HB 1333-LOCAL - AS INTRODUCED
2000 SESSION
HOUSE BILL 1333-LOCAL
AN ACT relative to the establishment of parenting plans.
SPONSORS: Rep. Bickford, Straf 1
COMMITTEE: Children and Family Law
This bill establishes parenting plans which shall be approved by the court in certain domestic cases and which shall allocate parental responsibilities for children in the context of disputed domestic cases.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
00-2614
04/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand
AN ACT relative to the establishment of parenting plans.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Subdivision; Parental Responsibilities. Amend RSA 458 by inserting after section 52 the following new subdivision:
458:53 Purpose and Intent. The legislature recognizes the fundamental importance of the parent-child relationship to the welfare of the child, and that the relationship between the child and each parent should be fostered unless clearly shown, in a particular case, to be detrimental to the child. The legislature further recognizes the importance of each parent and the inalienable right of each parent to be actively and meaningfully involved in his or her child's upbringing and that this right shall remain inviolate. In furtherance of this recognition, the legislature finds and declares that it is the policy of the state to assure that minor children have a frequent and continuing relationship with each parent on a shared basis whether or not the marital status, or the relationship of unmarried parents, is intact. In order to effectuate these important policies, the right of each child to have significant amounts of time with each parent shall be protected, the practice of one parent becoming a visitor in the child's life should be discouraged, and both parents should recognize the importance of each other for the highest possible level of development, care, and growth of their minor children on a shared basis. Specifically, it shall be the policy of the state of New Hampshire to:
I. Assure minor children of frequent and continuing contact with parents who have shown the ability to act in the best interests of the child.
II. Encourage such parents to share in the rights and responsibilities of raising their children after the parents have separated or dissolved their marriage.
III. Encourage parents to develop their own parenting plan with the assistance of legal and mediation professionals, if necessary.
IV. Grant parents and courts the widest discretion in developing a parenting plan.
V. Consider the best interests of the child and the safety of the parties in developing a parenting plan.
458:54 Definitions. In this subdivision:
I. "Child" means a minor as defined by New Hampshire law.
II. "Person entitled to parental responsibilities of or parenting time with, a child" means a person so entitled by virtue of a court order or by an express agreement that is subject to court enforcement.
III. "Parental responsibility" or "parenting time" means actual care and keeping of a child and refers specifically to the parenting time agreed on by and for both parties within the parenting plan. The term replaces all references to physical custody heretofore used in allocating parental responsibilities after parents have separated or dissolved their marriage.
IV. "Parent" means a person, including a parent, who claims a right to custody or parenting time with respect to a child.
V. "Allocation of parenting time and decision-making responsibilities" means a court decision and court orders and instructions providing for the parental responsibilities or parenting time of a child. "Allocation of parenting time and decision-making responsibilities" does not include a decision relating to child support or any other monetary obligation of any person.
VI. "Decree" or "allocation of parenting time and decision-making responsibilities decree" means the allocation of parental responsibilities contained in a judicial decree or order made in a custody proceeding, and includes an initial decree and a modification decree.
VII. "Parenting time" means actual care and keeping of a child and refers specifically to the parental responsibility schedule ordered or agreed on by and for both parties within the parenting plan.
VIII. "Parenting plan" means the written allocation of parental responsibilities, agreed to by the parties or ordered by the court, in which parenting time and decision-making responsibilities of the parents are defined and detailed.
458:55 Allocation of Parental Responsibilities.
I. The court shall determine the allocation of parental responsibilities, including parenting time and decision-making responsibilities, in accordance with the best interests of the child giving paramount consideration to the physical, mental, and emotional conditions and needs of the child as follows:
(a) The court, upon motion of either parent or upon its own motion, may make provisions for parenting time that the court finds are in the child's best interests unless the court finds, after a hearing, that parenting time by the parent would endanger the child's physical health or significantly impair the child's emotional development.
(b) The court, upon the motion of either parent or its own motion, shall allocate the decision-making responsibilities between the parents based upon the best interests of the child.
II. The court shall not consider conduct of a parent that does not affect that parent's relationship to the child.
III. In determining parenting time or decision-making responsibilities, the court shall not presume that any person is better able to serve the best interests of the child because of that person's sex.
IV. In the event of a medical emergency, either parent shall be allowed to obtain necessary medical treatment for the minor child or children without being in violation of the order allocating decision-making responsibility or in contempt of court.
V. In order to implement an order allocating parental responsibilities, both parents may submit a parenting plan or plans for the court's approval that shall address both parenting time and the allocation of decision-making responsibilities. If no parenting plan is submitted or if the court does not approve a submitted parenting plan, the court, on its own motion, shall formulate a parenting plan that shall address parenting time and decision-making responsibilities, except for matters filed under RSA 173-B.
VI. The court may order mediation to assist the parents in formulating or modifying a parenting plan or in implementing a parenting plan specified in paragraph V of this section and may allocate the cost of said mediation between the parents.
458:56 Parenting Plans.
