DIVORCE; CHILD SUPPORT; ALIMONY;

DIVORCE; CHILD SUPPORT;

Connecticut laws/regulations;

You asked a series of questions about paternity, child support, and alimony actions which we answer separately below.

The Office of Legislative Research is not authorized to give legal opinions and this report should not be considered as such.

Can actions for child support, alimony, or paternity be begun by leaving a copy of the legal papers at the other party’s home?

The law permits plaintiffs to begin actions involving family matters by having a “proper officer,” such as a marshal or support enforcement services investigator, leave a true and attested copy of the complaint and summons at a Connecticut defendant’s usual place of abode (CGS § 52-57). Abode service is as valid as personally giving the papers to the defendant, but the defendant can argue that the address where the papers were left was not his usual place of abode. If the court finds in his favor, it must set aside any orders and judgments it entered against him for lack of personal jurisdiction.

If the defendant does not respond to the complaint, can he be bound by the court’s order?

So long as a defendant has been properly served, the court has full jurisdiction to enter orders that are binding on him. If he does not appear, the case is treated as uncontested and the court will enter a default judgment against him.

A party against whom a default judgment has been entered may file a motion to reopen the judgment. The motion must be filed within four months of the judgment date, and the filing party must show that: (1) a good defense existed at the time the judgment was rendered and (2) the defense was not raised at the time because of mistake, accident, or other reasonable cause (State v. Ritz Realty Corp. , 63 Conn. App. 544 (2001)).

How do courts calculate support amounts when they have no financial or employment information about the defendant?

When a person found to be responsible for alimony or child support has not participated in the case, the other party must offer evidence, such as tax returns, financial records, or expert testimony that the court can use to assign the amount of the support obligation. Where the plaintiff cannot produce any proof of the defendant’s current or past earnings, an expert could offer an opinion on the typical salary of a person of similar ability, education, and work experience.

A new formula for calculating child support obligations will go into effect October 1, 2003, in cases where the child has received state child support enforcement services. Under prior law, the support amount was set based on the parent’s current ability to pay, or if this was unknown, the total amount of state assistance that the child had received.

The new law directs the court to base the amount, instead, on the parent’s work history, if known, or else on the state minimum wage that was in effect during the period in which the support obligation arose (PA 03-258).

Judges and magistrates must apply the Child Support Guidelines to determine presumptive support obligations in all cases where the parents’ combined net weekly incomes is not more than $ 2,500 per week (CGS § 46b-215a-2(a)).

Can erroneous child support orders be corrected?

The current law permits a parent whose support obligation the court calculated without information about his ability to pay to file a motion to adjust his obligation. This motion must be filed within four months of his receiving notice of the court’s order and his rights to seek an adjustment. The law that will go into effect in October extends to 12 months the period for seeking an adjustment, but only in cases where the obligor did not attend the court hearing.

The new law also requires the state’s Bureau of Child Support Enforcement, if they are providing support enforcement services, to file a motion to adjust when they find information about an obligor’s financial resources that was not previously available to the court.

Are child support orders stayed when the obligor is incarcerated?

Child support orders remain in effect when the parent is in jail. But incarceration is considered a change in circumstances that can justify a modification of the order. The law going into effect on October 1 specifically directs courts to set support obligations based on actual earnings during periods in which the obligor was a full-time high school student or was incarcerated, institutionalized, or incapacitated.

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