(a) Required Contents of Support Orders. – All child support orders, civil or criminal, entered or modified in the State in IV-D cases shall include a provision ordering income withholding to take effect immediately. All child support orders, civil or criminal, initially entered in the State in non-IV-D cases on or after January 1, 1994, shall include a provision ordering income withholding to take effect immediately as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 110-136.5(c1), unless one of the exceptions specified in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 110-136.5(c1) applies. A non-IV-D child support order that contains an income withholding requirement and a IV-D child support order shall comply with each of the following:

(1) Require the obligor to keep the clerk of court or IV-D agency informed of the obligor’s current residence and mailing address.

Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 110-136.3

  • Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
  • Disposable income: means any form of periodic payment to an individual, regardless of sources, including but not limited to wages, salary, commission, self-employment income, bonus pay, severance pay, sick pay, incentive pay, vacation pay, compensation as an independent contractor, worker's compensation, unemployment compensation benefits, disability, annuity, survivor's benefits, pension and retirement benefits, interest, dividends, rents, royalties, trust income and other similar payments, which remain after the deduction of amounts for federal, State, and local taxes, Social Security, and involuntary retirement contributions. See North Carolina General Statutes 110-129
  • following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
  • Initiating party: means the party, the attorney for a party, a child support enforcement agency who initiates an action, proceeding, or procedure as allowed or required by law for the establishment or enforcement of a child support obligation. See North Carolina General Statutes 110-129
  • IV-D case: means a case in which services have been applied for or are being provided by a child support enforcement agency established pursuant to Title IV-D of the Social Security Act as amended and this Article. See North Carolina General Statutes 110-129
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • month: shall be construed to mean a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" alone shall be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
  • Obligor: means the individual who owes a duty to make child support payments or payments of alimony or postseparation support under a court order. See North Carolina General Statutes 110-129
  • Payor: means any payor, including any federal, State, or local governmental unit, of disposable income to an obligor. See North Carolina General Statutes 110-129
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3

(2), (2a) Repealed by Session Laws 1993, c. 517, s. 1.

(3) Require the obligor to cooperate fully with the initiating party in the verification of the amount of the obligor’s disposable income.

(4) Require the custodial party to keep the obligor informed of the custodial party’s disposable income and the amount and effective date of any substantial change in this disposable income.

(4a) Include the current residence and mailing address of the custodial parent, or the address of the child if the address of the custodial parent and the address of the child are different. However, there is no requirement that the child support order contain the address of the custodial parent or the child if (i) there is an existing order prohibiting disclosure of the custodial parent’s or child’s address to the obligor or (ii) the court has determined that notice to the obligor is inappropriate because the obligor has made verbal or physical threats that constitute domestic violence under Chapter 50B of the N.C. Gen. Stat..

(5) Require the obligor to keep the initiating party informed of the name and address of any payor of the obligor’s disposable income and of the amount and effective date of any substantial change in this disposable income.

(a1) Payment Plan/Work Requirement for Past-Due Support. – In any IV-D case in which an obligor owes past-due support and income withholding has been ordered but cannot be implemented against the obligor, the court may order the obligor to pay the support in accordance with a payment plan approved by the court and, if the obligor is subject to the payment plan and is not incapacitated, the court may order the obligor to participate in such work activities, as defined under 42 U.S.C. § 607, as the court deems appropriate.

(b) When obligor subject to withholding. –

(1) In IV-D cases in which a new or modified child support order is entered on or after October 1, 1989, an obligor is subject to income withholding immediately upon entry of the order. In IV-D cases in which the child support order was entered prior to October 1, 1989, an obligor shall become subject to income withholding on the date on which the obligor fails to make legally obligated child support payments in an amount equal to the support payable for one month, or the date on which the obligor or obligee requests withholding.

(2) In non-IV-D cases in which the child support order was entered prior to January 1, 1994, an obligor shall be subject to income withholding on the earliest of:

a. The date on which the obligor fails to make legally obligated child support payments in an amount equal to the support payable for one month;

b. The date on which the obligor requests withholding; or

c. The date on which the court determines, pursuant to a motion or independent action filed by the obligee under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 110-136.5(a), that the obligor is or has been delinquent in making child support payments or has been erratic in making child support payments.

(3) In IV-D child support cases in which an order was issued or modified in this State prior to October 1, 1996, and in which the obligor is not otherwise subject to withholding, the obligor shall become subject to withholding if the obligor fails to make legally obligated child support payments in an amount equal to the support payable for one month.

(4) In the enforcement of alimony or postseparation support orders pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 110-130.2, an obligor shall become subject to income withholding on the earlier of:

a. The date on which the obligor fails to make legally obligated alimony or postseparation payments; or

b. The date on which the obligor or obligee requests withholding.

(c) Repealed by Session Laws 1993, c. 517, s. 1.

(d) Interstate cases. – An interstate case is one in which a child support order of one state is to be enforced in another state.

(1) In interstate cases withholding provisions shall apply to a child support order of this or any other state. A petition addressed to this State to enforce a child support order of another state or a petition from an initiating party in this State addressed to another state to enforce a child support order entered in this State shall include:

a. A certified copy of the support order with all modifications, including any income withholding notice or order still in effect;

b. A copy of the income withholding law of the jurisdiction which issued the support order, provided that this jurisdiction has a withholding law;

c. A sworn statement of arrearages;

d. The name, address, and social security number of the obligor, if known;

e. The name and address of the obligor’s employer or of any other source of income of the obligor derived in the state in which withholding is sought; and

f. The name and address of the agency or person to whom support payments collected by income withholding shall be transmitted.

(2) The law of the state in which the support order was entered shall apply in determining when withholding shall be implemented and interpreting the child support order. The law and procedures of the state where the obligor is employed shall apply in all other respects.

(3) Except as otherwise provided by subdivision (2), income withholding initiated under this subsection is subject to all of the notice, hearing and other provisions of Chapter 110.

(4) In all interstate cases notices and orders to withhold shall be served upon the payor by a North Carolina agency or judicial officer. In all interstate non-IV-D cases, the advance notice to the obligor shall be served pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1A-1, Rule 4, Rules of Civil Procedure.

(5) For purposes of enforcing a petition under this subsection, jurisdiction is limited to the purposes of income withholding and Chapter 52A of the N.C. Gen. Stat. shall not apply. Nothing in this subsection precludes any remedy otherwise available in a proceeding under Chapter 52A of the N.C. Gen. Stat..

(d1) Recodified as § 110-139(c1) by Session Laws 2001-237, s. 5, effective June 23, 2001.

(e) Procedures and regulations. – Procedures, rules, regulations, forms, and instructions necessary to effect the income withholding provisions of this Article shall be established by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services or the Secretary’s designee and the Administrative Office of the Courts. Forms and instructions shall be sent with each order or notice of withholding. (1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 949, s. 2; 1987, c. 589, s. 1; 1989, c. 601, s. 2; 1993, c. 517, s. 1; 1997-433, ss. 3, 6.1; 1997-443, s. 11A.118(a); 1998-17, s. 1; 1998-176, s. 4; 2000-140, s. 20(b); 2001-237, s. 5; 2014-115, s. 44.5.)

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