TITLE XLIV
GUARDIANS AND CONSERVATORS

CHAPTER 463
GUARDIANSHIP OF MINORS AND ESTATES OF MINORS

Section 463:13

    463:13 Order for Support for the Benefit of a Minor Under Guardianship and Visitation. –
I. The appointment of a guardian over the person or over the estate of a minor shall not relieve the minor's parents or any other persons liable for the support of the minor from their obligation to provide for such support. The court, at the time of such appointment, or at any time thereafter, may order and require such parent, parents, or other persons to contribute to the support and maintenance of the minor in such amounts and at such times as the court determines to be just and reasonable.
II. The court may from time to time, upon application of the guardian or any other party interested, and notice to the party having the duty to provide support, revise, or alter such order, or to make such new order or decree as the circumstances of the party or parties having the duty to support and maintain or the benefit of the minor may require.
III. The court may award reasonable visitation rights to the parent or parents. The presumption shall be in favor of liberal visitation rights absent a showing of harm to the minor. If a party wishes to have any pre-existing court visitation orders incorporated into the guardianship order, that party has the burden of providing said visitation orders to the court for its consideration. The court shall incorporate such visitation orders in its order, unless there has been a change in circumstances that warrants different visitation arrangements. In guardianships granted as part of the permanency plan for a child previously in the department's custody pursuant to the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, Public Law 105-89, the court may give the guardian discretion to determine visitation.

Source. 1995, 222:1. 2004, 11:7, 8, eff. Jan. 1, 2005.