Title 46 — Domestic Relations.

For the purposes of this subchapter, the term: (1) “Business day” means a day on which District offices are open for regular business. (2) “Caretaker” means a parent, relative, guardian, or other person whose needs are included in a public assistance payment for a dependent child…

The Council of the District of Columbia finds that: (1) Dependent children shall be maintained, as completely as possible, from the resources of their parents, thereby relieving or avoiding, at least in part, the burden borne by the citizens of the District for public welfare pro…

(a) The IV-D agency is established as the centralized Collection and Disbursement Unit for the collection and disbursement of support payments and shall operate the CDU either directly or through a contract or cooperative agreement with another entity. (b) The Collection and Disb…

(a) The District shall be subrogated to the right of the caretaker to prosecute or maintain any support action. If a Court orders support to be paid by a responsible relative, the District shall be subrogated to the right of the caretaker to receive past, present, and future paym…

(a) Any order requiring payment of an amount of child support, regardless of whether the amount of the child support was the subject of a voluntary agreement of the parties, may be modified upon a showing that there has been a substantial and material change in the needs of the c…

All support orders, whether they are original orders or modifications of existing orders, shall contain the following: (1) A provision requiring the withholding of support payments from the obligor’s earnings or other income in accordance with this subchapter; (2) Notice that the…

The social security number of each individual who is party to a support order shall be included in the Court and IV-D agency records relating to the order.

(a) In any case brought in Court under § 11-1101(a)(1), (3), (10), or (11) involving the establishment of support, the Clerk of the Court shall issue notice to the alleged responsible relative stating that a hearing to determine the matter of support has been scheduled. This hear…

(a) All support orders, whether they are original orders or modifications of existing orders, that are effective on or after January 1, 1994, or that are effective on or after November 1, 1990 in cases being enforced by the IV-D agency pursuant to title IV, part D of the Social S…

(a) The IV-D agency shall implement withholding for support orders enforceable by withholding pursuant to § 46-207 by issuing an order to withhold in the format prescribed by federal law and serving this order on the holder of the obligor’s earnings or other income as follows: (1…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of subchapter II or III of Chapter 5 of Title 16, where a notice or order to withhold is served on a holder of an obligor’s earnings or other income, the withholding shall be for an amount sufficient to satisfy the obligor’s periodic suppor…

(a) If a support order becomes enforceable by withholding pursuant to § 46-207(d), the IV-D agency shall send a notice of withholding to the obligor and shall certify the date the notice is mailed. (b) The notice of withholding to the obligor shall include the following: (1) Noti…

(a) An obligor may object to a withholding commenced pursuant to § 46-207.01 by filing a motion to quash the withholding with the Court within 15 days after the earlier of the date the notice of withholding was mailed or the date the first payment was withheld. (b) The Court shal…

A notice or order to withhold served pursuant to § 46-207.01 shall be issued in the format required by federal law and shall state the following: (1) The amount to be withheld, including any fee deducted and retained under § 46-212; (2) That the amount to be withheld shall not ex…

(a) Except as provided in subsection (e) of this section, a holder that receives a notice or order to withhold issued in accordance with this subchapter shall withhold the specified amount and make payment to the Collection and Disbursement Unit no later than 7 business days afte…

(a) If a holder fails to withhold support from earnings or other income, or fails to pay the support to the Collection and Disbursement Unit in accordance with this subchapter, judgment shall be entered against the holder for any amount not withheld or paid to the Collection and …

(a) Withholding shall terminate: (1) When the support obligation has been terminated and the total arrearage has been satisfied; (2) When the holder, by reason of termination of employment or other reason, no longer holds earnings or other income payable to the obligor; (3) When …

An order to withhold issued by the IV-D agency or other appropriate agency upon a judgment or order for support and issued within 12 years from the date of the judgment or order shall not lapse or become invalid before complete satisfaction solely by reason of the expiration of t…

(a) Within 10 days after an employer receives notice that the obligor will terminate employment or within 10 days after the termination, whichever occurs earlier, the employer shall notify the IV-D agency and provide the obligor’s last known address and the name and address of th…

(a) When there is more than 1 withholding order against a single obligor under this subchapter, the Collection and Disbursement Unit shall prorate the withholdings for current support among the orders up to the limits of § 303(b) of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. §…

(a) An obligor may obtain voluntary income withholding by filing with the IV-D agency a request for withholding and, if the support order is from another jurisdiction, a certified copy of the support order. (b) Upon receipt of a request under subsection (a) of this section, the I…

(a) No employer shall discharge, refuse to employ, take disciplinary action, or otherwise discriminate against any obligor for the reason that a party has subjected or attempted to subject unpaid earnings of the obligor to withholding or like proceedings for the purposes of payin…

Where the obligor claims to be rendering services without salary or compensation, or at a salary or compensation so inadequate as to satisfy the Court that the salary or compensation is merely colorable and designed to defraud or impede withholding, the Court may direct the emplo…

Where a notice or order to withhold issued under this subchapter is based upon a judgment obtained by default or consent without a trial upon the merits, the Court, upon motion of an interested person, may quash the withholding upon satisfactory proof that the judgment was obtain…

(a) Upon receipt of notice from another state that withholding is required to enforce a support order, including all documents and information necessary to carry out the withholding, the IV-D agency shall implement the withholding in accordance with § 46-207.01. (b) If the IV-D a…

