Rule 506 - Minimum orders and low-income adjustments(a) Minimum orders.-- Except as otherwise provided in this Rule, a support obligation for one child shall not be less than 20% of the Primary Allowance for one child; and for 2 or more children, 20% of the Primary Allowance for two children. Minimum orders shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of ten (10). (1) This limitation shall not apply where children reside in shared (at least 164 overnights in each household) or split (at least one child of the union with primary residence in each household) placement.(2) A disabled person with actual income of less than the Self Support Allowance may be assessed a lesser obligation upon consideration of the nature and extent of the disability, cash and other resources available, and the totality of the circumstances.(b) Self-Support Protection. Except incident to subsection (a) of this Rule, no parent shall be placed under an obligation to pay more than a designated percentage of net available income as determined under Rule 502(a). The designated percentage shall be 50% unless the parent has children to support in three (3) or more households in which case the percentage shall be 35%.(c) Automatic Adjustment for Incarceration. --(1) After 180 days of continuous incarceration, every prospective current support obligation established or modified after January 31, 2019, will automatically decrease to one half of the minimum order amount recited in Rule 506(a) as of the date of the order. This also applies to new support and modification petitions wherein the obligated parent is currently incarcerated and has been continually confined for more than 180 days at the time of the hearing or mediation conference. The presumption of a reduced obligation shall be rebutted if the obligated parent has independent income, resources, or assets with which to pay an obligation of support consistent with his or her pre-incarceration circumstances.(2) A petition may be filed to determine the exact date of adjustment and whether the individual has independent income, resources, or assets with which to pay an obligation of support consistent with his or her pre-incarceration circumstances.(3) The obligation will not revert upon release from incarceration, but release shall constitute a substantial change of circumstances for modification pursuant to Rule 508.(4) Every written order for new or modified current support shall advise of this potential adjustment.(5) Incarcerated parents subject to current child support orders that issued prior to February 1, 2019, or who were subsequently denied relief due to the underlying reasons for their incarceration, may petition for modification under the standards recited in subsection (1). However, if the obligation had already been calculated on the basis of continuous confinement under the prior standard, then relief may only be awarded two and one-half (2/12;) years after the last determination of current support.(6) The Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) may utilize the procedures outlined in Rule 302 to facilitate these adjustments.Del. Fam. Ct. R. Civ. P. 506
Amended eff. 1/1/2011; amended January 28, 2015, eff. 4/20/2015; amended November 8, 2018, effective 2/1/2019; amended December 6, 2022, effective 2/1/2023.