Arkansas

Family Law

Family Law

Section 9-14-218 – Income withholding – Time of taking effect generally – Forms

(a)

(1) In all decrees or orders that provide for the payment of money for the support and care of any children, the court shall include a provision directing a payor to deduct from:

(A) Money, income, or periodic earnings due the noncustodial parent an amount that is sufficient to meet the periodic child support payments imposed by the court plus an additional amount of not less than twenty percent (20%) of the periodic child support payment to be applied toward liquidation of any accrued arrearage due under the order; and
(B) Any lump-sum payment as defined in § 9-14-201, the full amount of past due support owed by the noncustodial parent not to exceed fifty percent (50%) of the net lump-sum payment.
(2) The use of income withholding does not constitute an election of remedies and does not preclude the use of other enforcement remedies.
(b) Income withholding shall apply to current and subsequent periods of employment, if used in employment, or remuneration, once activated.
(c)

(1) Any forms necessary to provide notice, affidavits, or any other matter that is required by this subchapter to enforce the payment of child support shall be devised by the State Commission on Child Support [abolished] with advice from the Administrative Office of the Courts.
(2) Upon the approval of the forms by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the forms shall be used on a statewide basis in all cases requiring an order or notice of income withholding for child support.
(3) Any necessary changes in the forms shall be the responsibility of the Supreme Court.
(4) Distribution of the forms shall be the responsibility of the Administrative Office of the Courts.
(d) All judgments for past due support shall include, in the same paragraph denoting the judgment amount, a statement that the amount is subject to reduction through income withholding to put third parties on notice that the amount currently owed may differ from that reflected in the judgment.
(e) In cases brought pursuant to Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, with support orders effective prior to October 1, 1989, income withholding shall take effect immediately in any child support case at the request or upon the consent of the noncustodial parent or on the date the court grants an approved request of the custodial parent brought in accordance with procedures and standards as established by the Title IV-D agency.
(f) In those cases in which a support order has been issued or modified after August 2, 1985, without the inclusion of an income withholding provision, income withholding may be initiated in accord with procedures set forth in § 9-14-221 whenever child support arrearages owed by the noncustodial parent equal the total amount of court-ordered support payable for thirty (30) days.

Ark. Code § 9-14-218

Acts 1985, No. 989, § 7; A.S.A. 1947, § 34-1225; Acts 1987, No. 719, § 2; 1989, No. 948, § 5; 1991, No. 1095, §§ 3, 4; 1993, No. 396, § 1; 1994 (1st Ex. Sess.), No. 5, § 1; 1995, No. 1184, § 26; 1997, No. 1296, § 27; 1999, No. 1514, § 12; 2003, No. 1020, § 5; 2007, No. 713, § 3