Senate Bill S7613

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S7613

SPONSOR: MARCHIONE
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the domestic relations law, in
relation to establishing a living allowance for an adult child with a
developmental disability

 
PURPOSE:

To aid families and dependent adult children who have surpassed the age
of majority for child support, but have developmental disabilities that
necessitate a living allowance.

 
SUMMARY OF GENERAL PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the Domestic Relations Law, to provide a living allow-
ance, structured similarly to current child support provisions, for
adult children with developmental disabilities. This award would be at
the discretion of the Court, so long as such individual is diagnosed
with a developmental disability, including but not limited to a disabil-
ity that is attributable to: intellectual disability, cerebral palsy,
              

epilepsy, neurological impairment, familial dysautonomia, prader-willi
syndrome, or autism; or is attributable to any other condition of a
person found to be closely related to intellectual disability because
such condition results in similar impairment of general intellectual
functioning or adaptive behavior to that of intellectually disabled
persons or requires treatment and services similar to those required for
such person; or is attributable to dyslexia resulting from a disability
described in subparagraph one or two of this paragraph; or the disabili-
ty originates before the person is twenty-two years old; has continued
or can be expected to continue indefinitely; and constitutes a substan-
tial handicap to a person's ability to function normally in society.

Section 2 provides the effective date.

 
EXISTING LAW:

Current law does not allow a court to award a living allowance to adult
children who have surpassed the age for child support eligibility.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The "age of majority" is the legal age established by state law which
defines that an individual is no longer a minor, and as a young adult,
is granted the right and responsibility to make certain legal choices
that adults make. In some states, you are considered an adult at the age
of 18 or upon high school graduation, in others it is extended until the
age of 21.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, an exception
to the rule that parents' duty to support their children ends at the
children's majority occurs when the child has mental or physical disa-
bilities and cannot support his/herself. Oftentimes courts define "disa-
bility" in economic terms, meaning the inability of the adult disabled
child to adequately care for themselves through their own means.

Currently 40 states have provisions allowing custodial parents to pursue
child support after age 21 for adult children with disabilities. Our
neighboring states New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island all passed
such legislation. States differ as to whether support for an adult disa-
bled child is determined by the state's child support guidelines or by
the needs of the child as balanced by the parents ability to provide
support.

Families with dependent, adult-children with developmental disabilities,
face numerous challenges in providing necessary support for their loved
ones. These challenges can at times become overwhelming, especially when
they are being faced by a single parent trying to provide the best life
they can for their child. It is the responsibility of both parents to
assist in the expenses that occur while assisting an adult-child with
developmental disabilities, and we must help ensure these families
achieve the lives they have always wanted for themselves and their
child. This legislation aims to provide families with the assistance
they need in order to offer the life their loved ones deserve.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPACT FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.