0178-hb 1102

CHAPTER 178

HB 1102 - FINAL VERSION

AN ACT relative to accessibility of veterans' disability payments in divorce cases.

SPONSORS: Rep. Rubin, Rock 25

This bill provides that veterans' disability payments paid to either spouse may be considered, to the extent permitted by federal law, in an action to modify an existing alimony order.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

AN ACT relative to accessibility of veterans' disability payments in divorce cases.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

178:1 Property Settlements; Veterans' Disability Payments. Amend RSA 458:16-a, I to read as follows:

I. Property shall include all tangible and intangible property and assets, real or personal, belonging to either or both parties, whether title to the property is held in the name of either or both parties. Intangible property includes, but is not limited to, employment benefits, vested and non-vested pension or other retirement benefits, or savings plans. To the extent permitted by federal law, property shall include military retirement and veterans' disability benefits.

178:2 Alimony; Veterans' Disability Payments. Amend RSA 458:19, IV(c) to read as follows:

(c) In determining amount and sources of income, the court shall not consider a minor child's social security benefit payments or a second or subsequent spouse's income. The court may consider veterans' disability benefits collected by either or both parties to the extent permitted by federal law.

178:3 Modification of Alimony Order; Veterans' Disability Payments. Amend RSA 458:19, IV(e) to read as follows:

(e) In any proceeding for modification of an existing alimony order, the earned or unearned income and social security disability payments of a spouse of the obligor party shall not be considered a source of income to that obligor party for the purpose of modification, unless the obligor party resigns from or refuses employment or is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, in which case the income of a subsequent spouse may be imputed to the obligor party only to the extent that such obligor party could have earned income in his or her usual employment. In such actions, the court may consider the veteran's disability benefits of a spouse of the obligor party to the extent permitted by federal law.