I. The parenting plan may be either general or detailed and shall explicitly replace physical custodial terminology heretofore used in New Hampshire. As such, the physical custodial relationship, not the legal custodial relationship, between a parent and a child shall be defined within the context of the parenting plan as parenting time and not in terms of primary physical custody, joint physical custody, shared physical custody, residual custodial rights or physical custodial rights. A parenting plan may include a general outline of how parental responsibilities and parenting time will be shared and may allow the parents to develop a more detailed agreement on an informal basis. However, a general parenting plan shall set forth the minimum amount of parenting time and access a non-custodial parent is entitled to have.
II. A detailed parenting plan may include, but need not be limited to, provisions relating to:
(a) Residential schedule.
(b) Holiday, birthday and vacation planning.
(c) Weekends, including holidays, and school in-service days preceding or following weekends.
(d) Decision-making and responsibility.
(e) Information sharing and access.
(f) Relocation of parents.
(g) Telephone access.
(h) Transportation.
(i) Methods for resolving disputes.
III. The court shall develop a detailed parenting plan when so requested by either parent or the parent or parents are unable to develop a parenting plan.
IV. In developing a parenting plan, the court may consider only the best interests of the child and the safety of the parties.
V. Any existing order relative to custody shall be a presumption, affecting the burden of proof, that a continuing and meaningful relationship with both parents is in the best interest of the minor children.
458:57 Modification of Parenting Plan.
I. The court may modify an order granting or denying parenting time and decision making responsibilities whenever such modification would serve the best interests of the child.
II. If a motion for a modification of parenting time which also changes the party with whom the child resides a majority of the time has been filed, whether or not it has been granted, no subsequent motion may be filed within 2 years after disposition of the prior motion unless the court decides that the child's present environment may endanger the child's physical health or significantly impair the child's emotional development.
III. The court shall not modify a prior order concerning parenting time that changes the parenting time and changes the party with whom the child resides a majority of the time unless it finds that the modification is necessary to serve the best interests of the child. In applying these standards, the court shall retain the parenting plan schedule established in the prior decree unless:
(a) The parties agree to the modification;
(b) The child has been integrated into the family of the moving party with the consent of the other party; or
(c) The child's present environment endangers the child's physical health or significantly impairs the child's emotional development and the harm likely to be caused by a change of environment is outweighed by the advantage of a change to the child.
IV. If a parent has been convicted of a violent crime or a crime against children, or any crime in which the underlying factual basis has been found by the court on the record to include an act of domestic violence, the court may modify that parent's parenting time upon petition properly filed by the other parent.
458:58 Disputes Concerning Parenting Time.
I. Within 30 days after the filing of a motion by either parent or upon the court's own motion alleging that a parent is not complying with a parenting plan order, the court shall:
(a) Deny the motion, if there is an inadequate allegation;
(b) Set the matter for hearing; or
(c) Require the parties to seek mediation and report back to the court on the results of the mediation within 60 days.
II. After hearing, if the court finds that a parent has not complied with the parenting plan and has violated the court order, the court, in the best interests of the child, shall issue an order that may include, but not be limited to, one or more of the following orders:
(a) An order imposing additional terms and conditions that are consistent with the court's previous order; except that the court shall separate the issues of child support and parenting time.
(b) An order modifying the previous order to meet the best interests of the child.
(c) An order requiring either parent or both parents to attend a parental education program at the expense of the noncomplying parent.
(d) An order to require the parties to participate in family counseling.
(e) An order requiring the noncomplying parent to post bond or
security to insure future compliance.
(f) An order finding the parent who did not comply with the parenting plan in contempt of court and imposing a fine or jail sentence.
(g) An order imposing on the noncomplying parent a civil fine not to exceed $100 per incident of denied parenting time.
(h) An order scheduling a hearing for modification of the allocation of parenting responsibilities.
(i) Any other order that may promote the best interests of the child or children involved.
III. In addition to any other order entered pursuant to paragraph II of this section, the court shall order a parent who has failed to provide court-ordered parenting time or to exercise court-ordered parenting time to pay to the aggrieved party, attorney's fees, court costs, and reasonable expenses that are associated with an action brought pursuant to this section. In the event the parent responding to an action brought pursuant to this section is found not to be in violation of the parenting plan, the court may order the petitioning parent to pay the court costs, attorney's fees, and reasonable expenses incurred by such responding parent. Nothing in this section shall preclude a party's right to a separate and independent legal action in tort.
458:59 Designation of Custody for the Purpose of State and Federal Statutes. For purposes of any state and federal statutes that require a designation or determination of custody, the parenting plan set forth in the court's order shall identify the responsibilities of each of the parties.
2 New Paragraph; Custody of Children; Application to Parenting Plans. Amend RSA 458:17 by inserting after paragraph XVI the following new paragraph:
XVII. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the extent that any matter required by this section is contained in an order of a court having jurisdiction which implements a parenting plan pursuant to RSA 458:53-59.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2001.