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Texas Payroll/Personnel Resource

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Child Support Withholding and Fees

State and federal laws require employers to comply with various income-withholding orders for child support. The orders can be issued in a variety of formats by a number of entities. These include Texas judicial writs of withholding and Texas administrative writs of withholding issued by the Texas office of the Attorney General (OAG) to deduct child support payments from the paycheck of an officer or employee. In addition, spousal maintenance may be combined with a child support order.

State agencies must treat an income-withholding order issued by another state as if the order had been issued by a Texas tribunal. However, it is not necessary for an order to be registered with a Texas tribunal to be enforced. Laws regarding child support withholding vary in different states, so it is important that each agency involve its internal legal counsel in decisions concerning out-of-state orders.

Regardless of the issuing state, agencies must comply with Texas law regarding the maximum amount permitted to be withheld from the employee’s income, the time frame for implementing the withholding order, and any fees charged by the agency for processing an order.

Payment Options

Payment to an Individual or County Office

If the withholding order directs the agency to send the payment to an individual or a county office, the agency must establish a new mail code in the Texas Identification Number System (TINS) with information about the individual recipient of the child support payment.

When sending the child support payment, the agency will include information to identify the payment, such as the court case or cause number and the Texas Identification Number (TIN) of the employee making the payment. The agency will send the payment and report detail according to the mailing instructions included in the order. Before submitting the report, agencies must verify the individual withholding amount is correct and equals the amount on the deduction warrant received from the Comptroller’s office.

Payment to the Texas State Disbursement Unit (SDU)

If the order directs the agency to send the payment to the Texas State Disbursement Unit (SDU), the agency must use the established TIN and mail code, 33023023022.033. Using this TIN directs the payment to the single direct deposit (SDD) process, which allows all the agency’s child support payments to be sent to the SDU as one direct deposit payment with the addenda detail.

The addenda detail includes identifying information about the employee from whose wages the child support deduction was taken, the appropriate case identifier or cause number that identifies the order and the amount of the payment, eliminating the need for manual or hard copy reports.

Court costs and any fees associated with an order are not included in the SDD process and should have a separate TIN established.

For more information about payment options, contact the OAG’s Child Support Division or see the OAG’s Child Support Division Information Center.

Sources

Texas Family Code, Sections 101.012, 101.014, 158.011(a)-(b), 158.201-158.203, 158.206(b), 158.210, 158.405, 158.501(a), 158.501(b), 158.504(b), 159.101(6), (19), (22), 159.501, 159.502(b), (c); Texas Family Code, Sections 101.010, 101.011-101.012, 101.014, 101.022, 158.204; 42 United States Code, Sections 666(a)(1)(A), (b)(6)(A)(i).