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Panel reviews bill letting courts consider retirement accounts to pay child support arrearages
Summary
Senate Bill 237 would require courts to consider individual retirement plan accounts when a parent has lost a professional license, voluntarily underemployed, or experienced similar income loss; the bill also removes certain retirement-account exemptions for child-support claims. Committee heard proponents and amendments addressing KPERS and DCF.
The House Committee on Judiciary heard Senate Bill 237 on Monday, a bill that would require courts in certain circumstances to consider individual retirement plan accounts when determining child-support obligations and to allow courts to order use of those funds to pay child-support arrearages after a distributable event.
Jason Thompson, the committee advisor, told members the bill has three primary components: it requires courts to consider the value of individual retirement plan accounts in child-support calculations under specified circumstances (including loss of income tied to suspension, revocation or surrender of a professional license or voluntary underemployment); it mandates use of those accounts to satisfy arrearages in certain conditions, but only after a distributable event as defined by the retirement plan; and it eliminates, for child-support purposes, the exemption that currently shields certain retirement accounts from claims.
The reviser noted Senate amendments removed criminal-conduct-based triggers from the bill after committee concern about conflicts with other law. Proponents counselled the bill as an equitable measure to prioritize dependent children when a parent has arrearages and access to retirement funds. Attorney Josh Nye, who appeared as a proponent, said the measure helps judges view the “whole pie” of a parent’s assets and obligations so the child’s needs come first.
Senator Kelly Warren, who carried the bill in the Senate, said the measure passed the Senate unanimously (40–0) after committee amendments and that changes incorporated during the Senate process addressed concerns raised by KPERS (Kansas Public Employees Retirement System) and the Department for Children and Families about how distributions would be handled.
Committee members did not record a final vote on SB 237 during the March 17 meeting; the reviser said the bill would take effect upon publication in the register if enacted, and committee witnesses were asked to provide technical feedback on administrative details.
The bill’s language addresses complex interactions between federal qualified-plan rules and state child-support enforcement; the committee’s discussion focused on when a judge may order the use of funds and how to avoid forcing distributions that would violate federal tax or retirement-plan rules.
