43-512.15. Title IV-D child support order; modification; when; procedures.

(1) The county attorney or authorized attorney, upon referral from the Department of Health and Human Services, shall file a complaint to modify a child support order unless the attorney determines in the exercise of independent professional judgment that:

(a) The variation from the Supreme Court child support guidelines pursuant to section 42-364.16 is based on material misrepresentation of fact concerning any financial information submitted to the attorney;

(b) The variation from the guidelines is due to a voluntary reduction in net monthly income. Incarceration may not be treated as voluntary unemployment in establishing or modifying support orders; or

(c) When the amount of the order is considered with all the other undisputed facts in the case, no variation from the criteria set forth in subdivisions (1)(a) and (b) of section 43-512.12 exists.

(2) The proceedings to modify a child support order shall comply with section 42-364, and the county attorney or authorized attorney shall represent the state in the proceedings.

(3) After a complaint to modify a child support order is filed, any party may choose to be represented personally by private counsel. Any party who retains private counsel shall so notify the county attorney or authorized attorney in writing.

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Annotations

An individual who has been incarcerated for the minimum period of time specified in this section may file a complaint seeking modification of his or her child support obligation upon the basis that his or her incarceration is an involuntary reduction of income, unless the circumstances contained in subsection (1)(b) of this section are met. Rouse v. Rouse, 18 Neb. App. 128, 775 N.W.2d 457 (2009).

The statutory minimum period of incarceration is not limited to that occurring after sentencing, because a person continuously jailed while awaiting trial faces the same reduction in income as a person continuously incarcerated after sentencing. Rouse v. Rouse, 18 Neb. App. 128, 775 N.W.2d 457 (2009).

A child support obligor's incarceration is considered an involuntary reduction in income for purposes of modification when the obligor has been incarcerated for the statutorily specified minimum period of time, unless the circumstances contained in subsection (1)(b) of this section are met. Hopkins v. Stauffer, 18 Neb. App. 116, 775 N.W.2d 462 (2009).