93-17-12 - Authority of court to impose fee for court-ordered home study relating to child custody matters and in all adoptions.
§ 93-17-12. Authority of court to impose fee for court-ordered home study relating to child custody matters and in all adoptions.
In any child custody matter hereafter filed in any chancery or county court in which temporary or permanent custody has already been placed with a parent or guardian and in all adoptions, the court shall impose a fee for any court-ordered home study performed by the Department of Human Services or any other entity. The fee shall be assessed upon either party or upon both parties in the court's discretion. The minimum fee imposed shall be not less than Three Hundred Fifty Dollars ($350.00) for each household on which a home study is performed. The fee shall be paid directly to the Mississippi Department of Human Services prior to the home study being conducted by the department or to the entity if the study is performed by another entity. The judge may order the fee be paid by one or both of the parents or guardian. If the court determines that both parents or the guardian are unable to pay the fee, the judge shall waive the fee and the cost of the home study shall be defrayed by the Department of Human Services.
Sources: Laws, 1993, ch. 524, § 1; Laws, 2000, ch. 462, § 1; Laws, 2003, ch. 345, § 1; Laws, 2007, ch. 496, § 5, eff from and after July 1, 2007.