How can I obtain a copy of my parents divorce decree?
Full Question:
As college prices increase, my dad's financial input has become extremely important. There has been a lot of debate between my dad and I regarding his financial responsibility to help pay for college as dictated by the child support and the divorce agreement. Unfortunately, he refuses to give me a copy of the divorce agreement or the child support clause. Do I have any legal right to obtain these documents on my own now that I am over 18?
11/15/2007 |
Category: Divorce ยป Copy of Decree |
State: Oregon |
#12366
Answer:
The following is an Oregon statute:
107.108 Support or maintenance for child attending school; rules.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Child attending school" means a child of the parties who:
(A) Is unmarried;
(B) Is 18 years of age or older and under 21 years of age;
(C) Is making satisfactory academic progress as defined by the school
that the child attends; and
(D) Has a course load that is no less than one-half of the load that is
determined by the school to constitute full-time enrollment.
(b) "Regularly scheduled break" means:
(A) A summer semester or term;
(B) A period of time not exceeding four months between graduation from
or completion of school and the beginning of the next regularly scheduled
term, semester or course of study at school;
(C) A period of time between the end and beginning of regularly
scheduled consecutive school semesters, terms or courses of study; or
(D) Any other scheduled break between courses of study that is defined
by the school as a regularly scheduled break.
(c) "School" means:
(A) An educational facility such as a high school, community college,
four-year college or university;
(B) A course of professional, vocational or technical training,
including the Job Corps, designed to fit the child for gainful
employment; or
(C) A high school equivalency course, including but not limited to a
General Educational Development (GED) program, an educational program for
grade 12 or below and home schooling.
(2) A support order entered or modified under this chapter or under ORS
chapter 25, 108, 109, 110, 125, 416, 419B or 419C may require either
parent, or both of them, to provide for the support or maintenance of a
child attending school.
(3) Notwithstanding ORS 416.407, a child attending school is a party to
any legal proceeding related to the support order. A child attending
school may:
(a) Apply for services under ORS 25.080:
(A) If a support order provides for the support or maintenance of the
child attending school; or
(B) In accordance with rules adopted by the Department of Justice;
(b) Request a judicial or administrative modification of the child
support amount or may receive notice of and participate in any
modification proceeding; and
(c) Agree, in the same manner as an obligee under ORS 25.020(12), that
payments not made to the Department of Justice should be credited for
amounts that would have been paid to the child attending school if the
payments had been made to the department.
(4) Regardless of whether the child is a child attending school, an
unmarried child who is 18 years of age or older and under 21 years of
age:
(a) Is a necessary party to a judicial proceeding under ORS 107.085,
107.135, 107.431, 108.110, 109.103 or 109.165 in which the child's
parents are parties and the court has authority to order or modify support
for a child attending school; and
(b) May request notice of any proceeding initiated by the administrator
to modify a support order that may affect the child's rights as a child
attending school. To receive notice, the child shall provide an address
to the administrator, and the administrator shall notify the child of any
modification proceeding by first class mail. To be a party to a
proceeding, the child must send a written request to the administrator
within 30 days after the date of the notice of the proceeding.
(5)(a) If a support order provides for the support or maintenance of a
child attending school and the child qualifies as a child attending
school, unless good cause is found for the distribution of the payment to
be made in some other manner, support shall be distributed to the child
if services are being provided under ORS 25.080 or shall be paid directly
to the child if those services are not being provided.
(b) Unless otherwise ordered by the court, administrator or
administrative law judge, when there are multiple children for whom
support is ordered, the amount distributed or paid directly to a child
attending school is a prorated share based on the number of children for
whom support is ordered. However, if, due to a parenting time or split
custody arrangement, support was not paid to the parent having primary
physical custody of the child before the child turned 18 years of age,
support may not be distributed or paid directly to the child attending
school unless the support order is modified.
(c) The Department of Justice shall adopt rules to define good cause
and circumstances under which the administrator or administrative law
judge may allocate support by other than a prorated share and to
determine how support is to be allocated in those circumstances.
(6)(a) For support payments to continue to be distributed or paid
directly to the child attending school, the child shall provide to each
parent ordered to pay support and, if services are being provided under
ORS 25.080, to the department:
(A) Written notice of the child's intent to attend or continue to
attend school. The child shall provide the notice before reaching 18
years of age. The notice must include the name of the school and the
expected graduation date or date when the child will stop attending
classes. If the child changes schools, the child shall provide the
information required by this subsection concerning the subsequent school
before the expected graduation date or date when the child will stop
attending classes at the previous school.
(B) Written consent that:
(i) Is directed to the child's school and is in a form consistent with
state and federal requirements that restrict disclosure of student
records;
(ii) Gives the school authority to disclose to each parent ordered to
pay support the child's enrollment status, whether the child is
maintaining satisfactory academic progress, a list of courses in which
the child is enrolled and the child's grades; and
(iii) States that the disclosure is for the purpose of permitting each
parent to verify the child's compliance with the requirements of this
section.
