Title 19-A, Title 19-A

1. Employment information; definition. An employer doing business in this State shall report to the department the hiring of a newly hired employee. For the purposes of this section, "newly hired employee" means a person who resides or works in this State to whom the employer ant…

A responsible parent required by law to pay child support to the department shall inform the department of any changes in the responsible parent's current address or employer. Failure to report a change of address or employer to the department within 15 days is a civil violation …

The department shall send an annual statement of arrearages to all obligors who owe past-due child support that the department is authorized to collect. The statement must include notice to the obligor that the department may collect the amount owed by issuing an order to seize a…

Not less than once every 3 years, the department shall send written notice to parents who are subject to a support order being enforced by the department of the right to have the order reviewed and, if appropriate, modified according to the applicable child support guidelines.

1. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings. A. "Account holder" means an individual who has executed an agreement with a wireless service provider for cellular telephone service. [PL 20…

1. Notice. The department may serve notice upon a support obligor who is not in compliance with an order of support that informs the obligor of the department's intention to submit the obligor's name to the appropriate board as a licensee who is not in compliance with an order of…

1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings. A. "Board" means any bureau, board or commission listed in Title 10, section 8001 or 8001‑A, any other licensor that is affiliated with or is a part o…

1. Purpose. The Legislature finds and declares that child support is a basic legal right of the State's parents and children, that parents have a legal obligation to provide financial support for their children and that child support payments can have a substantial impact on chil…

1. Execution of support liens. The department may issue an order to seize and sell to execute a support lien established under former Title 19, section 503 or 503-A or section 2357 or to enforce and collect any money judgment assessed under chapter 51, chapter 53, chapter 55, cha…

When the department pays cash aid to a caretaker relative who provides primary residential care for a dependent child for whom a support order has been issued, the obligor's obligation under the support order to pay child support and provide medical support continues. The child s…

With this article, the Legislature intends to provide additional remedies for the enforcement of support for dependent children and spouses and former spouses caring for dependent children by establishing an alternative method directed to the real and personal property of the res…

A support obligation or debt incurred before October 1, 1975 may not be enforced by the methods of this article.

1. Declaration of purpose. It is declared, as a matter of legislative determination, that the public interest demands that the State provide its citizens with an effective means of redress against nonresident persons who, through certain significant minimal contacts with this Sta…

Service of a notice, order or lien described in this article must be made in the manner provided for service of summons by the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 4. For purposes of this section, this service must be deemed to be an action pursuant to Chapter XIII of the Maine R…

In carrying out the provisions of this article, the department, through a request to the Attorney General or to an assistant attorney general assigned to the department, upon its own motion or upon the request of a party, has the power to subpoena witnesses, compel their attendan…

1. Readability score. As notices are revised by the department and as resources permit, all notices provided by the department under this article must have a readability score, as determined by a recognized instrument for measuring adult literacy levels, equivalent to no higher t…

1. Public assistance. Debts due the department for public assistance are as follows. A. When a support order has not been established, a payment of public assistance for the benefit of the dependent child creates a debt due the department from the responsible parent for past supp…

1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings. A. "Assisted obligor" means an obligor under a court or administrative child support order who receives: (1) Supplemental security income; or (2) Publ…

If no order of support exists, the department has the right provided in section 2102 to enforce the duty of support.

When a support order has not been established, the department may establish the responsible parent's current parental support obligation pursuant to chapter 63, establish the responsible parent's debt for past support, including medical expenses, and establish the responsible par…

1. Responsible parent's failure to comply. If a responsible parent fails to obtain health insurance coverage as required by an administrative decision, that parent is liable for any expenses incurred, for each dependent child, that would have been paid by the insurance coverage, …

1. Withholding order. A decision establishing or modifying a child support obligation under section 2304 must conform with this subsection. A. The decision must provide for the withholding of amounts payable as child support, effective from the date of the decision, from the resp…

The responsible parent has an obligation to supply evidence regarding past income in order to calculate the debt owed the department or an applicant for services under section 2103 if the evidence is reasonably available. The responsible parent has 30 days to supply evidence of p…

1. Issuance of notice. The department, on its own behalf, on behalf of a custodial parent who applies for the department's support enforcement services or on behalf of another state's Title IV‑D agency, political subdivision or agent, may issue to a parent's employer or other pay…

