(a) Whenever an administrative order is entered establishing, modifying, or enforcing support, or establishing an arrearage that has accrued under a previous judicial or administrative order of support, there shall concurrently be issued an order that shall operate as an assignment to the agency for the benefit of the child or in the case of spousal support, for the benefit of a spouse or former spouse, of such amounts at such times as may be specified in the order, from the responsible parent‘s income due or to become due in the future from the responsible parent’s employer, or successor employers, except when alternative arrangements are ordered pursuant to section child support; direct payment exception” class=”unlinked-ref” datatype=”S” sessionyear=”2022″ statecd=”HI”>576D-10. The income withholding order shall be in the standard format prescribed by Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, as amended by the child support enforcement agency. A copy of the income withholding order shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit court in the circuit where the order was issued along with the copy of the support order as provided in section 576E-12.
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Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 576E-16
- Administrative order: means the order resulting from an administrative adjudication by a hearings officer or the attorney general, through the agency, of the final disposition of a matter before the agency. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 576E-1
- Agency: means the child support enforcement agency established by section 576D-2. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 576E-1
- Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
- Arrearage: means past due child support under an existing court or administrative order. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 576E-1
- Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
- Child support: means payment for the necessary support and maintenance of a child as required by law that includes but is not limited to spousal support when being enforced in conjunction with child support or medical support when a court or administrative order requires the debtor parent to pay an amount in lieu of providing medical insurance coverage or to reimburse for maternity and delivery expenses incurred when the debtor parent's child was born. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 576E-1
- Court: means the family courts of this State and, when the context requires, a court or agency of any other state having jurisdiction to establish, modify, and enforce support obligations. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 576E-1
- Employee: means any person working for another for hire, including but not limited to, an individual employed in domestic service or at a family's or person's home or any individual employed by the individual's parent or spouse, or independent contractors. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 576E-1
- Employer: means any person who uses or engages the services of any person in exchange for the payment of wages or other means of exchange, including the United States government, the State, and any political subdivision thereof, and anyone who is or shall become obligated for payment of income. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 576E-1
- Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
- Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Obligee: means any person to whom payments are required to be made under the terms of a court or administrative order for child support, or child support and spousal support. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 576E-1
- Obligor: means a responsible parent obligated by court or administrative order to pay child support. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 576E-1
- Office: means the office of child support hearings established pursuant to § 576E-10. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 576E-1
- Order of support: means a judgment, decree, or order, whether temporary, final, or subject to modification, issued by a court or an administrative agency of competent jurisdiction, for the support and maintenance of a child, including a child who has attained the age of majority under the law of the issuing state, or a child and the parent with whom the child is living, which provides for monetary support, health care, arrearages, or reimbursement, and which may include related costs and fees, interest and penalties, income withholding, attorney's fees, and other relief. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 576E-1
- Responsible parent: means any person who does not have physical custody of the child and who has a legal duty of support. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 576E-1
- Spousal support: means a legally enforceable obligation assessed against an individual for the support of a spouse or a former spouse who is living with a child or children for whom the individual also owes support. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 576E-1
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- Support order: means an obligation determined by a court or duly authorized administrative agency, for the maintenance of a dependent child, which is owed to or on behalf of the child, or to the parent or custodian with whom the child is living. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 576E-1
As used in this subsection, the term “business day” means a day on which the employer’s office is open for regular business. The employer shall withhold funds as directed in the order or the notice to withhold child support, except that when an employer receives an income withholding order issued by another state, the employer shall apply the income withholding law of the state of the obligor’s principal place of employment in determining:
(1) The employer’s fee for processing an income withholding order;
(2) The maximum amount permitted to be withheld from the obligor’s income under section 303(b) of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. § 1673(b));
(3) The time periods within which the employer must implement the income withholding order and forward the child support payment;
(4) The priorities for withholding and allocating income withheld for multiple child support obligees; and
(5) Any withholding terms or conditions not specified in the order.
An employer who complies with an income withholding order or a notice to withhold child support that is regular on its face shall not be subject to civil liability to any person or agency for conduct in compliance with the order.
An employer who is required to withhold amounts from the income of more than one employee may remit to the agency a sum total of all such amounts in one check with a listing of the amounts applicable to each employee.
Within two working days after receipt of the amounts withheld by the employer, the agency shall disburse the amounts to the obligee for the benefit of the child, except that the agency may delay the distribution of collections toward arrearages until resolution of any timely requested hearing with respect to such arrearages.
(d) An income withholding order or a notice to withhold child support shall remain in effect after the obligor’s requirement to pay future child support has ended if the obligor owes past due support and any amount received pursuant to the order or notice shall be applied to satisfy all past due support owed. An income withholding order or a notice to withhold child support shall be terminated when appropriate by court or administrative order, except that an employer withholding income for payment to the child support enforcement agency shall terminate withholding upon receipt of a notice from the child support enforcement agency to terminate income withholding. Payment by the responsible parent of any delinquency shall not in and of itself warrant termination of the income withholding order or the notice to withhold child support. The agency shall promptly refund any amount withheld in error to the responsible parent.
(e) It shall be unlawful for any employer to refuse to hire a prospective employee, to discharge an employee, or to take any other disciplinary action against an employee, based in whole or in part upon an order or notice to withhold child support authorized by this section. Any employer who fails to comply with this subsection may be subject to a fine not to exceed $250 as determined by the court.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the purposes of this section, the term “income” shall include, without limitation, salaries, wages, earnings, workers’ compensation, unemployment compensation, disability benefits, commissions, independent contractor income, and any other entitlement to money including moneys payable as a pension or as an annuity or retirement or disability or death or other benefit, or as a return of contributions and interest thereon from the United States government, or from the State or political subdivision thereof, or from any retirement, disability, or annuity system established by any of them pursuant to statute.
(g) Any responsible parent may request withholding of the parent’s income prior to entry of an administrative order. The employer shall comply with that request as if so ordered under this section.
(h) If there is more than one obligee, the amounts withheld from the income of a responsible parent shall be allocated among the obligees. The allocation may be based on each obligee’s proportionate share of the amount of the withholding orders or the notices to withhold child support that were served on the employer of the obligor. If concurrent assignment orders or notices to withhold child support would cause the amounts withheld from the responsible parent’s income to exceed applicable wage withholding limitations, the amount withheld shall be allocated so that in no case shall the allocation result in a withholding for one of the support obligations not being implemented. Thereafter, arrearages due under the income withholding orders or the notices to withhold child support shall be satisfied in the order of service, up to the applicable limitation.
(i) If a responsible parent changes employment when an income withholding order or a notice to withhold child support is in effect, the agency shall notify the responsible parent’s new employer of the responsible parent’s obligation in accordance with subsections (b) to (f). The new employer shall be bound by the income withholding order or the notice to withhold child support until further court or administrative order or until further notified by the agency pursuant to § 576D-14.
