ASSEMBLY, No. 189

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Assemblywoman WEINBERG

An Act concerning child support enforcement and supplementing chapter 17 of Title 2A of the New Jersey Statutes.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, if there is more than one income withholding against the same obligor, the withheld amount shall be allocated among all obligees and the county welfare agency, if applicable, by the county probation department of the county in which the obligor resides, on a prorated basis as follows:

    a. Current support obligations for all obligees and the county welfare agency, if applicable, shall be paid before withheld amounts are allocated to pay arrearages. Withheld amounts that remain after current support is satisfied shall be allocated among all obligees to pay arrearages.

    b. If the withheld amount is less than the total amount due as current support for each case, each obligee's share and the share of the county welfare agency, if applicable, of the withheld amount shall be determined by dividing the amount of each party’s child support order by the total amount of all orders to obtain each party’s support allocation percentage. Each party’s share of the collection shall be determined by multiplying the party’s child support allocation percentage by the amount collected.

    c. If the withheld amount is more than the total amount due for each party, each party shall receive its current support and the remainder of the collection shall be allocated to all parties in equal amounts to satisfy arrearages, except in cases involving arrearages due a county welfare agency. In cases involving a county welfare agency, all arrearages due to an obligee who is not receiving public assistance shall be paid to the obligee prior to the county welfare agency receiving any payment towards the arrearages owed.

    2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill requires that in child support cases where there is more than one withholding order against the obligor, the withheld amounts shall be allocated by the county probation office of the county in which the obligor resides among all parties and the county welfare agency, if applicable, on a prorated basis. The bill also requires that current support obligations shall be paid before withheld amounts are allocated to satisfy arrearages.

    The provisions of this bill mirror provisions in effect through county probation office regulations. It is the sponsor's intent to codify those regulations.

    The bill allows the allocation of income withholdings to county welfare agencies, if applicable, as well as all obligees in cases where there is more than one withholding order against the obligor. The bill also clarifies that if the withheld amount is less than the amount due as current support, the withholding amount would be determined by dividing the amount of each obligee's support order by the total amount of all orders to obtain each obligee's support allocation percentage.

    Finally, the bill requires that if the withheld amount of a child support case involving a county welfare agency is more than the total amount due for each obligee, all arrearages due to an obligee not receiving public assistance shall be paid to the obligee prior to the county welfare agency receiving any payments towards the arrearages owed to the welfare agency.

Requires withholding of child support payments to be prorated when more than one withholding order exists.