In any proceeding before a court in which the court has the duty or authority to determine liability of a parent for the support of minor children or the amount of that support, the court:

A. shall make a specific determination and finding of the amount of support to be paid by a parent in accordance with the provisions of Section 40-4-11.1 NMSA 1978;

B. shall not consider present or future welfare financial assistance payments to or on behalf of the children in making its determination under Subsection A of this section; and

C. for good cause may order the parent liable for support of a minor child to assign to the person or public office entitled to receive the child support that portion of the parent's periodic income or other periodic entitlements to money. The assignment of that portion of the parent's periodic income or other periodic entitlements to money may be ordered by the court by the issuance of a notice to withhold income against the income of the parent. The procedures for the issuance of the notice to withhold income, the content of the notice to withhold income, the duties of the parent liable for child support and the duties of the employer responsible for withholding income shall be the same as provided for in the Support Enforcement Act [40-4A-1 to 40-4A-20 NMSA 1978], except that delinquency in payment under an order for support need not be a pre-existing condition to effectuate the procedures of the Support Enforcement Act for purpose of withholding income under this section.

History: 1953 Comp., § 22-7-11.1, enacted by Laws 1971, ch. 185, § 1; 1987, ch. 340, § 1; 1988, ch. 87, § 1.

Compiler's notes. — Laws 1988, ch. 87, § 1 amended 40-4-11 NMSA 1978 as amended by Laws 1987, ch. 340, § 1, and Laws 1988, ch. 87, § 3 repealed and reenacted the same section, both effective March 8, 1988. Pursuant to instructions of the New Mexico compilation commission, both versions of the section have been set out.

In Leeder v. Leeder, 118 N.M. 603, 884 P.2d 494 (Ct. App. 1994), the court discussed the interpretation of these two sections and concluded that reading the second version of this section, Subsection A of 40-4-11.1 and 40-4-11.2 NMSA 1978 together, the guidelines are presumed to provide the proper amount of child support and that the second version of this section is ordinarily satisfied if the court sets forth the computations made under the guidelines. The second version of this section requires additional findings only when the children's needs for care, maintenance, and education, in light of the parents' financial resources, justify a departure from the guidelines. Although under this interpretation there is substantial overlap in what is required by Subsection A of the second version of this section, Subsection A of 40-4-11.1 and 40-4-11.2 NMSA 1978, there is no way to avoid the overlap without distorting the meaning of the statutory language for no discernible purpose. Statutes which relate to the same subject matter should, if possible, be construed to give effect to every provision of each.

The 1988 amendment, effective March 8, 1988, deleted "disregard of welfare payment" preceding "notice to withhold" in the catchline; in Subsection A, substituted "in accordance with the provisions of Section 40-4-11.1 NMSA 1978" for "to provide properly for the care, maintenance and education of the minor children, considering the financial resources of the parent"; corrected a misspelling in Subsection C; merged present Subsection C and former Subsection D by deleting "and" between the subsections and the designation of former Subsection D; and substituted "this section" for "this act" at the end of present Subsection C.