Bergen County Bd. of Services v. Steinhauer

• Court: New Jersey Superior Court
• Writing for the Court: KOBLITZ
• Citation: Bergen County Bd. of Services v. Steinhauer, 683 A.2d 856, 294 N.J.Super. 507 (N.J. Super. 1996)
• Decision Date: 05 March 1996
• Parties: BERGEN COUNTY BOARD OF SERVICES (Assignee of Irene Marty), Plaintiff, v. Todd STEINHAUER, Defendant. Family Part, Bergen County

Page 507

294 N.J.Super. 507

683 A.2d 856

BERGEN COUNTY BOARD OF SERVICES (Assignee of Irene Marty), Plaintiff, v. Todd STEINHAUER, Defendant.

Superior Court of New Jersey Chancery Division

Family Part,

Bergen County.

Decided March 5, 1996.

Mitchell I. Steinhart, Oradell, for plaintiff.

Todd Steinhauer, defendant pro se.

KOBLITZ, J.S.C.

This case raises the all too common issue of whether an incarcerated parent's child support obligation continues during the period of such incarceration. Defendant obligor brings a motion to suspend his child support obligations. On May 26, 1992, a support order was entered requiring defendant to pay child support of $90.00 per week for three children based on a net income of $320.00 per week, with credit given for his child of another relationship living with him. Defendant certifies that he is now incarcerated at Southern State Correctional Facility serving a fifteen year sentence with a seven and one-half year parole disqualifier. He has no income or assets and has fallen into arrears as a direct result of his incarceration. He further certifies that he owes restitution in the amount of $59,000.00 as well as other fines and penalties of unknown amounts on the criminal matter for which he is incarcerated. Defendant's non-payment of support had resulted in a detainer being lodged against him which precluded him from obtaining minimum custody status or work release or participating in other rehabilitative activities offered to those inmates who do not have detainers lodged against them. (After his support obligation was lowered by order of this court prior to the issuance of this opinion, the detainer was lifted. He then began working in prison, earning between $30 and $40 per month, subject to a $10 reduction due to adjustments in inmate pay wages.)

The Bergen County Board of Social Services (Board), as assignee of Irene Marty, filed a responsive brief with the court arguing, among other things, that defendant voluntarily committed the criminal acts which forseeably resulted in his incarceration and thus should be accorded no relief. Additionally the Board argues that defendant might obtain assets while incarcerated, i.e. inheritance, law suit proceeds, lottery winnings (although while in full custody inmates have no access to the lottery). Lottery winnings or inheritance as sources of future income or assets have been held to be too speculative to call for a child support award. Pasqua v. Pasqua, 16 Conn.App. 278, 547 A.2d 556, 557 (1988) (disabled obligor ordered to pay support based only on his ability at the time of the hearing); See also, Fattibene v. Fattibene, 183 Conn. 433, 441 A.2d 3 (1981) (evidence of possible inheritance too speculative).

While temporary loss of employment is not grounds for modification in New Jersey, Bonanno v. Bonanno, 4 N.J. 268, 72 A.2d 318 (1950); Innes v. Innes, 117 N.J. 496, 569 A.2d 770 (1990), long term incarceration is a significant change of circumstances which prevents the obligor from earning money to pay child support. Defendant is serving a lengthy sentence and cannot meet the support obligation that was ordered while he was employed. Defendant certified that he has no assets and the Board did not dispute this representation. Defendant does not have the ability or resources to continue paying support. Defendant's child support obligation will therefore, be suspended.

The State has a substantial interest in suspending arrears and support obligations of incarcerated obligors. The federal government provides funding to New Jersey and all other states for the collection of child support arrearages. 42 U.S.C. § 658(a) (1985). The amount of funding received is often related to the effectiveness of the collection methods as measured by the total statewide amount of arrears and efforts demonstrated to collect those arrears. Federal regulations require states to implement various mechanisms to effectuate collection of child support. See, State Plan Requirements, 45 C.F.R. § 302.70. A state may be exempted from these requirements and still receive federal funds if it can demonstrate that collection efficiency would not improve through full compliance. 45 C.F.R. § 302.70(d)(1). For instance, if a state's Aid to Family With Dependant Children (AFDC) assistance overpayments are above the national overpayment average, the state will lose some amount of federal funding, but that funding loss can be offset by a showing that the state's child support collection rate is either above the national average or an improvement over that state's collection rate for the preceding three years. 45 C.F.R. § 205.43(e)(4). For federal funding to be reduced because incarcerated obligors do not pay arrears is totally counterproductive. If New Jersey does not suspend support for incarcerated payors, its statistics for collecting arrears will be skewed to its disadvantage when compared with other states which do suspend support obligations of parents in prison. Of course, even under the standards set forth here, the payor must move to modify support prospectively. No process to automatically review the support obligations of incarcerated payors exists in New Jersey. Many incarcerated payors are unlikely to take the affirmative action of asking for relief in a timely manner and thus will lose the opportunity for relief since New Jersey prohibits the retroactive modification of child support. N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.23a. It would, therefore, be appropriate for the Legislature to address this matter statutorily to prevent a possible loss of federal funding. Until that time, those who do move for relief in a timely manner should be considered seriously on a case by case basis.

