4.03Arrearage Guideline

4.03(A)State law requires that Michigan’s formula include guidelines to figure payments for overdue support, and when support for a child terminates and arrearages are owed. MCL 552.519(3)(a)(vi).

(1)Federal law requires states to have procedures to increase the amount of payments to include amounts for arrearages. 42 U.S.C. 666(c)(1)(H).

(2)State law requires friend of the court offices to use the Arrearage Guideline in setting or adjusting arrearage payments. MCL 552.517e.

(3)This Arrearage Guideline is not intended to interfere with the enforcement of past-due support and its collection through concurrent means that do not rely on regular payments.

(4)This Arrearage Guideline is not intended to interfere with judicial discretion to set fair and equitable repayment amounts that deviate from the Guideline.

4.03(B)Arrearage Payment Calculation

(1)Arrearages should be repaid as quickly as possible.

(2)If the entire arrearage cannot be paid immediately, the Arrearage Guideline should be used to set a repayment amount where support or fees are owed.

(3)Subject to (6)-(8) below, a monthly repayment amount is 2 percent of the total support arrearage at the time of the review, but not less than $50, nor more than half of the current support amount. Or, if no current support charge exists, then the monthly repayment amount is the last ordered charge amount.

(a)When applying the Guideline, any monies held or retained by the friend of the court office or the State Disbursement Unit as payment of past due child support should be subtracted from the amount of arrearage used to calculate the repayment amount.

(4)Payments set by this Guideline should be rounded to the nearest whole dollar amount.

(5)The monthly birth-related expense repayment amount (i.e., payment for current month, not past due amounts) should not be less than $25, nor more than the birth-related expenses’ pro-rata share of the total amount of birth-related and arrearages owed. Statutes, regulations, and other policy determine how these amounts will be distributed on a specific case.

(6)In order to repay arrearages as quickly as possible, the “total-payment-amount” (defined in §4.03(E)(4)) used for determining the repayment amount for collection must be the higher of: the most recent total-payment-amount, or the total-payment-amount presently figured using the arrearage payment calculation and current support charge.

(a)If the support charge is reduced because of a reduction in payer’s income always refigure the repayment amount using the arrearage payment calculation (§4.03(B)(3)) and the current support charge.

(7)If the most recent total-payment-amount is the payment amount chosen, the aggregate amount remains the same, but consists of a reduced support and an increased repayment amount (§4.03(B)(8)).

(8)Adjustment of Payments When Current Support Obligations Terminate

(a)If arrearages exist when a current support obligation terminates or is reduced for reasons other than a reduction in the payer’s income, there shall be no automatic reduction in the total-payment-amount unless ordered by the court.

(b)The reductions in the current support amount are added to the repayment amount and automatically become the new repayment amount.

(c)The total-payment-amount remains in effect until the arrearage has been paid in full or until modified or adjusted by the court or friend of the court.

4.03(C)Guideline Deviation and Exceptions

(1)When application of this Guideline creates an unjust or inappropriate result, deviation may occur and an alternate repayment amount may be established.

(2)The friend of the court office may deviate from the Guideline to increase the repayment amount if:

(a)there has been no other significant change in circumstances (e.g., different source of income, higher income, etc.),

(b)the payer has made all of the payments for the entire period since the repayment amount was set, and

(c)the arrearage has nevertheless increased by an amount greater than one month's current support obligation solely because surcharge has periodically added to the arrearage.

(3)The friend of the court should not routinely apply the Arrearage Guideline to administratively change repayment amounts in cases where:

(a)The court has ordered a specific periodic arrearage payment, and since entry of that order, the arrearage has not increased by at least one month’s support obligation based on the current support amount (if no current support charge use the last ordered charge amount) and the payer’s support obligation has not decreased.

(b)The total arrearage has been reduced, but has not yet been paid in full since the repayment amount was set (because applying the Guideline to a decreased arrearage total would unnecessarily extend the repayment period).

(c)The court previously ordered or the friend of the court administratively set a repayment amount that deviated from the Guideline either to avoid an unjust or inappropriate result or because of a formal agreement between the parties, and circumstances have not significantly changed since then.

(d)In interstate cases where Michigan and another state’s tribunal have entered an order regarding the same payer and child, and the support order and arrears accumulated under the Michigan order are being enforced by another jurisdiction.

4.03(D)Administrative Adjustment Records

(1)Friend of the court offices should maintain records of: (a) administratively set repayment amounts, (b) repayment amounts that deviate from the Arrearage Guideline, and (c) the reasons for any such deviation.

4.03(E)Definitions for the purpose of the Arrearage Guideline:

(1)Administrative adjustment means a change in an amount not ordered by the court.

(2)Repayment amount means periodic amounts in addition to current support specifically designated to reduce the arrearage owed.

(3)Birth-related expenses means the support payer's share of medical expenses connected to the pregnancy and the birth of the child that the circuit court orders repaid pursuant to MCL 552.452 or MCL 722.712.

(4)Total-payment-amount means the sum of regular periodic current and past-due support obligation, fees, and other payments required by court order or statute (i.e., the total the court determined the parent could afford to pay) or administratively set by the friend of the court office.