1. Remedies available. After notice and opportunity for hearing, the department may use any remedies available for collection of child support to recover money from a responsible parent who: A. Is required by a court or administrative order to provide health care coverage for a d…

1. Subrogation of support rights. If a support order exists, the department is subrogated to the right of a dependent child or person having custody of the child named in the order to pursue any support action or administrative remedy to secure payment of the debt accrued or accr…

When the department is subrogated to a support order or a spousal support order under section 2351, the commissioner may issue to the responsible parent a notice of debt accrued or accruing under section 2301. [PL 1997, c. 466, §20 (AMD); PL 1997, c. 466, §28 (AFF).] 1. Notice of…

When a responsible parent has requested a stay under section 2352, subsection 4 and that stay has been granted because the parent seeks relief in a court, the parent shall request, within 30 days of filing the papers with the court, that the court set the matter for hearing on th…

Interest of 6% per year on any support debt due or owing to the department under section 2301 may be collected by the commissioner.

In any case in which a debt is owed by a responsible parent under section 2301, the department shall notify the responsible parent, on any billing sent for the purpose of child support collection, that payment must be received in the month when due and that failure to make timely…

The following exemptions apply to weekly earnings. The maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings of a responsible parent for any workweek that is subject to garnishment or income withholding may not exceed: [PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 (NEW); PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. E, §2 (AF…

1. Judgment. Twenty-one days after receipt by a responsible parent of a notice of debt under section 2352 or 30 days after the date of mailing to the responsible parent of a decision of the department that requires the responsible parent to pay child support, the amount stated in…

The commissioner shall proceed as follows with respect to any order to withhold and deliver. [PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 (NEW); PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. E, §2 (AFF).] 1. Service of order. The commissioner may serve on any person an order to withhold and deliver any property, includin…

1. Order to withhold; commissioner may serve. The commissioner may direct any person by order to withhold property, including wages, that is due or belongs to the responsible parent when the responsible parent has failed to make payments under a support order and the amount in ar…

1. Notice to Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations. The department shall provide the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations, referred to in this section as the "bureau," access to an electronic data…

On a monthly basis, the department shall notify the Workers' Compensation Board, referred to in this section as the "board," of the names and social security numbers of all persons who owe the department child support debts that have been liquidated by judicial or administrative …

In accordance with 45 Code of Federal Regulations, Sections 302.34 and 303.107, the department shall enter into one or more cooperative arrangements with the Penobscot Nation governing the expedient and efficient administration and availability of the child support enforcement re…

1. Order. The commissioner may commence an action under Title 14, chapter 502 by directing a responsible parent to appear before the department to disclose under oath information that relates to the responsible parent's ability to pay child support. The commissioner may require a…

If any person has, subject to an order to withhold and deliver, earnings, deposits, accounts or balances in excess of the amount of the debt claimed by the department plus $100, that person may, without liability under this article, release the excess to the responsible parent.

The commissioner shall proceed as follows with respect to administrative seizure and disposition of property. [PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 (NEW); PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. E, §2 (AFF).] 1. Seizure and surrender. When a lien has been filed pursuant to former Title 19, section 503 or 503…

The commissioner shall proceed as follows with respect to foreclosures on filed liens. [PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 (NEW); PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. E, §2 (AFF).] 1. Liens on real property. Actions to foreclose liens on real property filed under former Title 19, section 503 or 503-A or…

The commissioner may release a support lien or order to withhold and deliver on all or part of the property of the responsible parent or return seized property without liability, if the commissioner considers adequate an assurance of payment or if the collection of the debt will …

A person who fails to honor an order to withhold and deliver, an order for expedited withholding, or a duly executed assignment of earnings, or fails to surrender property under section 2363, is liable to the department for the greater of $500 or the amount the person was require…

An employer may not discharge an employee because a support lien or order to withhold and deliver has been served against the employee's earnings. An aggrieved employee may maintain a civil action against an employer for violation of this section. [PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 (NEW…

A person employing a person owing a support debt shall honor a duly executed assignment of earnings presented by the commissioner. This requirement to honor the assignment of earnings and the assignment of earnings itself are applicable whether the earnings are to be paid current…

The receipt of public assistance for a child constitutes an assignment by the recipient to the department of all rights to support for the child and spousal support that accrue during the period that the recipient receives public assistance for the child. [PL 2011, c. 34, §3 (AMD…