by the Brightmine Editorial Team
Both federal and state laws govern child support enforcement. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) is the federal law that imposes the basic standards all states must meet or exceed in order to receive federal funds to support their respective child support programs. Among other things, the PRWORA requires all initial child support orders to be satisfied through employer wage withholding, unless another payment arrangement (e.g., a wage assignment) is agreed to by both parents or by one parent and a court.
In addition, Title III of the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) sets the maximum amount that employers may withhold from employees’ wages for child support and defines the disposable earnings that are subject to child support withholding.
States are free to set stricter standards than the PRWORA and the CCPA. An employer must generally follow the rules of the state in which the child support withholding order was issued. However, if there are multiple orders in effect for an employee that were issued in more than one state, the law of the state in which the employee works controls.
The following chart summarizes each state’s laws regarding:
- When an employer must begin withholding after receiving a child support order from a court or a state agency;
- The maximum amount that may be withheld for child support, including the maximum administrative fee that an employer may charge, if any;
- When an employer must remit the amount withheld to the State Disbursement Unit (SDU) stated in the order;
- The priority order in which an employer must satisfy multiple orders simultaneously in effect for an employee, if the employee’s disposable earnings are insufficient to fully cover all the orders; and
- How quickly an employer must send notice to the issuing court or agency when an employee separates from employment.
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Child support withholding requirements by state
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About the author
The Brightmine Editorial Team
Our in-house team of HR experts carefully monitors and updates the Brightmine HR & Compliance Center, the most comprehensive library of employment law and HR resources. This team has an unrivaled wealth of subject matter expertise, with an average of 15 years’ experience. They also bring invaluable, diverse career experiences to the table—the team includes seasoned employment law attorneys, former in-house counsel, SHRM certified professionals and career employment law editors.
In addition to managing the HR & Compliance Center, the Editorial Team supports the content across the Brightmine product portfolio. The Team also supports Marketing Resource Center with breaking HR news, Commentary and Insights, and expert review of key compliance resources, such as our free charts.