 RI Child Support
Rhode Island divorce laws require either or both parents owing a duty of support to a child
to pay an amount based on a formula and guidelines. If, after calculating RI child support based upon this criteria, the
court, finds the order would be inequitable to the child or either parent, the court will order either or both parents pay
an amount reasonable or necessary for the child's support. Court considerations can be:
 The financial resources
of the custodial parent;
The standard of living the child would
have enjoyed had the marriage not been dissolved;
The physical and emotional condition
of the child and his or her educational needs; and
The financial
resources and needs of the non-custodial parent.
The court may order child support and health and education costs for children attending
high school at the time of their eighteenth (18th) birthday and for ninety (90) days after graduation, but in no case beyond
their nineteenth (19th) birthday.
The state calculates RI child support on gross
income (Income Shares), causing more money to come from the non-custodian than if it were calculated on 'net' income. Only
21 states use the 'net income' method. Typically a calculation on net income favors the paying spouse, leaving him or her
more net income with which to live and pay for portions of two abodes. Rhode Island divorce laws state that child
support does not automatically terminate when your child reaches eighteen (18) years of age. RI Child support will automatically
accrue until your child turns nineteen (19) years of age unless, a Motion to Terminate Child Support is filed. If your ex-spouse
is on welfare, or goes on welfare in the future, do not send child support directly to your ex-spouse. You must send payments
through the Welfare office. If you fail to do this, these payments will be considered a gift and won't be considered payment
of child support.
If a marriage separation (sometimes referred to as a marital separation or legal separation) has been
granted, the court may make such further orders for the support and maintenance of either spouse and for the support, maintenance,
and education of minor children, by either spouse, or out of the property of either spouse, as the court deems appropriate.
Rhode Island divorce laws provide that in cases where a marriage annulment or marital annulment is
sought, and there are children of the marriage, that those children be afforded the same rights, protections and parental
financial support, including that the children are not considered illegitimate offspring of the parents, that other children
of the state receive.
A child support calculator can be located at Alllaw.com.
|
 |
Need a local Family Lawyer? Don't have a solid referral?
Lawyer Advertising
 Rhode Island Child Custody
Rhode Island courts will provide for the reasonable right of child
custody (or visitation)
by the non-custodial natural parent unless cause is shown to rule otherwise. Parents are permitted to work together to create
a Parenting Plan, Child
Visitation Schedule and Child Custody Schedule.
If the parents are unable to reach agreement,
If, after calculating support the court finds the order would be inequitable to the child
or either parent, the court will make findings of fact and will order either or both parents owing a duty of support to pay
an amount reasonable or necessary for the child's support after considering all relevant factors including, but not limited
to:
The financial
resources of the child;
The financial
resources of the custodial parent;
The standard of living the child would
have enjoyed had the marriage not been dissolved;
The physical and emotional condition
of the child and his or her educational needs; and
The financial resources and needs of
the non-custodial parent
The court may, if in its discretion it deems it necessary or advisable, order child support and
education costs for children attending high school at the time of their eighteenth (18th) birthday and for ninety (90) days
after graduation, but in no case beyond their nineteenth (19th) birthday. In addition, the court may order
child support to continue, in the case of a child with a severe physical or mental impairment, until the twenty-first (21st)
birthday of the child.
|
|
Keep your children out of the middle of your divorce.
Choose a Child-Centered divorce instead
 Visitation
Co Parenting
Visitation in Rhode Island, or more recently referred to as 'co-parenting',
is permitted as a part of child custody. RI Courts will decide a Child
Custody Schedule if you two are unable to. A typical
visitation schedule will look like every other weekend and one or two nights during the week, and alternating holidays.
Failure to exercise one's visitation privileges can result in the custodial parent beginning a court action to increase child
support. Make sure everything is in writing. Who picks up and drops off? Who pays what? Right of first refusal if the custodial
parent needs to find a care-giver/sitter for occasions such as sickness, work demands et. al. Be aware that you have
to guide your side of the divorce. Don't rely that your attorney will think of everything. You set the course; your lawyer
navigates. Stay actively involved. Read state divorce laws.
If you anticipate any problems with custody or visitation, we
suggest you own Child
Custody Strategies.
|
|
|
Grounds For Divorce
Rhode Island family laws allow divorces from the bond of marriage be decreed
in case of any marriage originally void or voidable by law, and in case either party is for crime
deemed to be or treated as if civilly dead, or, from absence or other circumstances, may be presumed to be actually dead.