(b) The child shall provide the written consent form described in
paragraph (a)(B) of this subsection within 30 days after the beginning of
the first term or semester after the child reaches 18 years of age, at
the beginning of each academic year thereafter and as otherwise required
by the school to disclose the information under this section.
(c) If an order of nondisclosure of information has been entered
concerning the child under ORS 25.020, the child may provide the
information described in paragraph (a)(B) of this subsection in the
manner established by the department by rule.
(7) Each parent ordered to pay support shall continue to make support
payments, to be distributed or paid directly, to the child during
regularly scheduled breaks as long as the child intends to continue
attending school the next scheduled term or semester.
(8) A parent's obligation to pay support to a child attending school is
suspended when:
(a) The child has reached 18 years of age and has not provided written
notice of the child's intent to attend or continue to attend school, or
the child has graduated or reached the date to stop attending classes, as
provided under subsection (6)(a)(A) of this section;
(b)(A) Services are not being provided under ORS 25.080;
(B) The parent has provided the child with a written notice of the
parent's intent to stop paying support directly to the child because the
child is no longer a child attending school or the child has not provided
the written consent required by subsection (6)(a)(B) of this section; and
(C) Thirty days have passed since the parent provided the notice to the
child and the parent has not received:
(i) Written confirmation from the school that the child is enrolled in
the school and is a child attending school; or
(ii) The written consent from the child as required by subsection
(6)(a)(B) of this section;
(c)(A) Services are being provided under ORS 25.080;
(B) A parent ordered to pay support has provided the department with
written notice that the child is no longer a child attending school or
that the child has not provided the written consent required by
subsection (6)(a)(B) of this section;
(C) The department has provided written notice to the child requiring:
(i) Written confirmation, on a form developed by the department, from
the school that the child is enrolled in the school and is a child
attending school; and
(ii) Proof that the written consent required by subsection (6)(a)(B) of
this section has been provided to the parent ordered to pay support; and
(D) Thirty days have passed since the department provided the notice to
the child and the department has not received:
(i) Written confirmation from the school that the child is enrolled in
the school and is a child attending school; or
(ii) Proof that the written consent required by subsection (6)(a)(B) of
this section has been provided to the parent ordered to pay support.
(9) When a parent's support obligation has been suspended under
subsection (8) of this section, the obligation is reinstated:
(a) If services are not being provided under ORS 25.080, effective on
the date the parent receives written confirmation from the school that
the child is enrolled in the school and is a child attending school and
receives the written consent from the child as required by subsection
(6)(a)(B) of this section; or
(b) If services are being provided under ORS 25.080, effective on the
date the department receives written confirmation from the school that
the child is enrolled in the school and is a child attending school and
receives proof that the written consent required by subsection (6)(a)(B)
of this section has been provided to the parent ordered to pay support.
(10) If a parent ordered to pay support is paying a prorated share
under subsection (5) of this section and that obligation is suspended
under subsection (8) of this section, the parent shall pay to the obligee
the amount previously paid to the child attending school until such time
as the support order is modified. The suspension of a parent's obligation
to pay support to a child attending school is a substantial change of
circumstances for purposes of modifying a support order. In a proceeding
to modify a support order, the court, administrator or administrative law
judge may order a modified amount of support and may order an amount of
support to be paid in the event that a support obligation is reinstated
under subsection (9) of this section.
(11)(a) If services are being provided under ORS 25.080 and the
department has suspended a support obligation under subsection (8) of
this section or reinstated a support obligation under subsection (9) of
this section, a party may request administrative review of the action
within 30 days after the date of the notice that the department has
suspended or reinstated the support obligation.
(b) The department may adopt rules specifying the issues that may be
considered on review.
(c) A party may appeal the department's decision on review under ORS
183.484.
(12)(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if a
parent who is required to provide for the support or maintenance of a
child attending school has established a higher education savings plan
for the child's continued education, the court may order payment in
accordance with the plan instead of ordering support that would otherwise
be distributed or paid directly to the child under this section.
(b) If the court orders payment in accordance with the plan, the court
may not order compliance with or payment of that provision of the order
through the department.
(c) As used in this subsection, "higher education savings plan" means a
tax-advantaged account established by a parent on behalf of a child for
the purpose of paying qualified higher education expenses of the child at
eligible educational institutions.
(13) A support order that provides for the support or maintenance of a
child attending school is subject to this section regardless of when the
support order was entered.
(14) A support order that provides for the support or maintenance of a
child attending school is intended to recognize the importance of
continuing education for a child over 18 years of age who does not
benefit from an intact family or who has been removed from the
household. While support may serve to supplement the resources available
to the child attending school, it is not intended to replace other
resources or meet all of the financial needs of a child attending
school.