(a) When an obligor under a support order derives income in another jurisdiction, the IV-D agency, the Court, or any other appropriate person or entity may serve a notice or order to withhold on a holder in the jurisdiction where the obligor receives income. (b) In any case being…

(a) A lien is created by operation of law against the real and personal property of an obligor subject to a support order who resides or owns property in the District for amounts of overdue support, as defined by section 466(e) of the Social Security Act, approved August 16, 1984…

(a) In the case of orders being enforced by the IV-D agency, the Mayor may intercept a lottery prize winning, including a lump sum or periodic payment that is derived from a previously claimed prize, of an individual who owes delinquent support, as defined in section 466(e) of th…

(a) The IV-D agency is established as the District’s centralized Parent Locator Service to locate parents of children in need of support. (b) An officer or employee of the District shall cooperate with the IV-D agency to determine the location of a parent who is not supporting hi…

(a) The IV-D agency shall report to a consumer credit reporting agency, as defined in section 603(f) of the Consumer Credit Protection Act, approved October 26, 1970 (84 Stat. 1129; 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(f)), each support order that was entered, modified, registered, or is being enfo…

(a) Notwithstanding any other law or regulation, no car registration or driver’s license shall be renewed or issued to an obligor who fails to comply with a subpoena or warrant relating to paternity or child support proceedings after receiving notice, or to an obligor who is rece…

(a) The Mayor or a party who has a legal claim to child support may initiate a criminal contempt action for failure to pay the support by filing a motion in the civil action in which the support order was established. (b)(1) Upon a finding by the Court that an obligor has willful…

(a) Neither the District nor its officers or employees shall be responsible for any injury resulting from the improper enforcement of a lien or a notice or order to withhold, except that the District, its officers, and employees shall be liable for damages caused by gross neglige…

(a) The following payments received by the District under Part D of Title IV of the Social Security Act, approved January 4, 1975 (88 Stat. 2351; 42 U.S.C. § 651 et seq.), and appropriated by Congress shall be allocated exclusively to the IV-D agency for the purpose of funding fo…

(a) Upon the first personal appearance before the IV-D agency or the Court in a paternity or child support matter, or upon entry of an order of paternity or child support, whichever is earlier, each party to a paternity or child support proceeding in the District of Columbia shal…

(a) The IV-D agency may take the following actions relating to paternity establishment or the establishment, modification, or enforcement of support orders without obtaining an order from any judicial or other administrative tribunal: (1) Order genetic testing relating to the est…

Except as otherwise provided in this subchapter, the IV-D agency shall recognize and enforce the authority of a IV-D agency in another state to take the actions specified in § 46-226.03(a) if those actions were taken in accordance with the laws and procedures of the other state.

The IV-D agency shall develop procedures to ensure that all federal and state agencies engaged in child support enforcement activities under title IV, part D of the Social Security Act, approved January 4, 1975 (88 Stat. 2351; 42 U.S.C. § 651 et seq.) have access to any system us…

(a) The Mayor shall establish and maintain a District of Columbia Directory of New Hires, which shall contain information supplied in accordance with subsection (b) of this section. (b) Except as specified in subsections (e), (f), and (g) of this section, within 20 days of the da…

(a) The IV-D agency shall respond within 5 business days to a request made by another state to enforce a support order. (b) The IV-D agency may request the child support agency of a state or jurisdiction outside of the District of Columbia established pursuant to title IV, part D…

Whenever the IV-D agency knows of a transfer by a support judgment debtor pursuant to Chapter 31 of Title 28, for which a prima facie case is established, the IV-D agency shall seek to void the transfer or obtain a settlement in the best interest of the support creditor.

Whenever an individual owes past-due support for a child receiving public assistance, the IV-D agency may request the court to issue an order that requires the individual to pay support in accordance with a plan approved by the Court, or, if the individual is subject to such a pl…

The IV-D agency shall have in operation a single, District-wide automated data processing and information retrieval system that has the capability to perform the tasks specified by title IV, part D of the Social Security Act, approved January 4, 1975 (88 Stat. 2351; 42 U.S.C. § 6…

The IV-D agency and any administrative or judicial tribunal with authority to hear child support and paternity cases shall exert District-wide jurisdiction over the parties.

The Mayor, pursuant to subchapter I of Chapter 5 of Title 2, shall issue rules to implement the provisions of this subchapter and the Child Support and Welfare Reform Compliance Amendment Act of 2000, effective April 3, 2001 (D.C. Law 13-269; 48 DCR 1270 ).

(a) The law and procedures of the jurisdiction in which the obligor is employed shall apply, except with respect to: (1) When withholding must be implemented; and (2) The statute of limitations for maintaining an action on arrearages of support payments. (b) The Court shall apply…

The Court shall establish rules of procedure necessary to effectuate the purposes of this subchapter.

The Mayor shall ensure that an extensive program of public information detailing the effects of this subchapter is undertaken within 30 calendar days of February 24, 1987.

This subchapter shall not be enforced until 60 calendar days after February 24, 1987.

For the purposes of this subchapter, the term: (1) “Custodian” means the parent, relative, guardian, or other person with whom the dependent child resides. (2) “Health insurance coverage” means benefits consisting of amounts paid for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or…