Many other states have dealt with an incarcerated payor's child support obligation. New York permitted suspension of child support even after a finding that the obligor retained an interest in the marital home. Foster v. Foster, 99 A.D.2d 284, 471 N.Y.S.2d 867 (1984). The court determined that the obligor's former wife still resided in the former marital home and did not intend to sell it any time in the near future. In Foster, the court suspended child support from the beginning to the end of incarceration for a prisoner whose support obligation was set during his incarceration. Id. at 869, 99 A.D.2d 284. In another case, the court reserved judgment regarding the advisability of modification of the accrued support arrearage until after the father's release at which time it would assess the father's good faith attempts to pay, indicating that a modification of the support order and the accumulated arrears could be granted at that time. Knights v. Knights, 71 N.Y.2d 865, 527 N.Y.S.2d 748, 522 N.E.2d 1045 (1988). Connecticut also suspended the child support obligation from the time that the father was incarcerated until he was released in another case where a support order was entered after the father became incarcerated. Commissioner of Human Resources v. Bridgeforth, 42 Conn.Supp. 126, 604 A.2d 836 (Super.Ct.1992). An Alabama court reduced a father's child support obligation on the basis of his incarceration. Murphy v. Murphy, 491 So.2d 978 (Ala.Civ.App.1986). In Murphy, the court noted that prior to the incarceration, the father had the ability to earn some money although he was filing for bankruptcy. Once convicted of a felony, the motion to modify child support (on the basis of financial losses) was amended to entail incarceration as the reason for modification. Id. Wisconsin also affords relief to incarcerated payors. In re Marriage of Voecks, 171 Wis.2d 184, 491 N.W.2d 107 (Ct.App.1992) (court reduced an incarcerated father's support obligation so that he would accrue less arrearages while in prison, stating that incarceration, although a result of deliberate acts, constituted a change of circumstances, and that the criminal conduct was not carried out in order to avoid paying support.).

In some states, such as in Illinois and Minnesota, support obligations have been completely suspended by virtue of the father's incarceration. See, e.g., People ex rel. Meyer v. Nein, 209 Ill.App.3d 1087, 154 Ill.Dec. 436, 568 N.E.2d 436 (1991) (considering incarceration as an involuntary loss of employment); Johnson v. O'Neill, 461 N.W.2d 507 (Minn.Ct.App.1990) (holding that the mens rea to commit a crime is not the same as an intent to limit income, and reducing support commensurate with earnings in jail, since it would be unfair to expect more support than is earned).

In Pennsylvania, an incarcerated parent's child support obligation was suspended until after he was to be released from the prison. The court noted that it would not benefit his child to inflict an ongoing support requirement on a parent who had no assets and thus was unable to pay. Leasure v. Leasure, 378 Pa.Super. 613, 549 A.2d 225 (1988). The District of Columbia court vacated a child support award assessed on a father incarcerated for assaulting and attempting to kill his wife, noting that it was illogical to add an ongoing, accumulating debt to the prison sentence since a prisoner cannot pay while imprisoned. Lewis v. Lewis, 637 A.2d 70 (D.C.1994).

Idaho has ruled that child support obligations of an incarcerated parent could be modified subject to an affirmative showing of no assets by the parent. Nab v. Nab, 114 Idaho 512, 757 P.2d 1231 (Ct.App.1988). See also, Carr v. Carr, 116 Idaho 754, 779 P.2d 429 (Ct.App.1989) (remanding the denial of motion for modification of support obligation since evidence of father's assets was too speculative). Michigan has also taken assets into account when determining whether or not to modify a support obligation. Pierce v. Pierce, 162 Mich.App. 367, 412 N.W.2d 291 (1987) (modification granted and arrearages during incarceration discharged after finding that obligor lacked assets, but judgment of divorce gave obligor credit of $3,300 toward support for his equity in marital home). The P...