Stillings & Buchinger, LLC

ENFORCING A CHILD SUPPORT ORDER

Income withholding

Withholding child support payments from the paying parent’s paycheck is the easiest and most effective way to collect child support. Child support payments may be withheld from Unemployment Insurance, Worker’s Compensation benefits, Social Security Retirement benefits, and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI); however, support cannot be withheld from Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments. In most cases, support cannot be withheld from veteran’s benefits. Health insurance premiums can also be included in an income withholding order.

Credit bureaus

Child support agencies release credit information to credit bureaus. If a person is in arrears on child support payments, that information is submitted to a credit reporting agency, which may affect the obligated parent’s credit rating and prevent them from obtaining credit, a loan for a vehicle, or a mortgage.

Tax intercept programs - Withholding Support

The Bureau of Child Support informs the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the state Department of Revenue (DOR) of arrearages. The IRS and DOR then withhold that amount from the obligated parent’s refund and may take the entire refund.

People who are married to parents with child support arrearages owed to another person may file a special relief form called “an innocent spouse” claim to avoid his or her refund from being confiscated by the taxing authority.

Federal Tax Intercept Program

Under the federal tax intercept program, the paying parent must owe $500 or more in overdue child support (or $150 if the children had received aid to families with dependant children. The tax intercept first pays for state-owed arrears, then current support owed that month to the family, then family-owed arrears. For family-owed arrears, federal tax intercept is done only in cases when the child is under 18 years of age.

Wisconsin State Tax Intercept Program

Under the Wisconsin state tax intercept program, the paying parent must owe $150 or more in overdue child support. The tax intercept first pays current support owed that month to the family, then family-owed arrears.

You do not have to ask for the Tax Intercept service. It is automatic. There may be a small fee for this service.

In order for the parent who is owed child support arrearages to benefit from the tax intercept program, the person owing the arrearages must first file a tax refund and then be due a refund.

Before tax intercepts are sent to the custodial parent:

• A collection from a federal joint tax return is held six months
• A collection from a federal individual tax return is held five days
• A collection from all Wisconsin tax returns are held five days Collection of child support arrearages are held by Wisconsin for five days to avoid situations where an amended tax return is filed, thus creating the potential of the parent receiving the funds having to pay them back. This delay does not guarantee that money paid will not be recalled because tax returns can be amended for up to six years.

If either or both taxing authorities recalls intercepted money, the custodial parent must repay the money immediately. For example, if the parent owing arrearages makes an error on his or her tax return and files an amended return, or if a joint return results in an injured spouse claim, the money paid may need to be recalled by the tax agency. If the parent receiving the intercepted funds cannot repay them all at once, payment plans are available. If payment plans are not made, or not kept, the taxing agency will try other ways to collect the money from the custodial parent, such as using a collection agency.

Interest charges

When the amount of arrears is equal to or more than one full month of support, Wisconsin law requires child support agencies to charge interest (12% per year) on the unpaid amount. Interest on child support arrearages is paid to the parent owed support when the funds are collected.

Court actions for not paying child support

When a parent owing support falls behind in payments, the child support collection agency may refer the account for court intervention. Courts may find the delinquent person in contempt of court, or prosecute him or her for criminal non-support or felony non-support. In cases where the court pursues a contempt action, the court usually orders the delinquent payor to jail, but also set a “purge” condition that requires that a certain amount of money be paid or action be taken to avoid jail.

Criminal nonsupport is a crime prosecuted by the county district attorney or by the tribal court. Child support agencies may refer cases to the district attorney or tribal court. A custodial parent may file a complaint directly with the district attorney’s office or tribal court. The district attorney’s office or the tribal court decides whether to take the case, usually after talking with the child support office.

Liens, seizure of property, and license suspension

Since October 2000, child support agencies have additional ways to collect child support. They may suspend the license of or seize property held in the obligated parent’s name. Additionally, when the obligated parent’s arrearages reach a certain level, his or her name is automatically placed on the “Lien Docket”, a lien is placed on any property and the child support debt is reported to the credit bureaus. Obligated parents placed on the lien docket may have other actions taken against them by the child support agency, such as bank account seizures. Parents owed arrearages may request notification of any of these actions.

