What can you do when you have an order for child support but the other parent refuses to pay? Just like in a civil judgment, a wage garnishment allows a former spouse or parent to collect support from an employee. When a parent is ordered to pay child support or spousal support, the non-paying spouse can ask the court for an earnings withholding order to collect support. This requires an employer to deduct a specified amount from the employee parent’s paycheck automatically. Courts often issue withholding orders when a person refuses to pay a child or spousal support order voluntarily.
Get help with a California Earnings Withholding Order for Support!
When the local court agency such as the Department of Child Support Services is not collecting the child support, both parents can agree to make and receive payments without a formal withholding order. In this case, however, you may need to ask the judge to allow the parents to coordinate payment of support between themselves instead of using a wage assignment. To do this, you must ask the court to “stay” the wage assignment.” This means that the employer will not receive the wage assignment order as as long as the obligated parent is making payments on time.
Contact A People’s Choice for help to get an earnings and withholding order to collect support. We can help you prepare and file the documents you need to get an order.
What is an Earnings Withholding Order to Collect Support?
An earnings withholding order to collect support (otherwise known as a wage assignment) tells an employer how much money to deduct from an employee’s paycheck. Also, the order instructs the employer to send the money to the State Disbursement Unit. Once the State Disbursement Unit receives the money, they send it to the parent who is owed the support. If a spousal support wage assignment is also in place, the deduction of child support will have preference over other withholding orders. If an employer received an earnings withholding order to collect support against an employee, they only have ten days to process the wage assignment order.
Wage Assignment and Earnings Withholding Order Court Forms
To get a wage assignment or earnings withholding order to collect support, you must first have a child support order or spousal support order. Once you have a support order, you must complete and file the following forms to get a wage assignment:
FL-191 – Child Support Registry Form with a copy of Judgment (child support cases only)
FL-195 – Income Withholding for Support
FL-196 – (Reference Instructions only)
Lastly, you may also need other forms such as the FL-420 about payment history and an FL-435 for spousal support. These forms are complicated, so we recommend getting professional help to complete them. Contact A People’s Choice for professional help in completing these critical documents.
Once the court grants a wage assignment, you will need to serve the court order on the employer to enforce the wage assignment. A People’s Choice can help you serve the documents on the employer to enforce the earnings withholding order to collect support. As with many other routine legal proceedings, most people can get a wage assignment without hiring a lawyer. We provide low flat fee legal document preparation services to California residents. Reach out to us for more information on how to get a wage garnishment in California. Wage garnishments make sure you receive your support payments on time and end the stress of not knowing whether the former spouse or other parent will pay the amounts due. We have staff available 7 days a week to get you started. Call us at 800-747-2780 to start the process.Â
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