Alaska § 25.27.150 - Initiation of administrative enforcement of orders; required notice.

§ 25.27.150. Initiation of administrative enforcement of orders; required notice.

 (a) If an arrearage occurs under a support order being enforced by the agency for which immediate income withholding is not required under AS 25.27.062 (a) or an application is made to the agency for withholding under AS 25.27.062 (d), the agency may execute an income withholding order without prior notice to the obligor. At the time of execution, the agency shall serve a notice of income withholding on the obligor. Notice under this subsection shall be served upon the obligor by certified mail to the obligor's last known address, and service is complete when the notice is properly addressed, certified, and mailed.

 (b) The notice must state the amount of the overdue support that is owed, if any, and the amount of income that will be withheld.

 (c) The notice shall inform the obligor that income withholding has been ordered and of the procedures to follow if the obligor wishes to contest withholding on the grounds that the withholding is improper due to a mistake of fact. The notice must also inform the obligor of the information that was provided to the employer in the document that ordered the withholding.

 (d) If the obligor requests a hearing, it shall be conducted under the department's regulations for informal conferences and shall be held within 15 days of the date of the request. The hearing may only be held to determine if there is a mistake of fact that makes the income withholding order improper because the amount of current or overdue support is incorrect, the identity of the obligor is inaccurate, or, for initiated withholding based on AS 25.27.062 (c)(3)(A), the alleged facts regarding overdue payments or potential withdrawal of assets are incorrect. The order is not subject to any other legal defenses. It is not a defense to an income withholding order issued under AS 25.27.062 (c)(2) that less than one full month's payment is past due if at least one full month's payment was past due on the date notice was served under this section.

 (e) The conference officer shall inform the obligor of the informal conference decision either at the informal conference hearing or within 15 days after the hearing.

 (f) If the conference officer determines that withholding will continue, the obligor may request a formal hearing as provided in the department's regulations.