§ 15-5-24 - Support – Wage assignment procedures.
SECTION 15-5-24
§ 15-5-24 Support – Wage assignmentprocedures. – (a) With respect to a support order issued, enforced, or modified on or afterJanuary 1, 1994, the income of an obligor shall be subject to immediate incomewithholding under chapter 16 of this title on the effective date of the order,regardless of whether support payments by the obligor are in arrears; provided,that the income of the obligor shall not be subject to immediate incomewithholding: (1) if a judge or magistrate of the family court finds that thereis good cause not to require immediate income withholding, or (2) if theobligor and obligee (and the department in the case of an obligee subject to anassignment of support rights under § 40-6-9) enter into a writtenagreement or the family court enters an order which provides for an alternativeagreement for the timely payment of support due under the support order. In noevent shall the court order wage withholding payable to the obligee directlyfrom any wage withholding agent.
(b) The obligor shall be given the notice by way of thepleadings or otherwise, that his or her income is subject to immediate incomewithholding as provided in subsection (a) of this section, that the maximumamount of income to be withheld may not exceed the limit permitted under §303(b) of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1673(b)), and that heor she may contest immediate income withholding, and assert any defenses,exceptions or exemptions to which he or she may be entitled, at a hearingbefore a judge or magistrate of the family court.
(c) An immediate income withholding order issued under thissection shall be filed by the obligee or the department of administration,division of taxation, child support enforcement with the clerk of the familycourt and shall be subject to the provisions of §§ 15-16-9 –15-16-12.
(d) A wage withholding made under this section shall bebinding upon a wage withholding agent one week after service upon the wagewithholding agent of the wage withholding by personal service or by registeredor certified mail, until further order of the court. For purposes of thischapter, the term "employer" includes the state and federal governments and thepolitical subdivisions of the state. The wage withholding agent shall remit tothe clerk of the family court, or other designated remittee, within seven (7)days of the date of withholding, the amount withheld pursuant to the wagewithholding and the wage withholding agent shall specify the date and amount ofeach withholding included in the remittance, the social security number of theobligor, the child support account number, the employee's name and any otherinformation as required if electronic transfer is utilized. The wagewithholding agent may combine withheld amounts from two (2) or more obligorsinto a single payment, provided that the withholding agent separatelyidentifies the individual obligors and the amount attributable to each obligor.
(e) The wage withholding agent may not use the wagewithholding as a basis for the discharge of an employee or for any disciplinaryaction against the employee.
(f) The wage withholding agent must notify the clerk of thefamily court, in writing, of the termination of the obligor employee'semployment within ten (10) days of termination. Notice must include the nameand address of the obligor employee's new employer if known.
(g) A wage withholding under this section shall have priorityover any attachment, execution, garnishment, or wage assignment unlessotherwise ordered by the court. A wage withholding under this section shall notbe subject to any specific or general statutory exemption or limitationprohibiting levy, execution, assignment, or attachment process or limiting theamount subject to assignment levied against the income of the obligor employeeexcept as provided by federal law.
(h) The family court is authorized and directed to promulgaterules, regulations, and forms reasonably calculated to apprise the obligor ofexemptions available to him or her under the law with respect to a family courtwage withholding and the procedure for asserting these exemptions.
(i) A wage withholding agent may deduct two dollars ($2.00)from the obligor's remaining income for each payment made pursuant to a wagewithholding under this section to cover the wage withholding agent's expensesinvolved in the wage withholdings.
(j) The obligor shall pay all costs involved in the wagewithholdings.
(k) The justices or magistrate(s) of the family court shallenter, when appropriate, an order for payment of reasonable counsel fees forthe prosecution of the wage withholdings.
(l) Any judgment or order of support issuing from a court ofcompetent jurisdiction of any state shall have the same force and effect as ifthe judgment or order issued from the Rhode Island family court.
(m) For purposes of this section and §§ 15-5-25 and15-5-26, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Income" includes amounts paid or payable to an obligoras:
(i) Compensation paid or payable for personal serviceswhether denominated as wages, salary, commission, bonus, or otherwise, whethertaxable or not taxable, and specifically including periodic payments pursuantto pension or retirement programs or insurance policies of any type; and
(ii) Benefit payments or other similar compensation paid orpayable to the obligor by or through a department, agency, or politicalsubdivision of the state or federal government, or by an insurance company,including unemployment compensation benefits, workers' compensation benefits,and temporary disability benefits, except where garnishment or attachment ofsuch benefit payments is prohibited by federal law.
(2) "Wage withholding agent" means any person, firm,partnership, corporation, association, trust, federal or state agency,department, or political subdivision, paying or obligated to pay income, asdefined in this subsection, to an obligor of court ordered child support.