State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Nebraska > Chapter42 > 42-36942-369. Support or alimony;presumption; items includable; payments; disbursement; enforcement; healthinsurance.(1) All orders, decrees, or judgmentsfor temporary or permanent support payments, including child, spousal, ormedical support, and all orders, decrees, or judgments for alimony or modificationof support payments or alimony shall direct the payment of such sums to bemade commencing on the first day of each month for the use of the personsfor whom the support payments or alimony have been awarded. Such paymentsshall be made to the clerk of the district court (a) when the order, decree,or judgment is for spousal support, alimony, or maintenance support and theorder, decree, or judgment does not also provide for child support, and (b)when the payment constitutes child care or day care expenses, unless paymentsunder subdivision (1)(a) or (1)(b) of this section are ordered to be madedirectly to the obligee. All other support order payments shall be made tothe State Disbursement Unit. In all cases in which income withholding hasbeen implemented pursuant to the Income Withholding for Child Support Actor sections 42-364.01 to 42-364.14, support order payments shall be made tothe State Disbursement Unit. The court may order such payment to be in cashor guaranteed funds.(2)(a) If the party againstwhom an order, decree, or judgment for child support is entered or the custodial party has health insuranceavailable to him or her through an employer, organization, or other health insurance entity whichmay extend to cover any children affected by the order, decree, or judgment and the health care coverage is accessibleto the children and is available to the responsible party at reasonable cost,the court shall require health care coverage to be provided. Health care coverageis accessible if the covered children can obtain services from a plan providerwith reasonable effort by the custodial party. When the administrative agency,court, or other tribunal determines that the only health care coverage optionavailable through the noncustodial party is a plan that limits service coverageto providers within a defined geographic area, the administrative agency,court, or other tribunal shall determine whether the child lives within theplan's service area. If the child does not live within the plan's servicearea, the administrative agency, court, or other tribunal shall determinewhether the plan has a reciprocal agreement that permits the child to receivecoverage at no greater cost than if the child resided in the plan's servicearea. The administrative agency, court, or other tribunal shall also determineif primary care is available within thirty minutes or thirty miles of thechild's residence. For the purpose of determining the accessibility of healthcare coverage, the administrative agency, court, or other tribunal may determineand include in an order that longer travel times are permissible if residents,in part or all of the service area, customarily travel distances farther thanthirty minutes or thirty miles. If primary care services are not availablewithin these constraints, the health care coverage is presumed inaccessible.If health care coverage is not available or is inaccessible and one or moreof the parties are receiving Title IV-D services, then cash medical supportshall be ordered. Cash medical support or the cost of private health insuranceis considered reasonable in cost if the cost to the party responsible forproviding medical support does not exceed three percent of his or her grossincome. In applying the three-percent standard, the cost is the cost of addingthe children to existing health care coverage or the difference between self-onlyand family health care coverage. Cash medical support payments shall not beordered if, at the time that the order is issued or modified, the responsibleparty's income is or such expense would reduce the responsible party's netincome below the basic subsistence limitation provided in Nebraska Court Rulesection 4-218. If such rule does not describe a basic subsistence limitation,the responsible party's net income shall not be reduced below nine hundredthree dollars net monthly income for one person or below the poverty guidelinesupdated annually in the Federal Register by the United States Department ofHealth and Human Services under the authority of 42 U.S.C. 9902(2).(b) For purposesof this section:(i) Health care coverage has the same meaning as in section 44-3,144;and(ii) Cash medical support means an amount ordered to be paid towardthe cost of health insurance provided by a public entity or by another parentthrough employment or otherwise or for other medical costs not covered byinsurance.(3) Asupport order, decree, or judgment may include the providing of necessaryshelter, food, clothing, care, medical support as defined in section 43-512,medical attention, expenses of confinement, education expenses, funeral expenses,and any other expense the court may deem reasonable and necessary.(4) Orders, decrees, and judgments for temporary or permanentsupport or alimony shall be filed with the clerk of the district court andhave the force and effect of judgments when entered. The clerk and the StateDisbursement Unit shall disburse all payments received as directed by thecourt and as provided in sections 42-358.02 and 43-512.07. Records shall bekept of all funds received and disbursed by the clerk and the unit and shallbe open to inspection by the parties and their attorneys.(5) Unless otherwise specified by the court, an equal andproportionate share of any child support awarded shall be presumed to be payableon behalf of each child subject to the order, decree, or judgment for purposesof an assignment under section 43-512.07. SourceLaws 1972, LB 820, § 23; Laws 1983, LB 371, § 11; Laws 1991, LB 457, § 4; Laws 1993, LB 435, § 1; Laws 2000, LB 972, § 15; Laws 2007, LB554, § 35; Laws 2009, LB288, § 6. Cross ReferencesIncome Withholding for Child Support Act, see section 43-1701. AnnotationsUnder subsection (4) of this section, alimony judgments are liens, and if the judgments precede a mortgage and are recorded, they will have priority over that mortgage. McCook Nat. Bank v. Myers, 243 Neb. 853, 503 N.W.2d 200 (1993).Pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, in a divorce case, a judge may not order both parties to provide health insurance for the child or children, but must direct which party shall provide such insurance. Ward v. Ward, 7 Neb. App. 821, 585 N.W.2d 551 (1998).Expenses incurred in obtaining medical care for a child, including allowances for mileage and meals, may be included in a support order if the court finds such expenses are reasonable and necessary. The expenses cannot be applied retroactively to the application for modification of the order for support. Hoover v. Hoover, 2 Neb. App. 239, 508 N.W.2d 316 (1993).
