Chapter 388-14A Division of child support rules.

(1) The division of child support (DCS) identifies cases needing a "total versus total" calculation, which compares amounts of public assistance paid to the family with amounts of support collected and uncollected support debt. DCS performs a total versus total calculation upon t…

(1) The division of child support (DCS) may serve a notice to recover a support payment on the person who received the payment when DCS:(a) Distributed the money in error;(b) Distributed the money based on a check that is later dishonored;(c) Is required to refund or return the m…

(1) The division of child support (DCS) mails a debt adjustment notice to the payee under a child support order within thirty days of the date DCS reduces the amount of the support debt it intends to collect if that reduction was due to:(a) A mathematical error in the debt calcul…

(1) Sections 17 and 18, chapter 171, Laws of 1979 ex. sess. (RCW 74.20.320 and 74.20A.270), provide that a custodian of children or other person who receives support money which money was paid, in whole or in part, toward a support obligation under 42 U.S.C. 602 (a)(26)(A), secti…

The division of child support (DCS) serves a notice of retained support setting forth:(1) The amount of support money claimed by the department as property of the department by assignment, subrogation or by operation of law or legal process under chapter 74.20A RCW;(2) The legal …

The division of child support (DCS) serves the notice of retained support on the person, firm, corporation, association, or political subdivision or any officer or agent thereof in the manner prescribed for the service of a summons in a civil action, or by certified mail, return …

(1) After service of a notice of retained support under WAC 388-14A-5510, if the person, firm, corporation, association, or political subdivision or any officer or agent thereof fails to answer in a timely manner, the claim of the department is final and subject to collection act…

(1) Any debtor who objects to all or any part of a notice of retained support may, within twenty days from the date of service of the notice, file an application for an administrative hearing. An objection under this section is the same thing as a general denial of liability to t…

(1) An administrative hearing on a notice of retained support is limited to the determination of the ownership of the amounts claimed in the notice or the reasonableness of a repayment agreement offered to a public assistance recipient for recovering child support under RCW 74.20…

(1) Within one year from the date the division of child support (DCS) serves a notice of retained support, the person, firm, corporation, association, political subdivision or any officer or agent thereof may petition DCS for a hearing, upon a showing of any of the grounds listed…

The division of child support (DCS) may take action under chapter 74.20A RCW to collect debts determined under WAC 388-14A-5505.[Statutory Authority: RCW 74.08.090. WSR 01-03-089, § 388-14A-5535, filed 1/17/01, effective 2/17/01. Formerly WAC 388-13-085.]

If you answer the notice of retained support acknowledging that the department owns the support payments in question, the division of child support (DCS) may take collection action under chapter 74.20A RCW if you fail to pay the debt within twenty-one days of the date DCS receive…

(1) Hearings under this chapter are governed by:(a) The Administrative Procedure Act, chapter 34.05 RCW, RCW 74.20A.055; and(b) Chapter 388-02 WAC.(2) If any provision in this chapter conflicts with or is inconsistent with chapter 388-02 WAC, the provision in this chapter governs…

(1) Except for the instances listed in subsections (8) and (9), the division of child support (DCS) accepts either a written or an oral request for hearing or conference board, even though other sections of this chapter or the relevant statutes may provide that objections and hea…

(1) In an administrative hearing involving the DSHS division of child support (DCS), the administrative law judge (ALJ) enters either an initial order, which is subject to review, or a final order, which is not subject to review.(2) The terms "initial order,""final order" and "re…

An administrative law judge (ALJ) must enter an initial order in a division of child support (DCS) hearing proceeding if:(1) The case involves the disclosure of a party's address under WAC 388-14A-2114 through 388-14A-2140;(2) A custodial parent (CP) or noncustodial parent (NCP) …

Except for cases regarding address disclosure under WAC 388-14A-2114 through 388-14A-2140, an administrative law judge (ALJ) must enter a final order in a DCS hearing proceeding if:(1) A custodial parent (CP) or noncustodial parent (NCP) files a hearing request on or after Novemb…

(1) Except for the DCS representative, any party to an initial order entered by an administrative law judge (ALJ) has the right to request review pursuant to chapter 388-02 WAC.(2) No party may request administrative review of a final order entered by an ALJ.(3) Any party to an i…

(1) If no party requests review within twenty-one days of the date OAH mailed an initial order, the DSHS division of child support (DCS) may take enforcement action on the twenty-second day after OAH mailed the order.(2) DCS may take enforcement action on a final order immediatel…

(1) Any party against whom the administrative law judge (ALJ) has entered an initial decision and order on default may petition the DSHS board of appeals for vacation of the default order, subject to the provisions, including time limits, of civil rule 60.(2) Specific rules on ad…

(1) If the division of child support (DCS) takes collection action against a bank account, safe deposit box, or other property held by a bank, credit union or savings and loan (collectively, "the account"), the noncustodial parent (NCP) or the joint owner of record of the account…

(1) If either the noncustodial parent (NCP) or the joint owner of record objects to a division of child support (DCS) collection action against a bank account, DCS schedules a hearing solely for the purpose of determining whether or not one of the following exemptions applies to …

The division of child support (DCS) holds money or property withheld as a result of collection action taken against a bank account or safe deposit box and delivered to DCS at the time of an objection, pending the final administrative order or during any appeal to the courts.[Stat…

If the final decision of the department or courts on appeal is that the division of child support (DCS) has caused money or property that is exempt from satisfaction of the NCP's child support obligation to be withheld by the bank or delivered to the department, DCS must:(1) Prom…