Additional grounds for divorce:
|
Impotency; |
|
Adultery; |
|
Extreme cruelty; |
|
Willful desertion for five years of either of the parties |
|
Habitual drunkenness; |
|
The habitual, excessive use of opium, morphine, or other
drugs; |
|
Neglect and refusal of marital 'relations' for at least one year on the part of the
husband to provide necessaries for the subsistence of his wife, the husband being of sufficient ability; and |
|
Any other gross misbehavior and wickedness, in either of the parties, repugnant to
and in violation of the marriage covenant. |
|
|
Marriage Annulment
Marital Annulment
Like a divorce, an annulment is a court procedure that
dissolves a marriage. But, unlike a divorce, an annulment treats the marriage as though it never happened.
Like other states, Rhode Island makes the annulment process difficult, in an effort to discourage
those who are not determined to have an annulment declared
for the marriage. Grounds for annulment are:
|
Misrepresentation or fraud is grounds for annulment.
For example, if a spouse lied about her capacity to have children, that she had reached the age of consent, or that she was
not married to someone else, an annulment could be granted. |
|
Concealment. If a spouse concealed an addiction to drugs or alcohol a felony
conviction, children from a prior relationship, a sexually transmitted disease, or impotency, an annulment might be
granted. |
|
Unable or unwilling to consummate the marriage. |
|
Misunderstanding. An example might be that one spouse wanted children and the other did not. Any
of the above are grounds for annulment. |
|
|
|
 Legal Separation
Marriage
Separation
A Rhode Island legal separation means the husband and wife are living apart and has the added element
that the arrangement is ordered by the court or agreed to by the parties in a written agreement. The fact that the legal
separation (also known as a marital separation or divorce separation) is part of a court order or written agreement makes
it a 'legal
separation'.
 Legal Separations require a separation agreement agreed to by the parties. The legal separation makes more certain
the rights and separation makes more certain the rights and responsibilities of the parties during
the period of separation as opposed to an informal separation. Payments of support during a period of separation sometimes
are called temporary maintenance or alimony pen dente lite. The separation (informal or legal) keeps the marital status intact
until or unless one files for divorce.
Legal separation is often pursued when one of the parties wants to stay married for
religious reasons, wants the advantage of deductibility of spousal support payments for income tax reasons, wants to maintain
various insurance coverage's, or do not want to wait the state statutory waiting period for termination
of marital status.
One does not need to get a legal separation in order to divorce. In fact, most bypass the
legal separation and go straight to the divorce. The marital separation can last the life of the parties, without conversion
to a divorce, until or unless someone files to convert the separation into a divorce.
|
|
Waiting Period
In an action for divorce where there are minor children involved, the court will not issue a final order for at least
ninety (90) days from the date of filing the petition. In the event no minor children are involved and there is full agreement
by the parties, your divorce can be completed in as little as ten days. Rhode Island divorce laws specify that the court
may require that within the ninety-day period the parties attend and complete an educational program.
|
|
Grandparents Rights
Grandparents of an unmarried minor child will have reasonable rights
of visitation to the child if the court deems it to be in the best interest of the child. (This right is conferred
by federal statute) The right of visitation to any grandparent of an unmarried minor child will be granted unless it has
been specifically denied by the court. If a child is born out of wedlock, the parents of the father of such child
will not have the right of visitation unless the father has been judicially determined to be the father of the child.
If one natural parent is deceased and the surviving natural parent remarries, any subsequent adoption
proceedings will not terminate any court-granted grandparental rights belonging to the parents of the deceased natural parent.
|
|
 Divorce Settlement
Distribution of Assets
Rhode Island is an equitable distribution state. State divorce laws mandate
that the courts divide the marital property between the parties in an equitable and just manner. This means the court will
attempt to divide the marital assets fairly, but not necessarily evenly. As is always the case, if you and the divorcing
spouse can agree on a divorce settlement of marital assets and liabilities first, the court won't have
to. Did you come into this marriage owning a house? Concerned about the equity in that house that you brought into
the marriage? Worried about property that was yours before the marriage and that it may now be part of a divorce settlement?
Here's how it works generally. What you brought into the marriage is usually all yours. However, any appreciation of the
house or the property value is normally treated as a "marital asset", meaning that you will likely forfeit a third
to a half of that appreciation to your spouse in the divorce.
|
|
Residency Requirements
Either the plaintiff or the defendant must have been an actual resident for six (6) months next prior
the filing of the petition. United States military personnel are afforded the same 6 month requirement according to Rhode
Island divorce statutes and federal law.
|
|
|
Spousal Support
