SharedParentingLegSB 1194 (File 567, as amended by Senate "A" and "B")*

OLR Bill Analysis

AN ACT CONCERNING ARBITRATION IN CERTAIN FAMILY RELATIONS MATTERS

SUMMARY:

This bill makes several changes in child custody, support, and visitation statutes based on the recommendations of the Governor's Commission on Custody, Divorce, and Children. Current law requires courts to be guided by the child's best interests and presumes joint custody is appropriate when the parents agree to it. The bill extends this presumption to other matters they agree on.

It also permits divorcing couples to submit disputes, except those involving child support, visitation, or custody, to binding arbitration. It requires advance approval by the court, which must determine that (1) each party voluntarily agreed to arbitrate and (2) the terms of their written arbitration agreement are fair and equitable under the circumstances.

It subjects marital arbitrations to the same rules, standards, and limited court review as currently apply to other arbitrations.

*Senate Amendment "A" excludes child visitation matters from arbitration.

*Senate Amendment "B" adds the provisions incorporating recommendations of the governor's commission.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2005

PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY PLANS

The bill requires parental responsibility plans to be submitted to the court if both parents agree to their terms. The objectives of the plan are to set forth each parent's authority and responsibility over the child and to provide for the child's physical care, emotional stability, and changing needs as he grows older. Parenting plans must include provisions:

1. designating where the child will live during the year;

2. allocating decision-making authority to either or both parents for the child's health, education, and religious upbringing;

3. for resolving future disputes that include seeking assistance from mental health professionals or others in reaching a developmentally appropriate resolution, where appropriate;

4. for dealing with (a) a parent's failure to honor his or her responsibilities under the plan and (b) the child's changing needs over time;

5. for minimizing the child's exposure to harmful parental conflict and encouraging the parents in appropriate circumstances to meet their responsibilities through agreements; and

6. for protecting the child's best interests.

Court Approval of Plans

The court must adopt consensual parenting plans and make their terms its custodial and access orders unless it holds a hearing and determines that the plan is not in the child's best interests. The bill authorizes courts to modify their terms in the same manner it currently follows in other divorce matters involving children.

COURT ORDERS AND MODIFICATIONS

The bill requires court custody and support orders to (1) take into consideration each parent's rights and responsibilities, (2) serve the child's best interests, and (3) provide for the active and consistent involvement of both parents according to their abilities and interests.

The plans may include:

1. approval of a parental responsibility plan the parents have agreed to;

2. joint parental responsibility orders, which must include provisions for (a) the child's living arrangements in accordance with the child's and parents' needs, (b) parental consultations, and (c) making major decisions concerning the child's health, education, and parental upbringing;

3. an award of sole custody to one parent with appropriate parenting time for the other parent when sole custody is in the child's best interests; and

4. any other custody arrangements the court determines are in the child's best interests.

Factors the Court May Consider

The bill permits judges to consider, when making or modifying plans:

1. the child's temperament and developmental needs;

2. the parents' capacity and disposition to understand and meet the child's needs;

3. any relevant and material information obtained from the child;

4. the parents' wishes concerning child custody;

5. the child's past and current interaction and relationship with each parent, his siblings, and any other person who may significantly affect his best interests;

6. each parent's willingness and ability to facilitate and encourage a continuing parent-child relationship with the other parent, as appropriate, including complying with any court orders;

7. either parent's coercive behavior designed to manipulate the child and involve him in their dispute;

8. each parent's ability to be actively involved in the child's life;

9. the child's adjustment to his home, school, and community environments;

10. how long the child has lived in a stable and satisfactory environment and the desirability of continuing this;

11. a parent's voluntary leaving of the family home, where leaving served the child's best interests;

12. the stability of the child's existing or proposed residences;

13. the mental and physical health of all involved;

14. the child's cultural background;

15. how a child has been affected by an abuser's domestic violence occurring between the parents or between one parent and another person or the child;

16. whether the child or his siblings have been abused or neglected under existing statutory definitions; and

17. whether the parents completed court-mandated parenting education classes.

The court need not assign any particular weight to any of the factors it considers, but it cannot deny custody based solely on a parent's disability unless it determines that this is in the child's best interests.

Current child custody statutes do not list factors the courts may consider other than the child's wishes and the parents' completion of the court's parenting education program.

COMMITTEE ACTION

Judiciary Committee

Joint Favorable Substitute

Yea

Nay