Interstate enforcement

When the parent obligated to pay child support resides in another state, Wisconsin’s child support collection agency will send a copy of the child support order to the other state’s child support collection agency and ask for enforcement of that order or for a new order. Any fees charged by the out-of-state agency are assessed against the obligated parent. If an order exists and all parties move out of the state, Wisconsin loses jurisdiction, but may through interstate enforcement laws, have the previous court order enforced.

Federal enforcement actions

When a payer does not pay his or her child support, that payer cannot receive certain services from the federal government, such as: food stamps, some college grants, passports, and small business loans.

Medicaid

Child support agencies will enforce orders to repay specified amounts, such as "$20 each month.” The child support agency will not enforce medical support orders for unspecified amounts, such as an order to pay "half of all uninsured medical expenses."

Failure to pay

If a parent fails or refuses to follow the court's order for child support payments, she or he may be found in contempt of court, arrested, held over in, or sentenced to jail. Wisconsin is a leader among the states for the collection of child support. Wisconsin's Department of Workforce Development has established a system under which an obligator's driver's license may be suspended, revoked, denied, or non-renewed if the obligator has refused to make court ordered child support payments. Wisconsin's child support enforcement relies upon KIDS, a very sophisticated networked computer system that is able to track income, addresses, driver's license, and other information across the United States. KIDS helps custodial parents receive support through income withholding orders garnishing the liable parent's wages, income tax returns, and other assets.

Obligated parents who fail to pay subject themselves to possible legal action, including but not limited to: jail sentencing, jail time, and show cause hearings. “Show Cause” hearings are hearings held so that the obligated parent may show the court his or her just cause for not paying. If the court accepts the reason, the obligated parent is usually free to go; however, if the court does not accept the reason, the court may demand partial or full payment, sentence the obligated parent to jail, or require a bond, which is then sent to the payment due arrearages.

missing child support payors

If your court order requires the child support obligator to notify the child support collection agency of any change in name, address, or employment and the obligator fails to do so, he or she is in contempt of the court's orders. Legislative actions, uniform state and federal laws, and special allocations to fund massive intrastate computer networks have assisted in tracking obligators and their income.

collecting past due child support

Child Support Orders filed with support collection agencies establish a child support account. Wisconsin's KIDS system tracks support obligations according to the court's order, payments made by the non-custodial parent, and the amount of arrears Unless a court orders otherwise, the arrearages remains a debt due to the custodial parent for as long as the law shall allow (see Statute of Limitations below).

statute of limitations for collecting child support arrears

The Statute of Limitations for collecting past due child support is determined by the longest period allowed by the laws of the state where the custodial and the non-custodial parents reside.

Wisconsin Statute of Limitation for collection of arrears is 10 years from the date that the last child support payment was due.

For example: The custodial parent resides in Wisconsin and the non-custodial parent resides in Michigan, where the limitation is 15 years. According to a Child Support Order, the last child support payment was due on June 1, 2002, when the youngest child under the Child Support Order turned 18 years of age and graduated from high school. In this example, the parent due the support may collect that support until June 1, 2017, or until paid in full, whichever occurs first.

Income Changes

Substantial income changes may require a change in a Child Support Order. If child support is calculated on a percentage basis, income changes will result in support changes without court intervention. If child support is based on a fixed amount of income, either parent may petition the court for a change in child support every two years, unless the change is substantially significant.

Even then, child support is not often changed; a parent whose income is lost or declines does not meet the burden of proof to change child support because the parent should be able to maintain a certain level of income.

child support reviews

Both the custodial and the non-custodial parents will receive a notice of support from the Bureau of Child Support every three years. Either parent may ask the child support agency to review the support order if it is more than three years old, or if there have been major changes in circumstances. The request for review should be in writing.

If the child support agency finds the order to be too high or low based on the Percentage of Income Standard, they may ask the parents to stipulate to an adjustment of the order. If the parents do not agree, the Court may decide the matter.

If the child support agency does not seek to change an order that you believe should be changed, you may either contact the Family Court Commissioner's office for instructions on how to proceed with a request for review, or contact your Family Law Attorney.