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New here Question about "wage garnishment"

Terra2fly's picture

So happy to find this great site! Hope someone can help clear this question up. My husband (BD) was taken to court by his ex (BM) to get a increase in child support AND to get his wages garnished. Monday(July 30th) he received the Support Magistrate's decision in the mail. BM lost for her request for a increase in child support no surprise as my husband already pays her the full amount the state requires BUT she won her request to have his wages garnished. My husband does not care as its less he has to deal with her(she's really nasty). Here is the issue....The court order he received from the court on Monday states "It is hereby ordered and adjudged that effective and commencing July 30th 2018,the parties of divorce shall be payable through the Oneida county support collection unit;

My husband called the support collection unit and they told him he needs to send them a check for the amount of the child support till they start taking it out of his check which could take 3 to 4 weeks. Well here is the problem his ex is blowing up our phone saying my husband is "late' with his child support check. He usually sends it with SD when she goes home every two weeks which would have been yesterday BUT he did not because the court document he received stated "effective July 30th" he was to send the check to support collections which is what he did. Does anyone know how this works??? It sounds like to me his ex just has to wait till the state gets around to paying her and its out of my husbands hands. She is saying my husband has to pay her directly like he was till they start garnishing his wages. Is this correct? My husband does not have an attorney and reaching collections was alful. Does anyone have experience with this???

ndc's picture

I have no experience, but based on the document he received, I would NOT pay BM directly.   It clearly says he's to pay support collections effective July 30, and they confirmed it in a phone call.  He did what the order said.  And since he's already paid the amount she's looking for to support collections, he should not pay her again.   Perhaps she should have considered the possibility of delay before filing to garnish his wages.  

simifan's picture

BM did this to my exH. His lawyer to him do not pay BM it will be considered a gift and will not count towards child support.  They were revamping the system. It took her 5 months to get paid even though his checks were being garnished. I found it hysterical.  

DH needs to tell BM to call the child support office and stop harassing him. After all, this is what she asked for. 

notsurehowtodeal's picture

about having child support paid through the state is that any questions BM has about child support will need to answered by the state. DH should tell her he is following the court order, which started on July 30. If she has anymore questions, she can call the child support office.

This is one of those "be careful what you wish for" things - BM thought it was going to be better and is realizing, as with anything involving the government, there is always lots of bureaucracy and delays.

Keep any documentation about when he sent the check and when it clears the bank. Make a note about the phone call and the name of who he spoke to. Explain it to BM once and then start ignoring her calls.

justmakingthebest's picture

Don't pay it to BM. 

I have done payroll for years! Please listen to this: Contact his payroll or HR office. Find out when they are going to start. When the letter get's sent to the employer it is very specific and tells exactly what to pull out weekly, bi- weekly or monthly based on pay. They won't pull for back support unless it is stated that they should. 

Once he knows when they are going to start, you need to calculate what is still owed during that time between him paying her directly and the garnishment. So if they aren't starting until mid month, you will need to pay child support enforcement (your county CS office). Do not pay BM. You will not get credit for it. 

hereiam's picture

The letter was very clear, your husband is to pay through the court, effective July 30. And they confirmed that on the phone call. BM will have to wait until the court disperses it to her.

He should not give her another dime, directly.

twoviewpoints's picture

I guess I shouldn't snicker at your BM, but the lady got exactly what she requested. Yep, the CS payment goes through the state distribution center. She will get her CS after it clears the center and they deposit it in her account. Not one second earlier. 

Once your Dh starts having it drawn directly from his pay, the employer send it to the state center and the center processes it. 

Simply tell BM it's out of Dad's hands. He has sent the payment to the center as now court ordered. If she has any questioned she can call the center. 

Does your distribution center have online? She should be able to see when it arrives an when it is put in her account and actually available to her. Same as your Dh will be able to watch his payment. Something her should do to be sure it is being received by center (not just missing from paycheck, but actually sent to center) and that he receives credit for the payment. 

Exjuliemccoy's picture

I agree with the above posters that your DH should follow the magistrate's order and not pay BM directly. It's pretty common for there to be glitches and delays in payment, as BM will soon learn. I remember BM1 complaining to me that she hadn't received any of my DH"s garnished cs for several months. Apparently she made numerous calls to the office that handled child support, doing her usual white trash act yelling and demanding "her money". Eventually she did receive the total amount in one chunk, but I'm not surprised that her case mysteriously kept having glitches

The beauty of having cs taken directly out of your DH's check is that it's all documented,  it can reduce  conflict between exes and it's not your problem if it arrives late.