Child Support Enforcement - Sarpy County Nebraska

Druba v. Druba , 238 Neb. 279, 470 N.W.2d 176 (1991)
It is obvious that in this day and age, if a parent does not wish to provide such
[health] insurance for his children, that parent must be ready to pay for health care
for the children.
Henke v. Guerrero, 13 Neb. App. 337, 692 N.W.2d 762 (2005)
Because paragraph O [now § 4-215] of the child support guidelines provides that
“either parent” must carry health insurance on the child, the trial court had discretion
in determining which parent should pay for it.
[P]aragraph O of the child support guidelines, regarding health insurance, is subject
to paragraph R [now § 4-218] of the guidelines, the basic subsistence limitation
guideline. Kearney v. Kearney, 11 Neb. App. 88, 644 N.W.2d 171 (2002). In other
words, if making the parent pay part of uncovered medical expenses would cause
them to fall below the federal poverty guidelines, then the court cannot make them
pay a portion of uncovered medical expenses.
Rutherford v. Rutherford, 277 Neb. 301, 761 N.W.2d 922 (2009)
The guidelines provided that a parent who requests an adjustment in child support
for health insurance premiums “must submit proof of the cost of the premium.”
State on Behalf of Martinez v. Martinez-Ibarra, 281 Neb. 547, 797 N.W.2d 222 (May
2011) [Please note: This case predates the present child support guidelines, which
modified the way cash medical support is treated.]
The child support guidelines do not allow for a deduction on Worksheet #1 for cash
medical support.
The requirement that the custodial parent pay the first $480 of nonreimbursed
medical expenses per year does not serve to reduce the amount of cash medical
support ordered.
Ward v. Ward, 7 Neb. App. 821, 585 N.W.2d 551 (1998)
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.
Incarceration
Up until 2008 the law in Nebraska absolutely prohibited an incarcerated
prisoner from returning to court to seek a reduction in his or her ongoing monthly
child support obligation due solely to the fact that the obligated parent was
incarcerated and unable to work as they did prior to their incarceration. The case
law below reflects this long legacy of refusing to award people for their own bad
behavior. However, recently the legislature has amended Nebraska law to allow for
parents who are incarcerated for long periods of time to successfully seek downward
modification in their child support orders. This represents a true sea change in
the way this issue will be addressed by our courts.
It is crucial to note that IV-D attorneys shall not in any way assist in these
attempts to reduce child support. The changes are set forth in § 43-512.15:
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