The DOR Can Enforce a Child Support Order by Levying on the Obligor’s Bank Account

1. When can the DOR Enforce a Child Support Order by Levying on the Obligor’s Bank Account
2. What Can You Do if the DOR Levies Your Bank Account for Unpaid Child Support
3. Is any money in a bank account is exempt from a levy?
4. How to Apply For a Hardship Waiver of the Levy on Your Bank Account

When can the DOR Enforce a Child Support Order by Levying on the Obligor’s Bank Account

If a parent (the “obligor”) owes past-due child support and has a bank account or other funds in a financial institution, the DOR can levy on those accounts to pay the past-due support.

Before the DOR can levy on the bank account, it must send the obligor a written notice and wait 30 days (the administrative appeal period). If the amount of back child support specified in the notice has not been paid within the 30 days, DOR may levy on the accounts. By "levying" DOR takes control of some or all of the accounts and the funds in them. DOR issues a Notice of Levy to the bank or other financial institution to collect the support from the accounts. The Notice of Levy instructs the bank to "freeze" all of the non-custodial parent's accounts up to the amount of the levy for 21 days, and then send the funds to the DOR. A copy of the Notice of Levy is mailed to the obligor 7 days after it was mailed to the financial institution.

What Can You Do if the DOR Levies Your Bank Account for Unpaid Child Support

Obligors can have DOR review its decision to levy on their bank accounts.

Along with the Notice of Levy, the obligor should also receive a "Bank Levy Response Form". The obligor can dispute the levy by returning the form within 15 days of the date of the Notice of Levy.

The Bank Levy Response Form has boxes that the obligor can check to tell DOR why the levy is disputed:

1. That the amount taken from the account was more than is owed.
2. That some or all of the funds in the account are exempt because they come from certain federal or state benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Transitional Assistance to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC), Transitional Aid to Needy Families (TANF), or Emergency Aid for Elderly, Disabled, and Children(EAEDC).
3. That the funds do not belong to the obligor. For example, if the funds belong to a person for whom the obligor is a court-appointed guardian or conservator, the DOR cannot take the funds.
4. That the levy causes the obligor a severe hardship.

When you submit a Bank Levy Response Form, you have the right to have the DOR conduct a review of its decision to levy on your bank account and to send you a written decision. The written decision must also notify you of your right to have the decision reviewed by a court.

You can have a court review the decision of the DOR to levy on your bank account.

You can, within 45 days of the decision of the DOR, have the decision reviewed by the court where the child support order was issued or registered. To have the court review the DOR decision, you file a complaint for judicial review. With a complaint for judicial review, you can have a court review and correct any "mistakes of fact" made by DOR. You cannot have a court review a hardship waiver decision.

Is any money in a bank account exempt from a levy?

The DOR cannot levy on money in your bank account that comes from certain programs that assist low income people. Thus, the DOR cannot levy on the money in a bank account that is Transitional Assistance to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC), Transitional Aid to Needy Families (TANF), Emergency Assistance for Elderly, Disabled, and Children (EAEDC), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or State Veterans' benefits.

Also, the DOR cannot levy on funds that do not belong to you. For example, if the funds belong to a person for whom you are a court-appointed guardian or conservator, the DOR cannot take the funds.

To dispute the levy on these types of funds, submit the Bank Levy Response Form described above.

How to Apply For a Hardship Waiver of the Levy on Your Bank Account

The DOR will consider a claim of hardship resulting from its levying on your bank account or other account. You can apply for a hardship waiver on the levy on your bank account by checking the appropriate box on the Bank Levy Response Form, including documentation that supports your hardship claim. There is another form, a "Hardship Testimony" form, that is used to give the DOR more information about the hardship. The Hardship Testimony form is a sworn statement; you sign it "under pains and penalties of perjury." DOR's policy is that to prove hardship, you must show that the DOR's levy is a substantial contributing factor to one or more of the following:

• continuing or imminent homelessness
• inability to buy food
• continuing lack or imminent loss of utilities
• inability to commute to work or search for work
• imminent, involuntary loss of employment
• inability to obtain necessary medical treatment for yourself or your dependents
• inability to obtain necessary education services for a dependent child with special needs
• inability to purchase necessary clothing for yourself or your dependents
• inability to met business payroll
• imminent loss of business or business bankruptcy
• inability to leave or remain away from an unsafe domestic situation

The DOR's policy is that since neither federal nor state law requires it to consider hardship claims, its decision whether to allow a hardship claim is final. Judicial review of a DOR hardship determination is not available. A much more complicated and difficult court process, called a complaint for equitable relief, is available.