Welcome to the YoungWilliams Research & Case Law Library.  Use the filters below to select categories of interest to you.  Currently our Library consists of academic and government research articles and reports from around the country, federal opinions, and case law from states in which our full service child support projects are located: Colorado, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Wyoming.  Sign up to receive updates by clicking the blue  box at the left of the page.

Disclaimer:  YoungWilliams does not endorse the reports or opinions expressed by non-YoungWilliams authors, nor do we endorse the entities that initially released or published the materials posted on our website.

 

Research & Case Law

Pinnacol v. Laughlin (Colorado)

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January 2023

For child support funds to be exempt from garnishment, the account into which they are deposited must comply with the provisions of the Colorado Uniform Transfer to Minors Act. When social security funds are comingled with other money, only the amount of funds that is clearly traceable to social security is exempt from garnishment. The parent in this case was awarded Social Security Disability. His employer had provided temporary disability during the award period and sought reimbursement. When the judgment wasn’t paid, the employer began garnishment proceedings. The parent argued his funds were exempt.

PDF icon pinnacolvlaughlin.pdf

In re Pretz (Kansas 2023)

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January 2023

Under the law of the case, a motion to modify support can’t be used to relitigate issues already decided by the court in a previous stage of the case. The district court granted the father’s motion to modify child support. The mother did not appeal this order.

PDF icon inrepretz.pdf

Centering Child Well-Being in Child Support Policy

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January 2023

The child support program has been fostering a culture change for the past few years from a program of strict enforcement to one that puts child well-being at its center. This paper frames a toolkit which explores recommended policies and practices to support the culture change. The toolkit includes information on family distribution, reducing arrears, right-sizing orders, income supports, family stabilization, and justice. The framing paper considers the importance of fathers, the history of the program, the effect of traditional policies, and the advantages of a realistic and evidence-based approach to program policy.

Perceptions of Fairness in Child Support

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December 2022

Many child support agencies have begun to apply the principles of procedural justice to practices and procedures. The idea being that customers who perceive they have been treated fairly are more likely to have a positive perception of the child support program. For this report, researchers interviewed parents, child support agency leaders, and employees on their perceptions of fairness in the program Research questions included how parents became involved with the program, what aspects of child support practices are perceived as fair or unfair, what are agencies doing to improve fairness, and what would a fair program look like.

PDF icon Perceptions of Fairness in Child Support

Shared Placement, Child Support Payments, and Sharing of Child-Related Expenses: Overview and Mother’s Perception of Fairness

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December 2022

More families are entering into shared custody arrangements. Child support and the sharing of expenses is different with these arrangements. This report researches the perception of mother’s on the fairness of child support and expense-sharing in both traditional and shared custody situations. The research showed mothers in shared custody arrangements were more satisfied with both parents’ overall contributions to child costs. The report notes communication between the parents is critical and supports should be in place to assist parents when issues arise.

PDF icon Shared Placement, Child Support Payments, and Sharing of Child-Related Expenses: Overview and Mother’s Perception of Fairness

Gyger v. Clement (North Carolina 2022)

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December 2022

Under the Hague Convention, the  respondent parent must have minimum contacts with a country for the country to have jurisdiction to enter a child support order. Switzerland, on behalf of mother, requested North Carolina register a Swiss child support order for enforcement. The father argued the Swiss Court had no personal jurisdiction over him, which is required as part of the Hague Convention. The North Carolina district court agreed. It found the father hadn’t received the required notice and opportunity to be heard. The mother appealed.

PDF icon gygervclement.pdf

Price v. Price (North Carolina 2022)

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December 2022

Evidence must support the determination of a parent’s income. Income determinations will be reviewed de novo. The father appealed the final order in this modification action, arguing that he had no notice of the hearing and that the trial court erred in calculating his income. The father failed to appear at the hearing. To calculate the father’s income, the mother presented the father’s W-2 form with his annual wages, evidence of his receipt of short-term disability payments, and income from a business. The appellate court found he had proper notice of the hearing but that the evidence didn’t support the income determination.

PDF icon Price v. Price

In re Parentage of MF (Kansas 2022)

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December 2022

In this ongoing parentage case, the Kansas Court of Appeals upheld a district court’s determination that a birth parent successfully rebutted a presumption of the appellant’s parentage. The case was heard on remand from the Kansas Supreme Court, who sent it back for the district court to apply the proper parentage test. First, the party who wishes to be declared a legal parent must satisfy one of the statutory presumptions in K.S.A. 23-2208(a). If the presumption is established, then the other party must rebut it by clear and convincing evidence, by court decree establishing paternity of someone else, or an application of the test for competing presumptions. If the presumption is rebutted, the burden shifts back to the other party to prove the existence of a parent-child relationship by a preponderance of the evidence.

PDF icon In re Parentage of MF

Hornsby v. Hornsby (Mississippi 2022)

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December 2022

A parent requesting a modification based on a reduction in income must show a corresponding change in his or her lifestyle. The father, a self-employed lawyer, requested a modification of child support. The chancery court denied his request. The father appealed. The appellate court affirmed. The father argued the chancery court improperly granted a motion in limine that excluded relevant evidence. However, the father made no proffer of evidence during the trial and, on appeal, failed to specify any specific evidence that was excluded.

PDF icon Hornsby v. Hornsby

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: Sanctioning and Child Support Compliance Among Black Families in Illinois

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December 2022

The Temporary Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) block grant provides eligible families with cash assistance in return for compliance with specific requirements, such as cooperating with the child support program. This article reports on research done in the state of Illinois regarding policies around the receipt of TANF and the barriers to maintaining this benefit. The research found these policies create barriers that disproportionally affect families on the basis of their race.

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