If the division of child support (DCS) takes collection action against the inmate account of a noncustodial parent (NCP) who is an inmate of a department of corrections (DOC) facility, the NCP may contest the seizure of the inmate account in the same way an NCP could challenge a …

(1) A support order entered under this chapter must conform to the requirements set forth in RCW 26.09.105, 26.18.170, 26.23.050, and 26.23.110. The administrative law judge (ALJ) must comply with the DSHS rules on child support and include a Washington state child support schedu…

(1) The division of child support (DCS) provides conference boards for the resolution of complaints and problems regarding DCS cases, and for granting exceptional or extraordinary relief. A conference board is an informal review of case actions and of the circumstances of the par…

(1) A person may request a conference board, orally or in writing, at any division of child support (DCS) office.(2) Oral requests for conference boards are governed by WAC 388-14A-6100.(3) DCS may start conference board proceedings in appropriate circumstances.[Statutory Authori…

(1) An applicant for a conference board must make reasonable efforts to resolve the dispute with division of child support (DCS) staff before the conference board can act in the case.(2) A conference board chair reviews each application to determine appropriate action:(a) If ther…

The conference board chair has the authority to:(1) Subpoena witnesses and documents, administer oaths and take testimony;(2) Grant relief by setting payment plans, writing off debt owed to the department, waiving fees, or refunding collected money;(3) Adjust support debts based …

(1) Equitable estoppel is available in adjudicative proceedings conducted under this chapter.(2) When a party raises, or the facts indicate, a claim that equitable estoppel applies to a party to the proceeding, the administrative law judge (ALJ) must:(a) Consider equitable estopp…

(1) A child support order issued by a tribunal of another state, country, or jurisdiction is referred to in this chapter as a foreign order or an intergovernmental order. As described in subsection (3) of this section, there is a type of foreign order known as a convention order.…

(1) A child support order issued by a tribunal of a foreign country which has ratified the convention of 23 November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance (known as the Hague Convention on Child Support) may be registered in thi…

(1) After the service of a Notice of Support Debt and Registration under the Hague Convention (NOSDR-HC) as described in WAC 388-14A-7005, either party to the convention order may object and request a hearing on the notice.(2) A hearing under this section is for the limited purpo…

(1) A child support order or an income-withholding order for support issued by a tribunal of another state or jurisdiction may be registered in this state for enforcement pursuant to chapter 26.21A RCW at the request of a party to the order or at the request of the support enforc…

(1) The division of child support (DCS) may accept an intergovernmental request to enforce interest when:(a) The request is from:(i) Another state's IV-D agency;(ii) An Indian tribe;(iii) A foreign country which has entered into a reciprocal agreement with the United States of Am…

(1) When the division of child support serves a notice of support debt and demand for payment or a notice of support debt and registration under WAC 388-14A-7110(2) and the notice becomes the subject of a hearing, this section applies to a determination of interest.(2) The calcul…

(1) When the division of child support serves a notice of support debt and demand for payment or a notice of support debt and registration under WAC 388-14A-7110(2) and the notice becomes the subject of a conference board under WAC 388-14A-6400, this section applies to a determin…

(1) When the division of child support (DCS) accepts an intergovernmental case for enforcement of interest under WAC 388-14A-7110(1), DCS may, at any time after service of a notice of support debt and registration or a notice of support debt and demand for payment, update the amo…

A hearing under this section is for the limited purpose of determining if the nonregistering party can prove one or more of the defenses listed in RCW 26.21A.530(1).(1) If the contesting party presents evidence establishing a full or partial defense under RCW 26.21A.530(1), the p…

(1) Except as provided below in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, confirmation of a registered order precludes further contest of the order with respect to any matter that could have been asserted at the time of registration. Confirmation may occur:(a) By operation of law …

(1) Except as specified in WAC 388-14A-3105, where grounds for personal jurisdiction exist under RCW 26.21A.100 or other Washington law, the division of child support (DCS) may serve the following legal actions in another state by certified mail, return receipt requested or by pe…

(1) When there are multiple current support orders covering the same obligor and the same children, a party to a support order may request that the division of child support (DCS) make a determination of controlling order under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, chapter 2…

(1) The division of child support (DCS) may deny a request for determination of controlling order made by a party to a child support order or another state's IV-D agency for the following reasons:(a) There is only one support order for the obligor and the children;(b) There is no…

(1) When the division of child support (DCS) decides that a determination of controlling order is required, or when a party, IV-D agency or jurisdiction asks for a determination of controlling order, DCS reviews the multiple child support orders for the same obligor and children …

(1) If any party, IV-D agency or jurisdiction objects to the determination of presumed controlling order issued under WAC 388-14A-7325, that objection must be in writing and signed under penalty of perjury. The division of child support (DCS) provides an objection form with the n…

As provided in RCW 26.21A.130, the final order in a proceeding for determination of controlling order operates as a final determination of the total amount of consolidated arrears and accrued interest, if any, under all of the support orders.[Statutory Authority: RCW 34.05.220(2)…

(1) RCW 26.21A.425 provides that a noncustodial parent (NCP) may contest the validity or enforcement of an income-withholding order issued by an Indian tribe or another state or country and received directly by an employer in this state.(2) Acting as an administrative tribunal un…

(1) When the division of child support (DCS) refers a case to an Indian tribe or another state or country, DCS must provide personal information regarding the parties to that other jurisdiction. DCS notifies the party residing in Washington that we are preparing to refer your cas…

(1) When acting as the responding jurisdiction in an intergovernmental child support case, the division of child support (DCS) provides the full range of services available under our state plan pursuant to Title IV-D of the federal Social Security Act to:(a) Another state;(b) A T…