Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1240-02-02-.04 - INCOME WITHHOLDING FOR SUPPORT

(1) Required Uses.

(a) The form, number OMB-0970-0154, and instructions are available in Adobe PDF or Microsoft Word at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/forms/ "Income Withholding for Support". This form is required by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to be used for income withholding. It shall be used in intrastate and interstate cases.

(b) It shall be used by the Clerk of the Court and by the Department of Human Services or its contractor for the purpose of directing an employer or other payer of income who or which has income payable to an obligor of support to withhold income from that obligor to comply with an initial order of the court.

(c) It shall be used by the Department or its contractors to indicate to the employer/payer of income that the Income Withholding for Support has been modified so that the newly ordered amounts will be substituted in place of the previously ordered amounts or to recover any fees or costs as allowed by law.

(d) It shall be used by the Court Clerk or the Department to denote the termination of an income assignment as indicated on the form.

(e) It shall be used to notify the entity withholding the income of the obligor of any other changes to the processing of the payments withheld including, but not limited to, a change in payment location, frequency of payment, or other processing data.

(2) This form shall also be issued by the Clerk of the Court, or by the Department of Human Services or its contractor, in any cases where no income assignment had been previously ordered, but the Clerk's records, or those of the Department of Human Services, show that the obligor is in arrears. No Affidavit of Arrearage pursuant to 1240-02-02-.11 is required in these circumstances. No order of the court expressly authorizing the issuance of such Order shall be required.

(3) This form shall also be issued in circumstances when an income assignment had not previously been issued, payments had been made directly to the obligee, and an obligee completes an Affidavit of Arrears pursuant to 1240-02-02-.11 stating that the obligor is in arrears for support, or in circumstances where an Assignment had not issued due to the provisions of T.C.A. § 36-5-501(a)(2), but the obligor is now in arrears, and where the obligee or the obligor is receiving services under Title IV-D. No order of the court expressly authorizing the issuance of such Order shall be required.

(4) This form may also be used by the Clerk or the Department to recover fees or costs.

(5) Child Support Payment Locations.

(a) In all cases in which the initial order requiring that child support be withheld by the employer or other payer of income, payment shall be made to the Department's centralized collection system for child support collections as required by T.C.A. § 36-5-116 and 42 U.S.A. § 654(a). In all non-IV-D cases in which the order requires the obligor to pay support through the Clerk of the Court or to the obligee, no income assignment is needed unless otherwise allowed or required by these rules or by state or federal law.

(b) All payments for child support being withheld by the employer or other payer of income pursuant to the Income Withholding for Support Order shall be made to the Department's centralized collection system for child support collections as required by T.C.A. § 36-5-116 and 42 U.S.C. § 654b(a).

(6) The form referenced in subparagraph (1)(a), which has numbered spaces corresponding to the attached set of instructions for its use, has been issued by the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Notes

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1240-02-02-.04

Original rule filed December 17, 1985; effective January 14, 1986. Amendment filed October 17, 1986; effective January 27, 1987. Amendment filed August 25, 1989; effective October 13, 1989. Repeal and new rule filed December 7, 1994; effective February 20, 1995. Repeal and new rule filed October 14, 1999; effective December 28, 1999. Public necessity rule filed May 20, 2005; effective through November 1, 2005. Amendments filed August 17, 2005; effective October 31, 2005. Amendment filed September 8, 2009; effective December 7, 2009.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 4-5-202, 8-21-403, 36-5-116, 36-5-501, and 71-1-132(c); 42 U.S.C. §§651 et seq., 42 U.S.C. §§652(a)(11), 654(9)(E), 654a(g)(1)(A)(ii), 654b(a), and 666(a)(8) and (b); 45 C.F.R. §§303.6(c)(1), 303.7, and 303.100; and United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Child Support Enforcement Action Transmittal 04-05 (July 15, 2004).