(a) The department is authorized and empowered to conduct investigations to determine the location of parents and putative parents alleged or known to owe child support.

Terms Used In Alabama Code 38-10-9

  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • circuit: means judicial circuit. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • property: includes both real and personal property. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
(b) The department is authorized and empowered to conduct investigations to determine the location, income, and assets including real or personal property or income producing property of parents alleged or known to have a child support obligation.
(c) The department is authorized and empowered to notify a parent of his legal duty to provide support and to require information concerning his financial status in order to determine whether or not he is financially able to provide support.
(d) Such notice may inform the parent that he may be liable for reimbursement of any support furnished as public assistance or aid prior to determination of his financial circumstances, as well as future and past support payments due and not paid by him.
(e) Any person who knowingly falsifies such parent’s report of his income and resources and other matters bearing on his ability to provide support shall upon conviction be punished as for false swearing or perjury.
(f) If any parent shall refuse to provide the department with information as provide herein, or provides incomplete or false information, the department shall be authorized to petition the appropriate district or circuit court of this state requesting that the court issue a citation to the parent requiring said parent to appear before the court and submit to an oral examination, under oath, touching on the amount of his income and the nature, location, description and value of his assets. Should the parent, after being served with said citation, fail to appear before the court on the date and time stated in the court’s citation, then the parent shall be subject to the contempt authority of the court.
(g) For purposes provided herein, private employers shall upon written request by the department, provide the department with the name, social security account number, address, date of birth, wages, unemployment and workers’ compensation status, availability and coverage for medical insurance (including insurance coverage on dependents) and numbers of dependents listed for tax purposes, of any parent or putative parent.