be reduced to a judgment that cannot be altered.

On the parent's release, any party to the initial support arrangement should be free to bring the original petition for modification to the trial court's attention for resolution, the court continued. At that time, the trial court should conduct a hearing and consider all equitable factors to determine a realistic plan for the payment of meaningful support. The trial court should structure a schedule of prospective payments that, while possibly less than the payments originally decreed, is designed to enhance the probability that full reimbursement of the underlying amount will occur at some future time, the court said. Some relevant factors include the length of the parent's incarceration, the parent's present and future employment possibilities, and the total outstanding unpaid amount, as well as any additional considerations relating to die parent's attempt, if any, to evade child support obligations.

Plaintiffs' Counsel

R. Mitchell Prugh, Melrose, Fla.