(1) As authorized by 40-5-210 , MCA, the CSED adopts the following schedule:

(a) for each person, including the child, submitted or resubmitted for paternity blood testing, a standardized fee of $81.00;

(b) for mileage, each way and for each mile, when using a personal or state owned automobile to travel for in-person appearances at judicial or administrative hearings or trials as witness, hearing officer, CSED attorney or other CSED representative, a mileage allowance at a rate equal to the mileage allotment allowed by the United States internal revenue service for the preceding year;

(c) for meals and lodging associated with travel for inperson appearances at judicial or administrative hearings or trials as witness, hearing officer, CSED attorney or other case prosecutor, a meal and lodging allowance as provided in 2-18-501 , MCA;

(d) for time, effort and expenses in responding to petitions for judicial review including making typed transcriptions of hearing record and preparing briefs, a standardized fee of $250.00;

(e) for deposing or taking the deposition, including stenographic recording, and the taking of audio visual depositions, of a witness who resides more than 100 miles from the place of administrative hearing or who is unable to personally attend an administrative hearing because of age, illness, infirmity or imprisonment, a fee equal to actual cost incurred;

(f) for subpoena of a witness to personally appear at an administrative hearing, a fee equal to the actual amount paid to the witness as provided in 2-4-104 , MCA, and recoverable under 25-10-201 , MCA;

(g) for each hour in taking a responsive or corrective action in an existing judicial proceeding or in commencing an independent judicial action to set aside, declare void or vacate any order, decree or judgment in which the CSED is not a party or is not joined as a party to the action as provided by the rules of civil procedure and which purports to affect, expressly or implicitly, any right or interest of the CSED, a standardized fee of $75.00 for each CSED attorney and a standardized fee of $50.00 for each CSED investigator; and

(h) for other actual costs and actual expenses incurred by the CSED.

(i) for each payment of support distributed to an obligee, whether by warrant, electronic funds transfer, direct deposit in a financial institution or by any other means a fee may be assessed. For each distribution, the fee shall be no greater than $7.00, or 10% of the distribution, whichever is less. This fee may be assessed against the individual or entity receiving CSED services. If the obligee or another state is receiving CSED services, the fee may be deducted from the support collection, before distribution. The total fee incurred against an individual or entity for payment distribution alone shall not exceed $364.00 per year, per case. The payment distribution fee may be assessed over and above any other fee permitted by this rule. However, the payment distribution fee only applies to distributions made in cases being enforced by the CSED under Title IV-D of the Federal Social Security Act.

(j) a fee for each application for non-assistance related services. This fee shall be collected from the applicant at the time of application in the form of a cashier's check or money order. If the appropriate fee is not included with the application, the CSED will not open or reopen the case until such fee is paid. The fee shall be $25.00 for an individual whose annual household income is at least $20,000. The fee shall be $15.00 for an individual whose annual household income is at least $10,000, but less than $20,000. The fee shall be $5.00 for an individual whose annual household income is less than $10,000. If the applicant misrepresents or errs in reporting annual household income, the CSED may assess an additional application fee against the applicant at any time. The additional fee shall be the difference between the amount which was paid at the time of application, and the amount that would have paid for the application if there had been no misrepresentation or error of annual household income.

(2) The fees in (1) (a) shall be assessed to the parent, whether the alleged father or the mother, whose denial of paternity necessitates the taking of paternity blood tests.

(3) Whenever the CSED is the prevailing party in an action or whenever the CSED is not a party to an action but incurs expenses and costs related to an action maintained by any other party, the fees in (1) (b) through (h) shall be assessed to the party whose act, failure to act, negligence or omission caused the CSED to incur the costs and expenses which are the basis for these fees.

(4) In addition to the fees charged in (1) , the CSED will charge fees to review and modify child support orders as follows:

(a) for a determination that a review is not appropriate or modification consent order entered prior to a review hearing, no fee; or

(b) for entry of a modification order resulting from a stipulated agreement obtained during review hearing, a fee of $200.00 assessed to the party or parties requesting the review hearing; or

(c) if the parties are unable to agree following a review hearing and the matter is submitted for arbitration, for entry of a modification order based on the arbitrator's recommendation, a fee of $550.00 assessed to the party or parties who failed to stipulate to a negotiated support order during the review hearing; or

(d) if the arbitrator's recommendation is disputed and a modification hearing is requested, for entry of a modification order subsequent to the modification hearing, a fee of $750.00 to be assessed against the party or parties requesting the hearing; and

(e) if a fee under (4) (b) through (d) is assessed to more than one party, the fee shall be apportioned equally between those parties; and

(f) for each party who requests a review hearing, arbitration or modification hearing and then withdraws from the requested proceeding after the CSED has prepared documents necessary to initiate the proceeding, a handling fee of $50.00.

(5) Under some circumstances, fees assessed to a party with low income under (4) (b) through (e) may be reduced. To determine if a reduction is appropriate, the CSED will refer to the child support determination worksheet (form CS-404A) prepared as part of the review and modification process. The CSED will then divide the figure shown on the worksheet for income available for children by the personal allowance. If the resultant number is greater or equal to 50%, no reduction of the fee is appropriate. If the resultant number is less than 50%, it shall be doubled and multiplied by the amount of the fee. The number determined by this process is the reduced fee amount to be assessed to the low income party.

(6) Other fees assessed to the party or entity requesting the service are:

(a) for parent locate services, a fee of $10.00 if the social security number of the person to be located is provided to the CSED, and $14.00 if the social security number of the person to be located is not provided;

(b) for each intercept of federal or state payments, a standardized fee of $25.00 or actual costs if less than the standardized fee; federal or state payments include, but are not limited to, income tax refunds; and

(c) for photocopies of CSED files, records and other materials, for each page, a fee of $.25.

(7) In no case may a fee authorized under this rule be charged to or collected from a person while that person is a recipient of public assistance in Montana unless federal regulations pertaining to operation of the IV-D program allow the charging or collection of that fee. Fees will not be charged to individuals receiving a FAIM financial assistance cash grant under the federal TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) Block Grant in Montana.

(8) In no case may a fee authorized under this rule be charged to or collected from a foreign reciprocating country, or an obligee residing in a foreign country.

(9) Any fee provided for under this rule may be assessed in addition to any other fee allowed by the rule which may be applicable to the case.