(1) If a responsible parent contacts the department‘s division of child support office indicated on the notice of noncompliance within twenty days of service of the notice provided in RCW 74.20A.320 and requests arrangement of a payment schedule, the department shall stay the certification of noncompliance during negotiation of the schedule for payment of arrears up to thirty days from the date of contact by the responsible parent.

Terms Used In Washington Code 74.20A.326

  • Department: means the state department of social and health services. See Washington Code 74.20A.020
  • earnings: means compensation paid or payable for personal services, whether denominated as wages, salary, commission, bonus, or otherwise, and, notwithstanding any other provision of law making such payments exempt from garnishment, attachment, or other process to satisfy support obligation, specifically includes periodic payments pursuant to pension or retirement programs, or insurance policies of any type, but does not include payments made under Title 50 RCW, except as provided in RCW 50. See Washington Code 74.20A.090
  • Responsible parent: means a natural parent, adoptive parent, or stepparent of a dependent child or a person who has signed an affidavit acknowledging paternity which has been filed with the state office of vital statistics. See Washington Code 74.20A.020
(2) In proposing or approving a written payment schedule, the department or the administrative law judge shall take into consideration the amount of the arrearages, the amount of the current support order, the earnings of the responsible parent, and the needs of all children who rely on the responsible parent for support. The department or administrative law judge shall consider the individual financial circumstances of each responsible parent in evaluating the parent’s ability to pay any proposed payment schedule and shall propose a fair and reasonable payment schedule tailored to the individual financial circumstances of the responsible parent. A payment schedule may include a graduated payment plan and may require a responsible parent to engage in employment-enhancing activities to attain a satisfactory payment level.
(3) A payment schedule may be for the payment of less than current monthly support for a reasonable time and is not required to include a lump sum payment for the amount of arrears.