State debt, defined, calculation
When the government gives money to help take care of a child (called public assistance), the parent who was not living with the child owes that money back to the state. This is called a 'state debt.' If a court already said how much that parent owes in child support, the state debt equals that amount (up to what the state paid). If there was no court order, the state gets to decide how much is owed, but not more than what was actually paid out. Any private deal between parents about support does not cancel what is owed to the state.
454.465. , defined, calculation — rights of regarding state debts — , procedure. — 1. For purposes of sections 454.460 to 454.505, a payment of by the to or for the of any child, including any payment made for the benefit of the caretaker of the child, creates an obligation, to be called "state debt", which is due and owing to the by the parent, or parents, absent from the home where the dependent child resided at the time the public assistance was paid. The amount of the state debt shall be determined as follows:
(1) Where there exists a directed to a parent which covers that parent's to a dependent during a period in which the family support division provided public assistance to or for the benefit of that dependent, the state debt of that parent shall be an amount equal to the obligation ed by the court, including and unpaid medical expenses, up to the full amount of public assistance paid; or
(2) Where no court order covers a parent's support obligation to a dependent during a period in which the family support division provided public assistance to or for the benefit of that dependent, the state debt may be set or reset by the in an amount not to exceed the amount of public assistance so provided by the family support division.
2. No agreement between any and any regarding any , or responsibility therefor, or to settle past, present, or future either as settlement or shall act to reduce or terminate any rights of the division to recover from that obligor for public assistance provided.
3. The division shall have the right to make a to a court or for of any court order creating a support obligation which has been to the family support division to the same extent as a to that .
4. The department, or any division thereof, as by the department director is hereby to such rules section 454.400 and as may be necessary to carry out the of this chapter and the requirements of the , including, but not necessarily limited to, the opportunity for a to an order of the division establishing or modifying support rules for narrowing issues and simplifying the methods of at hearings, and establishing procedures for notice and the manner of to be employed in all proceedings and instituted pursuant to sections 454.460 to 454.505.
5. Service pursuant to sections 454.460 to 454.505 may be made on the parent or other party in the manner prescribed for service of process in a , by an authorized appointed by the director, or by . The director may appoint any uninterested party, including, but not necessarily limited to, employees of the division, to serve such . For the purposes of this , a parent who refuses receipt of service by is to have been .
6. Creation of or from a state debt pursuant to this section shall not limit any rights which the department has or may obtain pursuant to common or , including, but not limited to, those obtained pursuant to an obtained pursuant to section 208.040.
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Source & history notes
(L. 1982 S.B. 468 § 14, A.L. 1984 H.B. 1275, A.L. 1986 H.B. 1479, A.L. 1993 S.B. 52, A.L. 1997 S.B. 361, A.L. 2014 H.B. 1299 Revision)
Legal information, not legal advice. Always confirm with the official source at revisor.mo.gov.