An often forgotten part of child support in Texas is what role employers will play in the process. With the vast number of children who are being raised by a single parent, the support agreement and child support enforcement will often come up as a problem. For example, a supporting parent is required to provide health care for the child. If the payments are not being made, a method to get those payments is to deduct the money directly from the paychecks that the supporting parent receives.
Texas employers can assist with the children being properly provided for by taking part in various collection practices that the Office of the Attorney General of Texas implements. An employer will have certain responsibilities when cooperating with the OAG to make certain that employees are making the payments they are legally obligated to make to care for their children. Understanding those responsibilities will smooth the process and remove any disagreement between the employee and the employer if these strategies are undertaken so the proper payments are being made and the law is adhered to.
The following are the responsibilities that a Texas employer has: they are to report newly hired or re-hired employees; they must respond to requests to verify employment; they must comply with notices regarding medical support; they are to withhold income if it is requested; they will submit mandated payments; they should inform the OAG before a lump sum payment is issued; and they will inform the OAG if an employee who was subject to a withholding order was terminated from employment.
Parents who are not receiving the payments they are supposed to have recourse to get those payments. That includes working in cooperation with the OAG and the employer of the supporting parent. Parents who are having issues making their payments and are subjected to having their wages garnished also need to understand how the law works. Discussing the matter with an attorney experienced in all levels of child support can help all parents facing this difficult situation.
Source: Texasattorneygeneral.gov, “Texas Employers,” accessed on Feb. 16, 2016