Ohio Code 3121.034 – Priority of withholding or deduction requirement for support
(A) Except for deductions from lump sum payments made in accordance with section 3121.0311 of the Revised Code, a withholding or deduction requirement contained in a withholding or deduction notice described in section 3121.03 of the Revised Code has priority over any order of attachment, any order in aid of execution, and any other legal process issued under state law against the same earnings, payments, or account.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 3121.034
- Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
- Child: includes child by adoption. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Income: means any form of monetary payment, including personal earnings; workers' compensation payments; unemployment compensation benefits to the extent permitted by, and in accordance with, sections 3121. See Ohio Code 3121.01
- Payor: means any person or entity that pays or distributes income to an obligor, including an obligor if the obligor is self-employed; an employer; an employer paying an obligor's workers' compensation benefits; the public employees retirement board; the governing entity of a municipal retirement system; the board of trustees of the Ohio police and fire pension fund; the state teachers retirement board; the school employees retirement board; the state highway patrol retirement board; a provider, as defined in section 3305. See Ohio Code 3121.01
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
(B) When two or more withholding notices are received by a payor, the payor shall comply with all of the requirements contained in the notices to the extent that the total amount withheld from the obligor’s income does not exceed the maximum amount permitted under section 303(b) of the “Consumer Credit Protection Act,” 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b), withhold amounts in accordance with the allocation set forth in divisions (B)(1) and (2) of this section, notify each court or child support enforcement agency that issued one of the notices of the allocation, and give priority to amounts designated in each notice as current support in the following manner:
(1) If the total of the amounts designated in the notices as current support exceeds the amount available for withholding under section 303(b) of the “Consumer Credit Protection Act,” 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b), the payor shall allocate to each notice an amount for current support equal to the amount designated in that notice as current support multiplied by a fraction in which the numerator is the amount of income available for withholding and the denominator is the total amount designated in all of the notices as current support.
(2) If the total of the amounts designated in the notices as current support does not exceed the amount available for withholding under section 303(b) of the “Consumer Credit Protection Act,” 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b), the payor shall pay all of the amounts designated as current support in the notices and shall allocate to each notice an amount for past-due support equal to the amount designated in that notice as past-due support multiplied by a fraction in which the numerator is the amount of income remaining available for withholding after the payment of current support and the denominator is the total amount designated in all of the notices as past-due support.