Chapter 388-14A Division of child support rules.

(1) If the obligated parent is eligible for health insurance through the employer but has not enrolled on his or her own, the plan administrator must proceed under WAC 388-14A-4130(3) and:(a) Enroll the obligated parent and the children in the least expensive plan which provides …

If the obligated parent is subject to a waiting period before being eligible for coverage under a health insurance plan provided by the employer, the plan administrator must proceed as follows:(1) If the obligated parent is subject to a waiting period that expires ninety days or …

(1) If more than one insurance plan is offered by the employer or union, and each plan may be extended to cover the child, then the plan administrator must enroll the children named in the national medical support notice (NMSN) in the plan in which the obligated parent is enrolle…

(1) When an obligated parent has a health insurance obligation for more than one family, the division of child support (DCS) sends one National Medical Support Notice (NMSN) for each family to the obligated parent's employer.(2) If the obligated parent is already enrolled in a he…

(1) The National Medical Support Notice (NMSN) advises the employer of any limitations on the amount an obligated parent may be required to pay for health insurance premiums to cover the children.(2) Often the support order which contains the health insurance obligation determine…

(1) Under RCW 26.23.060(3), a payroll deduction may not exceed fifty percent of the noncustodial parent's disposable earnings in each pay period.(2) When the division of child support (DCS) enforces a child support obligation through an income withholding action and also enforces…

(1) The National Medical Support Notice (NMSN) is a Qualified Medical Child Support Order.(2) The NMSN or earlier notice of enrollment served by the division of child support (DCS) remains in effect until:(a) DCS withdraws the notice in writing; or(b) Health insurance coverage is…

(1) Once the division of child support (DCS) has notified an employer that a parent is obligated by a support order to provide health insurance coverage for the children named in the order, the National Medical Support Notice (NMSN) or other notice of enrollment remains in effect…

(1) The division of child support (DCS) must inform the health care authority (HCA) of the existence of a new or modified court or administrative order for child support when the order includes a requirement for medical support. The health care authority provides services for the…

(1) When the department of labor and industries or a self-insurer pays compensation under chapter 51.32 RCW on behalf of or on account of the child or children of a noncustodial parent (NCP), the division of child support (DCS) treats the amount of compensation the department or …

(1) When a court or administrative child support order requires a noncustodial parent (NCP) to pay a fixed monthly amount for day care or special child rearing expenses, an NCP who has paid child support under a court or administrative order and believes that day care or special …

The division of child support (DCS) considers a petition for reimbursement or an application for hearing under WAC 388-14A-4300 to be an application for full support enforcement services if there is not already an open support enforcement case.[Statutory Authority: RCW 74.08.090,…

(1) The office of administrative hearings (OAH) sends notice of a hearing under this subsection to the noncustodial (NCP) and to the custodial parent (CP).(2) The NCP and the CP participate in the hearing as independent parties with the same procedural rights.[Statutory Authority…

(1) The noncustodial parent (NCP) has the burden of proving the amounts actually paid by the NCP under the order.(2) The custodial parent (CP) has the burden of proving the amounts actually incurred for day care and special child rearing expenses.(3) The CP is not required to pro…

(1) If at a hearing under WAC 388-14A-4303, the administrative law judge (ALJ) decides that the custodial parent (CP) has not incurred costs in the amount paid by the noncustodial parent (NCP), any ordered overpayment reimbursement may be applied as an offset to any nonassistance…

(1) RCW 74.20A.320 and sections 2 through 4 of SSB 5166 (chapter 408, Laws of 2009) provide that, in some circumstances, the division of child support (DCS) may certify for license suspension a noncustodial parent (NCP) who is not in compliance with a child support order. These s…

(1) Before certifying a noncustodial parent (NCP) for noncompliance, the division of child support (DCS) must serve the NCP with a notice of noncompliance and intent to suspend licenses. This notice tells the NCP that DCS intends to submit the NCP's name to the department of lice…

(1) The division of child support (DCS) may serve a notice of noncompliance on a noncustodial parent (NCP) who is not in compliance with a child support order.(a) DCS may serve a notice of noncompliance on an NCP who meets the criteria of this section, even if the NCP is in jail …

The division of child support (DCS) may certify a noncustodial parent (NCP) as being in noncompliance with a support order and may request the department of licensing (DOL) or any other licensing entity to suspend the NCP's license if:(1) The NCP has failed to make a timely objec…

(1) After service of the notice of noncompliance, the division of child support (DCS) stays (delays) certification action if the noncustodial parent (NCP) takes one of the following actions within twenty days of service, or within sixty days of service if the notice was served ou…

(1) If a noncustodial parent (NCP) signs a payment agreement, the division of child support (DCS) stays the certification action. (2) The signing of a payment agreement does not require DCS to withdraw the notice of noncompliance.(3) By signing a payment agreement, the NCP waives…

(1) After the division of child support (DCS) has certified a noncustodial parent (NCP) to a licensing entity for noncompliance, the NCP may obtain a release from DCS if one of the following occurs:(a) NCP pays the support debt in full, in which case DCS withdraws the notice of n…

(1) After service of a notice of noncompliance and intent to suspend licenses under WAC 388-14A-4505, the noncustodial parent (NCP) may request an administrative hearing, also known as an adjudicative proceeding, under chapter 34.05 RCW.(a) Any objection to the notice of noncompl…

(1) An administrative hearing on a notice of noncompliance under WAC 388-14A-4505 is limited to the following issues:(a) Whether the person named in the child support order is the noncustodial parent (NCP);(b) Whether the NCP is required to pay child support under a child support…

