Also known as: automatic wage withholding · automatic wage withholdings · wage withholding · income withholding
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
A statutory enforcement mechanism by which a court or agency directs an employer to deduct support payments directly from an obligor's wages and remit them to the obligee.
Javier receives a Madrid tribunal order requiring monthly payments for his adult daughter Lucia while she attends conservatory. After signing a California contract, his ex-spouse registers the order in California. The court directs the production company to withhold the amounts from Javier's fees and forward them automatically.
Richard falls behind on support payments and faces contempt proceedings. Rather than jailing him, the court imposes a wage assignment directing his employer to deduct a set amount each week and send it directly to the recipient until arrears are cleared.
In June 2003 a South Carolina family court entered an order requiring petitioner Michael Turner to pay respondent Rebecca Rogers $51.73 per week to help support their child. Rogers' father Larry Price currently has custody of the child and is also a respondent before this Court. Over the next three years Turner repeatedly failed to pay the amount due and was held in contempt on five occasions. The first four times he was sentenced to 90 days' imprisonment but ultimately paid what he owed. He paid twice without being jailed and twice after spending a few days in custody. The fifth time he did not pay but completed a six-month sentence. After his release Turner remained in arrears. On March 27, 2006 the family court clerk issued a new show cause order because Turner was $5,728.76 behind. Following an initial postponement due to Turner's failure to appear, his civil contempt hearing took place on January 3, 2008. Turner and Rogers were both present without representation by counsel. The court clerk stated the arrearage amount. The judge asked Turner if there was anything he wanted to say. Turner described getting back on drugs after release, breaking his back in September, filing for disability and SSI benefits, and hoping for another chance. The judge then asked Rogers if she had anything to say. The judge found Turner in willful contempt and sentenced him to twelve months in the Oconee County Detention Center. Turner could purge the contempt by reaching a zero balance. The judge completed a prewritten Order for Contempt of Court form but left blank the statement indicating whether Turner was gainfully employed and had the ability to make support payments when due. Turner served the full sentence. While serving the sentence Turner appealed with pro bono counsel claiming a federal constitutional right to counsel at the contempt hearing. The South Carolina Supreme Court rejected the claim after Turner completed his sentence. Turner sought certiorari, and the United States Supreme Court granted review. Within months of his release from the twelve-month imprisonment Turner was again the subject of civil contempt proceedings. He had arrears of $13,814.72 as of December 2010. Another hearing was scheduled for May 2011.
View caseYes. The uniform act defines a child-support order to include obligations for a child who has reached majority under the issuing jurisdiction's law when the order was properly issued for the child's benefit. Once registered, the responding state may direct the employer to withhold wages automatically.
The withholding order remains in effect and follows the obligor. The new employer must honor the directive and begin automatic deductions upon notice, ensuring continuous payments without requiring a new court order.
Yes. The definition of support order expressly includes orders benefiting a spouse or former spouse, and the enforcement tools such as income withholding apply to those orders once registered in the responding state.
…enforcement); 45 CFR pt. 303 (2010) (prescribing standards for state child support agencies). These systems often rely upon wage withholding, expedited procedures for modifying and enforcing child support orders, and automated data processing. 42 U. S. C. §§666(a), (b), 654(24). But sometimes States will use contempt orders to…