SB 228 Text

ENROLLED

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

Senate Bill No. 228

(Senators Boley, Schoonover, Whitlow, Wagner,

Tomblin, Burdette, Mr. President, Dalton, Bailey,

Anderson and Yoder, original sponsors)

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[Passed March 12, 1994; in effect from passage.]

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AN ACT to amend and reenact section fifteen-d, article two, chapter forty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to child support and educational expenses; eliminating language providing for college educational expenses; preserving eligibility of handicapped and disabled children for child support beyond age eighteen; and providing for modification of orders entered pursuant to prior to enactment.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fifteen-d, article two, chapter forty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 2. DIVORCE, ANNULMENT AND SEPARATE MAINTENANCE.

§48-2-15d. Child support beyond age eighteen.
(a) Upon a specific finding of good cause shown and upon findings of fact and conclusions of law in support thereof, anorder for child support may provide that payments of such support continue beyond the date when the child reaches the age of eighteen, so long as the child is unmarried and residing with a parent and is enrolled as a full-time student in a secondary educational or vocational program and making substantial progress towards a diploma: Provided, That such payments may not extend past the date that the child reaches the age of twenty.
(b) Nothing herein shall be construed to abrogate or modify existing case law regarding the eligibility of handicapped or disabled children to receive child support beyond the age of eighteen.
(c) The reenactment of this section during the regular session of the Legislature in the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-four shall not, by operation of law, have any effect upon or vacate any order or portion thereof entered under the prior enactment of this section which awarded educational and related expenses for an adult child accepted or enrolled and making satisfactory progress in an educational program at a certified or accredited college. Any such order or portion thereof shall continue in full force and effect until the court, upon motion of a party, modifies or vacates the order upon a finding that:
(1) The facts and circumstances which supported the entry of the original order have changed, in which case the order may be modified;
(2) The facts and circumstances which supported the entry of the original order no longer exist because the child has not been accepted or is not enrolled in and making satisfactory progress in an educational program at a certified or accredited college,or the parent ordered to pay such educational and related expenses is no longer able to make such payments, in which case the order shall be vacated;
(3) The child, at the time the order was entered, was under the age of sixteen years, in which case the order shall be vacated;
(4) The amount ordered to be paid was determined by an application of child support guidelines in accordance with the provisions of section eight, article two, chapter forty-eight-a of this code or legislative rules promulgated thereunder, in which case the order may be modified or vacated; or
(5) The order was entered after the fourteenth day of March, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, in which case the order shall be vacated.

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