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Show Automatic payroll witholding of child support payments begins soon People are expected to know, i and understand the new law volves the courts, but we've bypassed the (need for hiring a lawyer)." Humberstone said divorce cases granted prior to Nov. 1, 1990 are subject to payroll withholding too, but with a few differences. A mother with custody of children can request automatic withholding of child support from her estranged husband the same way as described above. However, she will have to show justification before the DRS will initiate any action. ac-tion. "There will have to be some kind of justification," he said. "If there is a pattern of irregular payments, such as waiting until the last day of the month to make a payment and then shorting it by $25, even though the shortage may be made up the next month, it could create a financial finan-cial burden on the family. Those types of situations could be adequate ade-quate justification. We have to set up some rules for evaluating those situations. The rules have to cut in an even-handed way." In addition to requiring justification, justifica-tion, the DRS will notify the obligor of divorce cases granted prior to the November date that payroll withholding is forthcoming, probably prob-ably 15 days prior. At that point, the obligor will have an opportunity to petition the DRS for a hearing to object to automatic withholding or present extenuating circumstances. "The difference from the way we used to do it is that now we don't have to show that (the obligor is) 30 days in arrears before we can withhold wages,' Humberstone said. "Either side can request a hearing. We want to be as fair as possible. Also, if the needs change, as in the case with a cataclysmic illness ill-ness with a child, the amount (of child support) may have to be changed." Frandsen said the bills were presented in response to the recently re-cently enacted federal Family Practice Prac-tice Act, which is aimed at improving improv-ing the child support pay rate across the country. "There are a lot of people that paid faithfully," Frandsen said. "They weren't the problem. But, there are a lot of impoverished women and children out there, and the state has been picking up the bill with social service programs." According to Frandsen, the federal fed-eral government initiated the act and expected states to take action, but no federal guidelines have been set. "They had passed the act," he said "But they had not supplied any rules and regulations to deal with it. (Federal officials said) it was clear enough on its face for the states to comply. It changes the whole way we are doing business." Humberstone said the majority of opposition to the bills came from Utah's legal community. "They weren't against the action so much," he said. "They were against the guidelines. Some of the courts just don't like to be held to guidelines." 2 By SCOTT SUMMER ILL : Child support payments may be automatically withheld from obligors paychecks starting : November, in accordance with : legislation passed by the Utah i Legislature during its last session. : Chief Staff Attorney for Utah's I Department of Recovery Services (DRS) Bruce Humberstone said the new laws will add uniformity to the amount of child support being paid by initiating guidelines based on income. in-come. There also should be a reduction reduc-tion in the number of people not making their child support payments. House Bill 149 will allow either party in a divorce case to initiate automatic payroll withholding of child support through the office of Recovery Services. All divorces granted after Nov. 1, 1990 will be subject to automatic withholding unless otherwise stipulated in the divorce order, according ac-cording to Humberstone. - However, the withholding will not begin automatically. One of the parties must make a request for the i ...I action through the DRS. Once the request has been made, and if the divorce order does not contain a stipulation barring automatic withholding, a notice will be sent to the employer and wages will be garnished without prior notification to the obligor. "People are expected to know the law," said Humberstone. "If there is some reason for not having automatic withholding, the day in court is the time to bring it up. If the court agrees with the reason, the court order will state that there will be no wages withheld. Otherwise, if she wishes, and any time she wishes, she can initiate the action by coming in to our office. ' ' Working in conjunction with Bill 149 is House Bill 150, which allows for a review of the amount of child support being paid once every 3 years if there is a 25 percent variation varia-tion from the guidelines, according to sponsor of the bills, District 45 Rep. Lloyd Frandsen. "If child support payments deviate by 25 percent of the guidelines, the order can be modified," he said. "It still in- V " II Ml I I I |