Enforcing Support
If a parent paying support cannot be found or is not complying with a support order, we can take steps to find the parent and enforce the order. This includes working with other agencies in Vermont as well as child support agencies in other states to enforce the order and collect past due support.
The Uniform Interstate Family Support Act – a uniform law adopted by all states and territories – requires child support agencies work together to establish, modify, and enforce support orders regardless of where the orders originate. What this means is that we can take the same steps to enforce an out-of-state support order that we can to enforce one issued in Vermont.
Before we can start any enforcement action on your behalf, you must be receiving our services. If you are not receiving full OCS services, you need to apply.
What can OCS do to enforce child support?
We are authorized to undertake a number of enforcement activities designed to make sure child support payments are made as ordered by the court. These include:
- Using administrative remedies (actions we can take without a court order)
- Requesting a court action
If your case needs enforcement, we will evaluate it and decide how to proceed. Some steps are automatic, and we may not inform you before taking action. For example, if we find an employer through a national database match, we will automatically issue a wage withholding notice to that employer.
We will also inform you beforehand if enforcement involves a court action.
It is important that you inform us of any changes in your circumstances and notify us before entering into any agreement that could affect your support.
If the parent paying support lives outside the United States and is not complying with the support order, we may be able to help you determine the enforcement options available. If you have a case with us, contact your OCS case worker. If you do not have a case with us, call a Customer Service Representative at 800-786-3214.
What are administrative remedies?
Below is a list of administrative remedies available to OCS, starting with the least severe. Some are automatic while some are optional based on the facts in the case. Some may be used only after the past due support is 25% or more of the annual obligation. This usually means that it is more than three months overdue. Other remedies may be used as soon as a payment is one month past due. All remedies may be used even if the parent paying support is making payments toward the past due amount.
Before we can initiate an administrative remedy, we must notify the parent paying support of the past due amount, the remedies we may take to collect it, and the right to appeal. Once the parent paying support is notified and given an opportunity to disagree with the amount of arrears owed, administrative remedies may take place at any time.
- Wage Withholding: If the support order does not include a requirement for wage withholding, we may notify an employer to start withholding the amount of support from the parent paying support’s wages.
- This can happen when payments are one month overdue.
- Increase Wage Withholding for Arrears: We may notify the employer to increase wage withholding (up to 25% of current support) to pay past due support.
- This can happen when payments are one month overdue.
- Lottery Offset: We may collect a parent paying support’s lottery winnings of more than $500. Lottery offsets are applied to current support first and then to any arrears.
- This can happen when support is at least $500 in arrears.
- Liens: We may place a lien on property owned by the parent paying support, including his or her home.
- This can happen when payments are more than three months overdue or there is a court judgment against the parent paying support for arrears equal to at least one month of annual support.
- Trustee Process: We may seek to attach any assets owned by the parent paying support and held by another person, institution, or entity (e.g. bank or retirement account).
- This can happen when payments are more than three months overdue.
- License Non-Renewal: We may ask a licensing authority to not renew a professional or recreational license.
- This can happen when payments are at least one month overdue, and the parent paying support is not complying with a repayment plan.
- State Tax Refund Offset: We may intercept a parent paying support’s state income tax refund. It must be applied to current support first; then, it can be used to pay back any arrears. When a parent paying support’s tax refund is from a joint return, the Vermont Tax Department will determine the amount due to the current spouse from the state refund and instruct us to issue a check for that amount. The current spouse has up to 30 days to request the refund through the Tax Department.
- This can happen when arrears total $50 or more.
- Federal Tax Refund Offset: We may intercept a parent paying support’s federal income tax refund. Federal law establishes the amount of arrears that can be offset as well as how we must apply any tax refund intercepted. A federal tax refund must be applied to current support first; then, it can be used to pay back any arrears.
When a parent paying support’s tax refund is from a joint return, the IRS will determine how much of the federal refund should go to the parent paying support’s current spouse and issue a check to that spouse. It can take up to six months for the IRS to make this determination.- This can happen when the parent receiving support receives public assistance or Medicaid, at least $150 in past due support is owed, support is more than one month overdue, and support has been assigned to the state. Or the parent receiving support does not receive public assistance or Medicaid and at least $500 in past due support is owed.
- Other Treasury Offsets: We may intercept any funds due to the parent paying support from any federal source (e.g., business loans, student loans, and federal contracts). Federal law establishes the amount of arrears that can be offset as well as how we must apply them.
- This can happen when the parent receiving support receives public assistance or Medicaid, support is more than one month overdue, at least $150 in past due support is owed, and support has been assigned to the state. Or the parent receiving support does not receive public assistance or Medicaid and at least $500 in past due support is owed.
- Passport Denial: We may ask the federal government to not renew or provide a passport. Once the passport is denied, the arrears must be paid in full before a passport is allowed in most situations.
- This can happen when payments are at least $2,500 in arrears.
What can OCS do to enforce medical coverage?
We are authorized to enforce court-ordered medical coverage. Here’s how:
- We notify the parent paying support’s employer of the court-ordered requirement to enroll dependent children in health insurance coverage. The notice is called a National Medical Support Notice, and employers are obligated to comply with it.
- We make sure the children are enrolled in health insurance if it is available at a reasonable cost. (Determination of reasonable cost varies from state to state; it is based on the parent paying support’s available income versus health insurance premiums.)
- We notify the parent receiving support of the coverage being provided.
If an employer fails to comply with a National Medical Support Notice, we evaluate the case and decide how to proceed. We may not inform you in advance of a step being taken to enforce medical coverage, unless it involves filing a court action.
What actions can courts take to enforce support?
- Contempt of Court: In the more egregious cases, if the court finds that the parent paying support had the ability to pay support but willfully failed to do so, it may find that parent in contempt of court and order him or her to pay certain arrears or face imprisonment.
- License Suspension: The court may order the suspension of any Vermont-issued license (e.g., driver’s license, professional/trade license, and recreational license) held by a parent paying support who has failed to comply with the prior enforcement action and if the non-complying parent cannot demonstrate an inability to pay.
- Liable for Medical Expenses: The court may find an employer who failed to enroll a child in health insurance liable for any medical expenses that would have been paid had the child been enrolled.
- Work: If the parent paying support is unemployed at the time of an enforcement hearing, the court can order that parent to seek employment immediately and report to the court, the parent receiving support, or OCS on a weekly basis regarding efforts to find work. If the parent paying support fails to look for work, the court can find that parent in contempt.
A Note to Parent Paying Support
A licensing agency will notify you before your license is suspended that you may request a hearing before the licensing agency to either deny that you are the correct person or to show that the arrears have been paid in full.
A license can be reinstated as soon as the amount of past due support is paid in full, or you agree to a repayment plan. The licensing agency will activate your license within 5 business days of receiving a reinstatement order from the court or a notice from OCS. All agencies charge a fee to reinstate a license.
How does the court process work?
If you have a case with us, we can file a Petition for Enforcement on your behalf. This is a written request that the court enforce the support order. As with any other request to the court, the other parent must be served with the Petition for Enforcement and any other paperwork before a hearing can be held.
At the court hearing, an OCS representative will be there to represent the state’s interest; however, we will not be your attorney and will not represent you in court.