New York Wage Garnishment: New York Child Support Garnishment

Child support collection in New York is taken very seriously. After an employer has been served with an order for child support garnishment, they are bound by law to enforce this wage garnishment on the noncustodial parent. Upon default, support payments will be collected through income execution. Under New York wage garnishment, money for child support collections must be withheld each pay period until the termination of the order. This article offers a basic overview of child support collection and wage garnishment in New York.

New York Child Support Collection

It is first helpful to define the important terms pertaining to New York wage garnishment. In New York, an “order of support” means any state or foreign order, temporary or final, for a judgment or stipulation within a judgment, agreement, or family court decree. “Employer,” or “income payer,” means a present, future, or former employer, union, or employee’s organization. This includes, but is not limited to, an administrator of a pension fund, benefit program, or insurance; any branch of state government; any person, corporation, trustee, unincorporated business or association, partnership, financial institution, stock purchase or option plan, a broker, or an insurance company, entity, or institution.

Who Withholds the Money

Once an employer is served with an order of support, this order is continuous, and they are bound by law to enforce the order until the date listed on the order, or until the issuing agency notifies them to stop. Remember that in New York an administrator of other sources of payments, such as pension plans, insurance, or benefit programs, is also defined as an employer. The administrator must withhold money from the payments made to the employee if they are served with a support order.

When an employee has defaulted on more than one month’s payment, arrears may be collected through “income execution.” Income execution can be carried out by the support collection unit, the sheriff, the clerk of the court, or the attorney for the creditor as an officer of the court. Before an income execution is served, the employee must be notified of the intent to serve. The employee has fifteen days after being notified to claim a “mistake of fact” in either the Supreme Court or the Family Court.

When is Money Withheld 

An employer must deduct and remit payment within seven business days of each payday. An employer should never accumulate deductions and make a monthly payment. New York accepts and encourages electronic payment, and accepts both the Cash Concentration and Disbursement (CCD+) and the Corporate Trade Exchange (CTX) formats. When paying by check, the employer may combine all payments and issue a statement with the following information: company name, employee’s name and Social Security number, New York Account number, date of withholding, and the deduction amount. The employer may send this information on a diskette if they wish. Checks may be sent to:

NYS Child Support Processing Center

P.O. Box 15363

Albany, NY 12212-5363

Out-of-State Orders 

New York follows the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA). The UIFSA requires all employers to honor an order of support received from another state. The employer must follow the issuing state’s laws with regard to the duration of the order, amount to withhold, and where to remit payment. The laws of the employee’s work state govern when to begin and continue to remit payment, how disposable earnings are defined, withholding limits, allocation of two or more orders, administrative fees, and procedures to follow upon the employee’s termination.