(1) The noncustodial parent (NCP) may file a late request for hearing if the division of child support (DCS) has certified the noncustodial parent (NCP) because of the NCP's failure to object to the notice of noncompliance as provided in WAC 388-14A-4512(1), even if the departmen…

(1) A noncustodial parent (NCP) may request a conference board under WAC 388-14A-6400 to resolve any complaints and problems concerning a division of child support (DCS) case.(2) If the NCP and DCS are not successful in negotiating a payment agreement to avoid license suspension …

(1) Under chapter 26.23 RCW, employers must report lump sum payments over $500 for employees subject to an income withholding for unpaid child support debt.(2) The employer provides notice of the lump sum payment by reporting to:(a) The electronic employer services portal provide…

(1) As a general rule, if support is owed for any day of a given month, the entire monthly support obligation is owed for that month.(2) Either party to a support order may request that the division of child support (DCS) prorate the monthly obligation under a child support order…

The division of child support (DCS) may prorate a monthly support obligation under the following circumstances:(1) An order is entered terminating the noncustodial parent's (NCP's) support obligation and the order specifies that the NCP's obligation should be prorated;(2) A super…

(1) Unless a case fits the criteria outlined in WAC 388-14A-4705, the division of child support (DCS) does not prorate a monthly support obligation.(2) When a support order provides that the noncustodial parent's support obligation for a particular child terminates as of the chil…

(1) If the noncustodial parent (NCP) or custodial parent (CP) asks the division of child support (DCS) to prorate support, DCS advises the parties of its decision whether to prorate or not to prorate support for a given month.(2) If the NCP or the CP disagrees with DCS' decision,…

(1) RCW 26.23.050 (5)(d) provides that every child support order must state the monthly child support obligation as a sum certain amount, but does not require that the support obligation be stated in a "per month per child" amount when more than one child is covered by the order.…

(1) When a child support order does not contain a per month per child amount, the division of child support (DCS) reviews the support order and other documents filed with the order in order to determine the amount of support due for each child. "Other documents" may include but a…

(1) If the noncustodial parent (NCP) or custodial parent (CP) claim that the NCP's support obligation for one or more, but not all, of the children covered by an undifferentiated support order is terminated for any reason, either party may ask the division of child support (DCS) …

(1) If two or more children covered by the same child support order change residences so that more than one custodial parent (CP) is eligible to receive child support paid by the noncustodial parent (NCP):(a) As long as the NCP's support obligation for all of the children has not…

(1) Insurers must report certain insurance claims to the division of child support (DCS). Within 10 days after opening a tort liability claim for bodily injury or wrongful death, a workers' compensation claim, or a claim under a policy of life insurance, including an annuity, the…

(1) Distribution of child support collections refers to how the division of child support (DCS) applies or allocates collections within a child support case or between child support cases.(2) Disbursement of child support collections refers to DCS sending out or paying support co…

(1) When distributing support collections, the division of child support (DCS) records collections in exact amounts of dollars and cents.(2) DCS distributes support collections within two days of the date DCS receives the collection, unless DCS is unable to distribute the collect…

(1) A nonassistance case is one where the family has never received a cash public assistance grant.(2) Subject to the exceptions provided under WAC 388-14A-5005, the division of child support (DCS) applies support collections within each Title IV-D nonassistance case:(a) First, t…

(1) An assistance case is one where the family is currently receiving a TANF grant.(2) Subject to the exceptions provided under WAC 388-14A-5005, the division of child support (DCS) distributes support collections within each Title IV-D assistance case:(a) First, to satisfy the c…

(1) A former assistance case is one where the family is not currently receiving a TANF grant, but has at some time in the past.(2) Subject to the exceptions provided under WAC 388-14A-5005, the division of child support (DCS) distributes support collections within each Title IV-D…

The division of child support (DCS) distributes federal tax refund offset collections in accordance with 42 U.S.C. Sec. 657 and 42 U.S.C. Sec. 654(34), as follows:(1) DCS distributes federal tax refund offset collections to arrears only, and not to current support.(2) DCS distrib…

Subject to the exceptions provided under WAC 388-14A-5005, the division of child support (DCS) distributes support collections in the following manner when the noncustodial parent (NCP) has more than one Title IV-D case:(1) First, to the current support obligation on each Title I…

(1) The division of child support (DCS) applies amounts to a support debt owed for one family or household and distributes the amounts accordingly, rather than make a proportionate distribution between support debts owed to different families, when:(a) Proportionate distribution …

(1) If the division of child support (DCS) receives or collects support money representing payment on the required support obligation for future months, DCS must:(a) Apply the support money to future months only if the support debt is paid in full;(b) Distribute the support money…

(1) When an employer or other entity overcollects support from a noncustodial parent (NCP) based on a withholding order issued by the division of child support (DCS), DCS evaluates what to do with the overpayment on a case by case basis.(2) Depending on the facts of the case and …

(1) The division of child support (DCS) collects child support through the interception of federal tax refunds. This section deals with the issues that arise when the Secretary of the Treasury intercepts a tax refund based on a joint tax return filed by a noncustodial parent (NCP…

(1) Between October 1, 2008 and April 30, 2011 and beginning again on February 1, 2021, the division of child support (DCS) passes through a portion of child support collections to a family receiving TANF.(2) A pass-through payment is the portion of a support collection applied t…

(1) The division of child support (DCS) may distribute support money to a custodial parent (CP) who is not the payee under the support order if the CP signs a sworn statement that:(a) The CP has physical custody of and is caring for the child; and(b) The CP is not wrongfully depr…

(1) The division of child support (DCS) mails a distribution and disbursement statement once each month to the last known address of a person for whom it received a support collection during the month, except as provided under subsection (6) of this section.(2) DCS includes the f…