Indiana Wage Garnishment: Indiana Child Support Garnishment

Wage garnishment in Indiana accounts for the expense of raising a child but can also continue after the child reaches the age of majority. After a wage garnishment order is assigned to the noncustodial parent, the noncustodial parent’s employer is served with the order. The employer is bound by law to honor the child support garnishment order. This includes making timely payments until the order is terminated, regardless of whether the order is issued from an Indiana agency or one that is out of state. Support payments in Indiana are made to the Indiana State Central Collection Unit.

Indiana Child Support Collection

In Indiana, an employer will generally receive an order for support issued by an Indiana court. This support order can include expenses for a child’s education after 12^th grade, health insurance coverage, as well as special dental or medical expenses. One or both parents in Indiana may be required to provide the child with health insurance if it is available at a reasonable cost to them. Fees that are required by the Title IV-D agency may be included in the support order as well. It’s important to know that the Indiana Child Support Bureau does not issue alimony or spousal support orders.

Who Withholds the Money 

Employers and income payors typically may be served with a support order and are bound by law to enforce the order on the employee until the expiration of the order. An income payor includes an administrator of other sources of income, such as pension or other retirement funds, third-party sick pay insurance, and workers’ compensation insurance.

When is Money Withheld 

When an employer in Indiana receives a support order, they should remit payment to the Indiana State Central Collection Unit (INSCCU) no later than the first payday within fourteen days of the date of the order. Following the first payment, the employer must remit the deduction the day of the employee’s payday. If the support order does not provide an amount to remit each payday, the employer should multiply the stated monthly amount by twelve and divide by the number of paydays in a year. The employer may combine payments for as many employees as it wishes. In this case, the employer should include along with the payment:

• The case number for each custodial parent;
• The Indiana ISETS case number for each custodial parent (occasionally new cases will not have a number, so the employer should call the Indiana Child Support Bureau to get this number);
• Employee name;
• Employee SSN;
• The amount withheld; and
• The date of withholding, or pay date.

If paying by check, payment should be sent to:

Indiana State Central Collection Unit

P.O. Box 6219

Indianapolis, IN 46206-6219

If the employer has fifty or more employees, they must remit payment through EFT/EDI. The Child Support Bureau will fine an employer $25 per violation if they fail to abide by this rule. When determining whether the employer has fifty or more employees, the employer should count employees that work out-of-state if they work for a company that is registered to do business in Indiana. Indiana accepts EFT payment in either Cash Concentration and Disbursement (CCD+) format or Corporate Trade Exchange (CTX) format. Indiana has also set up the Indiana Child Support Payment System, which the employer can use to remit payment. The employer will have their own user name and password, and can send payment for multiple employees, as well as store company and employee information. This system may only be used for support orders issued in Indiana.

Out-of-State Orders 

Indiana abides by the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), meaning that when an employer in Indiana receives an order for support from another state, they must honor it. Both Indiana laws as well as the issuing state’s laws govern different aspects of enforcing the order. To determine the duration of the order, the amount to withhold, and where to send the payment, the employer should follow the laws of the issuing state. To determine when to begin withholding, when to remit withholding, withholding limits, how disposable earnings are defined, and how to allocate orders when an employee is subject to more than one, the employer should follow the employee’s work state laws.