§ 15-5-25 - Application for wage withholding – Obligor in arrears.
SECTION 15-5-25
§ 15-5-25 Application for wage withholding– Obligor in arrears. – (a) In cases where a wage withholding has not been secured pursuant to §15-5-24, upon application of the child or of any person having a directinterest in the welfare of the child, or any person to whom support is owedpursuant to court order, the court, pursuant to this section and upon a showingthat a support payment has not been made in full within fourteen (14) days ofits due date, may order a wage withholding agent of the obligor:
(i) To withhold from the obligor's income presently due, andfrom future income as it becomes due, amounts which shall satisfy the obligor'sprevious arrearage in support payments, the obligor's obligation to pay supportas it accrues in the future, and any attorney's fees that may be awarded in aproceeding under this section;
(ii) To deduct from the balance of the obligor's income a feeof two dollars ($2.00) to cover the employer's expenses involved in withholdingand transmitting the support payment;
(iii) To remit the amount withheld under subsection (a) ofthis section to the clerk of the family court or other designated remitteeentering the order, within seven (7) days of the date of withholding, and tospecify the date and amount of each withholding included in the remittance, thesocial security number of the obligor, the child support account number, theemployee's name, and any other information as required if electronic transferis utilized. The wage withholding agent may combine withheld amounts from two(2) or more obligors into a single payment, provided that the wage withholdingagent separately identifies the individual obligors and the amount attributableto each obligor;
(iv) To refrain from dismissing, disciplining, or in any waypenalizing the obligor employee on account of the proceeding to collectsupport, on account of any order or orders entered by the court in theproceeding, and on account of wage withholding agent compliance with the orderor orders; and
(v) To notify, in writing, the clerk of the family courtentering the order of the termination of the obligor's employment and the nameand address, if known, of the obligor's new employer within ten (10) days aftertermination of employment.
(2) The application may be filed as part of any proceedingbrought for failure to make support payments or may be made independently ofany other support enforcement action.
(b) Upon the filing of an application for wage withholdingthe court shall set a time for a hearing. The hearing shall be held withinthree (3) weeks of the date the application is filed with the court. No wagewithholding shall become effective unless the obligor has been given notice, byway of the pleadings or otherwise, of the exemptions to which he or she may beentitled under the law and of the procedure for asserting these exemptions.
(c) The applicant shall then cause to be served on the wagewithholding agent a copy of the application, a notice of hearing, andinterrogatories to be completed and returned by the wage withholding agent tothe court no later than three (3) days prior to the hearing. Theinterrogatories when completed shall show whether the obligor receives incomefrom or is an employee of the employer, whether the obligor performs work andprovides services or makes sales in this state, the present length ofemployment of the obligor with the wage withholding agent, the present payperiod for the obligor, the average earnings of the obligor per pay period, andthe name and address of the person, office, or division of the wage withholdingagent responsible for the preparation of the obligor's income payments.
(d) The applicant shall also cause to be served on theobligor a copy of the application and a notice of hearing.
(e) Service under this section shall be personally or bymailing by registered or certified mail the documents required to be served.
(f) Any order for wage withholding under this section shallhave priority over any attachment, execution, garnishment, or wage assignmentunless otherwise ordered by the court. This order shall not be subject to anyspecific or general statutory exemption or limitation prohibiting levy,execution, assignment, or attachment process or limiting the amount ofexecutions issued against the income of the obligor except as provided byfederal law.