Payment Holds & Disbursements

This page contains information about child support payments placed on hold and how DOR disburses child support payments.

Information About Child Support Payments Placed on Hold

When DOR receives a child support payment, we apply the payment first to current support due for the month, and apply any remaining amounts toward past-due support (also called “arrears”). In some circumstances payments are placed on hold for a certain period of time. Generally, child support payments may be placed on hold:

• To allow the obligated parent to request a review of an enforcement action;
• If a payment made by check is $5,000 or more;
• If previous checks have been returned for insufficient funds;
• If we do not have the custodial parent’s address; or
• If the amount received is more than the amount owed.

Payments Collected Through Enforcement Measures

When DOR takes an enforcement action to collect past-due child support, any money collected goes on hold for a certain number of days. The purpose of the hold period is to comply with state and federal law requiring DOR to give the obligated parent an opportunity to request a review of an enforcement action. The following are the hold periods that apply to payments received as a result of various enforcement measures:

• 45 days: Payments received from the intercept of insurance settlements, Massachusetts state tax refunds, federal tax refunds if the obligated parent filed an individual return, federal tax refunds if the obligated parent filed a joint return and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has informed DOR that any non-debtor spouse claim has been resolved. Additionally, if we levy the obligated parent’s bank account, the total period of time from the date the bank receives our levy to the date DOR releases the payments is approximately 45 days. This is because the bank “freezes” the account for 21 days after receiving our levy and then DOR puts an additional hold on the payment after we receive it, for a total of approximately 45 days.
• 150 days: Payments received from the intercept of a federal tax refund if the obligated parent filed a joint return with someone else and DOR has not been notified that any non-debtor spouse claim has been resolved.

If the obligated parent requests a review of the enforcement action, the funds will remain on hold until the review is completed. The obligated parent may notify us in writing that they waive their right to review of an enforcement action and do not wish the funds to remain on hold.

Payments from the intercept of joint federal tax returns, however, must remain on hold for 150 days and will not be released even if the obligated parent requests that the funds be released early, unless the IRS has informed DOR that any non-debtor spouse claim has been resolved. The IRS makes determinations whether some or all of the intercepted funds should be returned to the non-debtor spouse. If that happens, the IRS takes funds back from DOR. Therefore, the intercepted funds must remain on hold for the full 150 days in the event the non-debtor spouse is granted a refund of all or part of the funds.

Note: When some payments collected through enforcement measures are placed on hold, the past-due support balance is displayed as if the obligated parent had been given credit for the payment even though the payment is on hold.

Payments of $5,000 or More Made by Check

When DOR receives a payment for $5,000 or more made by check, the funds are held for 14 days to ensure that the account on which the check is drawn has sufficient funds.

Other Holds

DOR also puts payments on hold if our records show that the obligated parent does not owe child support or the case is closed. The hold is removed once we confirm the status of the child support case. If an obligated parent has a current child support order but does not owe past-due support, any payment in excess of the current monthly child support obligation will go on hold until the following month. It will then be applied to current support. In addition, we place a 14-day hold on payments made by check if previous checks have been returned from the bank for insufficient funds. If the bank reports that a “stop payment” has been placed on a check, we put a hold on the payment until the issue is resolved.

DOR places a hold on payments made by check to a custodial parent if mail has been returned for the second time from the post office as undeliverable at the address we have on file for the custodial parent. The payments will remain on hold until we can locate the custodial parent and verify their address. Similarly, we will hold a refund due an obligated parent if mail has been returned from their address, until we verify a correct address.

Information About Disbursement of Child Support Payments

This explains how DOR disburses child support payments to custodial parents and why a custodial parent may receive different amounts of child support each week. This also describes instances in which payments intended as current support may have been applied to arrears (past due support) owed to the Commonwealth.

All Money Goes First to Current Support Due in the Month

A child support order may state that the obligated parent must pay a weekly amount of support. If the obligated parent is paying through an income assignment, their employer may send payments to DOR based on the payroll cycle, which can be weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. For accounting purposes, however, DOR converts all child support orders to monthly obligations based on the number of Fridays in the month. For example, if a case has a support order for $100 per week, $400 is due in any month with four Fridays. When DOR collects child support, the money goes first to the current support due for that month. Once all of the current support due for that month is paid, any additional money is used to pay arrears. If no arrears are owed, DOR will hold any additional money until current child support becomes due the following month.

The Parent May Send Different Amounts Each Week

DOR will send to the custodial parent whatever we receive, up to the amount of current support due for the month plus whatever is owed to the custodial parent in past-due support. If the obligated parent pays different amounts each week or if the payment includes an amount toward arrears owed to the custodial parent, the checks will be for different amounts from week to week.

Example: The child support order is $100 per week and there are arrears owed to the custodial parent. There are four Fridays in the month; therefore $400 in current support is owed to the custodial parent that month. DOR receives $150 from the obligated parent on the 1^st Friday and immediately sends that payment to the custodial parent. DOR receives $100 payments on the 2^nd and 3^rd Fridays and immediately sends those payments to the custodial parent. On the 4^th Friday, DOR receives $150 and immediately sends that payment to the custodial parent. At the end of the month, the total child support obligation of $400 has been paid in full and the additional $100 was applied to the arrears owed to the custodial parent. Because the obligated parent sent different amounts of money each week, the custodial parent received unequal weekly payments; however, all the payments were sent to the custodial parent.

The Parent Owes Child Support to Another Family

The obligated parent may owe child support to more than one family. In that circumstance, if the obligated parent sends payments for less than the total amount due for all of the child support orders, the payments are divided, or pro- rated, among all of the child support accounts based on the amount of the current obligations. Dividing payments in this way ensures that all families are treated fairly if the amount of support paid is less than the amount due. As a result, a custodial parent may receive checks in different amounts each week, and neither family will receive the full amount due for the month.

Example: Your child support order is $200 per week. The other parent has a child support order for another family in the amount of $100 per week. Therefore, the other parent’s total weekly obligation is $300. DOR collects $150 on the 1^st Friday of the month. This payment is divided between the two child support accounts in proportion to the amount of current support owed to each. Your order is for twice as much as the other family’s order; therefore, DOR sends $100 to you and $50 to the other family. If the obligated parent does not pay all of the support owed to both families by the end of the month, they will owe arrears to both families.

The Parent is Paying Towards Arrears on a Weekly Basis

If there is a current weekly support order owed to the custodial parent and the obligated parent also owes past-due support to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for a period during which the custodial parent received public assistance benefits, the custodial parent may receive checks in different amounts each week. This is because DOR pays all of the current support owed to the custodial parent for the month before applying any payment toward arrears due the Commonwealth.

Example: Your child support order is $100 per week and there are four Fridays in the month; therefore $400 is owed to you that month. The other parent owes $1,000 in past-due support to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for a period during which you received public assistance benefits, and no past-due support is owed to you. Because of the arrearage, DOR collects an additional 25%, for a total of $125 per week. Since current support is paid before any money is applied to arrears, we send you the full amount we receive in each payment until current support due for the month has been paid. Therefore, DOR receives $125 from the other parent on the 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd Fridays of the month and immediately sends those payments to you. On the 4^th Friday of the month, DOR receives $125 from the other parent and sends $25 to you. At this time you have received $400, the total support obligation due to you for the month. The remaining $100 is applied toward the past-due support owed to the Commonwealth.