ASSEMBLY, No. 189

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

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 Probation Division of the Superior Court, 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.

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