SB 1878 Summary

• Defines "child support account" (funded by one or both parents for shared and child-specific expenses) and "child support plan" (budget incorporating child's primary needs and percentage allocations for expenses).

• Authorizes courts to require parents to make child support payments into a dedicated account with documented expenditures through debit cards or checks, and allows courts to specify maximum percentages for shared expenses like housing, transportation, and food.

• Removes court authority to award attorney fees, suit money, and costs in family law proceedings under chapter 61, except in contempt actions where the court may assess these fees against the contemptor after determining ability to pay.

• Requires parents seeking upward child support modifications to demonstrate prior payments were used solely for child's benefit and prohibits modifications if parent is unreasonably spending support; shifts burden of proving voluntary unemployment from party seeking to impute income to party opposing imputation.

• Clarifies that child support account funding obligations do not require adjustment based on time-sharing arrangements and allows courts to add health insurance and noncovered medical expenses to child support plan funding obligations.