Opinion
00-28.
April 3, 2001.
By orders dated October 12 and October 23, 2000, this Court amended Rule 3.208 of the Michigan Court Rules on an interim basis, effective January 1, 2001, until further order of the Court. At the same time, the Court invited comment on the rule changes. 463 Mich. xlv (No. 3, 2000). Notice and an opportunity for comment in writing and at a public hearing having been provided, and consideration having been given to the comments received, the interim rule is adopted on a permanent basis, effective immediately, to read as follows:
Rule 3.208 Friend of the Court
(A)-(B) [Unchanged]
(C) Allocation and Distribution of Payments.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this subrule, all payments shall be allocated and distributed as required by the guidelines established by the state court administrator for that purpose.
(2) If the court determines that following the guidelines established by the state court administrator would produce an unjust result in a particular case, the court may order that payments be made in a different manner. The order must include specific findings of fact that set forth the basis for the court's decision, and must direct the payer to designate with each payment the name of the payer and the payee, the case number, the amount, and the date of the order that allows the special payment.
(3) If a payer with multiple cases makes a payment directly to the friend of the court rather than through income withholding, the payment shall be allocated among all the cases unless the payer requests a different allocation in writing at the time of payment and provides the following information about each case for which payment is intended:
(a) the name of the payer,
(b) the name of the payee,
(c) the case number, and
(d) the amount designated for that case.
(4) A notice of income withholding may not be used by the friend of the court or the state disbursement unit to determine the specific allocation or distribution of payments.
(D) [Unchanged]
Staff Comment: The permanent adoption on April 3, 2001 of the interim amendments of MCR 3.208(C), which took effect January 1, 2001, kept the court rule consistent with the requirements of the federal child support enforcement program, and established uniform allocation and distribution procedures in the circuit courts.