§ 15-19-2. Order for deposit of assets to secure future support payments.
(a)(1) Subject to subsections (b) and (c) of this section, in any proceeding where the court
has ordered either or both parents to pay any amount of the support of a minor child,
upon an order to show cause or notice of motion, application, and declaration signed
under penalty of perjury by the person to whom support has been ordered to have been
paid stating that the parent or parents so ordered is in arrears in payment in a sum
equal to the amount of sixty (60) days of payments, the court shall issue to the parent
or parents ordered to pay support, following notice and opportunity for a hearing,
an order requiring that the parent or parents deposit assets to secure future support
payments with the family court clerk or any other trustee designated by the court.
Upon request of any party the court may also issue an ex parte restraining order as
specified in subsection (d) of this section. Upon deposit of any asset which is not
readily convertible into money, the court may, not less than twenty (20) days after
serving the obligor parent or parents with written notice and a hearing, order the
sale of that asset or assets and the deposit of the proceeds with the person designated
under this subsection. For purposes of the provisions of title 34, the date of the
issuance of the order to deposit assets shall be construed as the date notice of levy
on an interest in real property was served on the judgment debtor. When the asset
ordered to be deposited is real property, the order shall be certified as judgment
in accordance with the provisions of titles 8, 9, 10, and 34. A deposit of real property
is made effective by recordation of a mortgage deed running to the family court clerk
with the city or town recorder of deeds. The deposited real property and the rights,
benefits, and liabilities attached to that property shall continue in the possession
of the legal owner.
(2) Upon an obligor parent's failure, within the time specified by the court, to make
reasonable efforts to cure the default in child support payments or to comply with
a court approved payment plan, if payments continue in the arrears, the family court
clerk or trustee designated by the court shall, not less than twenty-five (25) days
after providing the obligor parent or parents with a written notice served personally
or with return receipt requested, unless a motion or order to show cause has been
filed to stop the use or sale, use the money or sell or otherwise process the deposited
assets for an amount sufficient to pay the arrearage and the amount ordered by the
court for the support, maintenance, and education of the minor child currently due.
(3) Assets which have been deposited pursuant to an order issued in accordance with subdivision
(1) of this subsection shall be construed as being assets subject to levy pursuant
to the provisions of title 34. The sale of assets shall be conducted in accordance
with the provisions of title 34.
(4) The family court clerk or trustee designated by the court may deduct from the deposited
money the sum of one dollar ($1.00) for each payment made pursuant to subdivision
(2) of this subsection.
(5) An obligor parent alleged to be in arrears under this chapter may employ any of the
following grounds as a defense to the motion filed pursuant to subdivision (1) of
this subsection, or as a basis for filing a motion to stop a sale or use of assets
under subdivision (2) of this subsection:
(i) Child support payments are not in arrears;
(ii) There has been a change in the custody of the children;
(iii) Illness or disability;
(iv) Unemployment;
(v) Serious adverse impact on the immediate family of the obligor parent residing with
the obligor parent that outweighs the impact of denial of the motion or stopping the
sale on obligee;
(vi) Serious impairment of the ability of the obligor parent to generate income; or
(vii) Other emergency conditions.
(6) An obligor parent must rebut the presumptions that nonpayment of child support was
willful, without good faith, and that the obligor had the ability to pay the support.
(7) An obligor parent may file a motion to stop the use of the money or the sale of the
asset pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection within fifteen (15) days after
service of notice on him or her pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection. The
clerk of the court shall set the motion for a hearing not less than twenty (20) days
after service on the person or county officer to whom support has been ordered to
have been paid.
(b) The court shall issue an order pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (a) upon
a determination that one or more of the following conditions exists:
(1) The obligor parent is not receiving salary or wages subject to an assignment pursuant
to §â€‚15-5-16.2; and there is reason to believe that he or she has earned income from some source
of employment;
(2) An assignment of a portion of salary or wages pursuant to §â€‚15-5-16.2 would not be sufficient to meet the amount of the support obligation, for reasons
other than a change of circumstances which would qualify for a reduction in the amount
of child support ordered;
(3) The job history of the obligor parent shows that an assignment of a portion of salary
or wages pursuant to §â€‚15-5-16.2 would be difficult to enforce or would not be a practical means for securing the
payment of the support obligation, due to circumstances including, but not limited
to, multiple concurrent or consecutive employers.
(c) The designation of assets subject to an order pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection
(a) shall be based upon concern for maximizing the liquidity and ready conversion
into cash of the deposited asset. In all instances, the assets shall include a sum
of money up to or equal in value to one year of support payments or six thousand dollars
($6,000), whichever is less, or any other assets, personal or real, designated by
the court which equal in value up to one year of payments for support of the minor
child, or any other amount in the discretion of the family court. In lieu of depositing
cash or other assets as provided above, the obligor parent may, if approved by the
court, provide a performance bond secured by any real property or other assets of
the parent and equal in value to one year of payments.
(d) During the pendency of any proceeding pursuant to this chapter, and upon the application
of either party in the manner provided by the provisions of title 34, the court may,
without a hearing, issue ex parte orders restraining any person from transferring,
encumbering, hypothecating, concealing, or in any way disposing of any property, real
or personal, whether community, quasi-community, or separate, except in the usual
course of business or for the necessities of life, and if the order is directed against
a party, requiring him or her to notify the other party of any proposed extraordinary
expenditures and to account to the court for all such extraordinary expenditures.
The matter shall be made returnable not later than twenty (20) days, or if good cause
appears to the court twenty-five (25) days, from the date of the order, at which time
the ex parte order shall expire. Any order issued pursuant to this chapter shall state
on its face the date of expiration of the order, which shall expire in one year or
upon deposit of assets or money pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (a), whichever
occurs first. The court, at the hearing, shall determine for which property the obligor
parent shall be required to report extraordinary expenditures and shall specify what
is deemed an extraordinary expenditure for purposes of this subsection.
(e) The family court clerk or trustee designated by the court pursuant to subsection (a)
of this section, who is responsible for any money or property and for any disbursements
under this chapter, shall not be held liable for any action undertaken in good faith
and in conformance with this chapter.
(f)(1) The family court clerk or trustee designated by the court shall return all assets
subject to court order under subdivision (1) of subsection (a) to the obligor parent
or parents when both of the following occur:
(i) One year has elapsed since the court issued the order described under subdivision
(1) of subsection (a); and
(ii) The obligor parent or parents have made all support payments on time during that one
year period.
(2) When the above criteria have been satisfied and when the deposited asset was real
property, the family court clerk or trustee designated by the court shall prepare
a release, and shall request the clerk of the court where the order to deposit assets
was rendered to certify the release and record it in the office of the recorder of
deeds in the city or town where the property is located.
(g) The family court clerk or trustee shall, if requested by the obligor parent, prepare
a statement setting forth disbursements and receipts made under this chapter.
(h) If the family court clerk, trustee, or person designated under subsection (a) of this
section incurs fees or costs under this chapter which are not compensated by the deduction
under subdivision (3) of subsection (a), including, but not limited to, fees or costs
incurred in any sale of assets pursuant to subsection (a) of this section and in the
preparation of a statement pursuant to subsection (g) of this section, the court shall
hear not less than twenty (20) days after service upon the obligor parent of the notice
of motion or order to show cause by the family court clerk, trustee, or person designated
under subsection (a) of this section incurring the fees or costs, and order the obligor
parent or parents to pay reasonable fees and costs. Fees and costs ordered to be paid
by the court under this subsection shall be in addition to any deposit made under
subsection (a) of this section, but shall not exceed five percent (5%) of one year's
child support obligation or the total amount ordered deposited under subdivision (1)
of subsection (a), whichever is less.
(i) The purpose of this chapter is to provide an extraordinary remedy for cases of bad
faith failure to pay child support obligations.