Oklahoma § 56-237A - Notice to obligor - Administrative procedures

§ 56-237A. Notice to obligor - Administrative procedures

A. In all cases being enforced by the Department of Human

Services pursuant to the state child support plan, unless the amount

of past due support has been determined in a court proceeding within

the past twelve (12) months, the Department shall serve a notice

upon the obligor no less than once every twelve (12) months

informing the obligor of the following:

1. The style and case number of the support order or orders

being enforced by the Department;

2. The amount of the current support obligation and the total

amount of alleged past due support pursuant to the support order or

orders;

3. That all payments for current support and payments for past

due support owed to the Department or to the obligee shall be paid

to the Centralized Support Registry at the address specified in the

notice, and thereafter, any payments made other than to the Support

Registry shall not be credited to the amount owed;

4. The obligor’s street address and mailing address as stated

in the notice shall be the obligor’s address or addresses of record

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 56. Poor Persons

for service of process on file in the central case registry provided

for in Section 112A of Title 43 of the Oklahoma Statutes; and

thereafter, the obligor must inform the central case registry at the

address specified in the notice in writing within thirty (30) days

of any change;

5. That if the information contained in the notice is incorrect

or incomplete concerning the name and address of the obligor’s

current employer or other payors of income, dependent health

insurance information, or other information requested by the

Department, the obligor is required to inform the central case

registry in writing of any changes or additions to the information

within thirty (30) days of service of the notice and thereafter to

inform the central case registry within thirty (30) days of any

change;

6. An income assignment is in effect and that the amounts

specified in the notice shall be withheld from the obligor’s income

for current support and past due support;

7. The income assignment will be served upon all current and

subsequent payors of income without further notice to the obligor;

8. The income assignment will remain in effect regardless of

whether any past due amounts are owed, for as long as the order upon

which it is based, or for as long as past due support is owed,

whichever is later, and payment of any amount will not prevent the

income assignment from taking effect;

9. That if there is no order for payment of the past due

amount, when any amount of support becomes thirty (30) days past

due, the Department is authorized to direct the obligor’s payor of

income to withhold an amount equal to twenty-five percent (25%) of

the current support obligation, and that this amount shall continue

to be withheld until the past due support is paid in full, or until

further order;

10. That if the obligor has failed to comply with an order to

provide health insurance, the obligor’s employer will be required to

enroll the obligor’s minor children who are the subject of the

referenced order in any dependent health insurance plan offered by

the employer to the obligor, and to deduct the amount of the premium

from the obligor’s income;

11. A list of all actions and remedies the Department may take

to enforce the order and to collect past due support. The list may

include a specific payment plan;

12. That the obligor will be given this notice no less than

once every twelve (12) months, and after initial service of the

notice as provided in subsection C of this section, subsequent

notices will be mailed by regular mail to the last address for the

obligor on file in the central case registry;

13. That the obligor may request an administrative review on a

form attached to the notice within twenty (20) days of the date the

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 56. Poor Persons

notice is served upon the obligor which will be granted only on the

following grounds:

a.

a mistake of identity, or

b.

the existence or the amount of current support or past

due support is incorrect;

14. That the obligor has been given notice and opportunity to

contest the past due amount stated in the notice and that the

obligor will not be entitled to another opportunity to contest that

amount; and

15. That the notice will have the same effect as a court order

and will be enforceable as a court order.

B. The notice shall be filed, at the option of the Department,

with the clerk of the district court in the county of residence of

the custodian of the child, in the county of residence of the

obligor, or in the county of the underlying support order or in any

other county in which the obligor has real or personal property.

C. The initial notice provided for in this section shall be

served by the Department upon the obligor as provided in Section

2005 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes, or if there is an address

of record on file with the central case registry pursuant to Section

112A of Title 43 of the Oklahoma Statutes, the notice may be served

by regular mail at the address of record. The Department shall

serve the obligor subsequent notices by regular mail with a

certificate of mailing to the last address of record for service of

process for the obligor on file with the central case registry. The

Department shall send the initial and subsequent notice to the

custodian of the child by regular mail with a certificate of

mailing.

D. An obligor may request an administrative review pursuant to

this section by delivering a request to the Department in writing or

on the form provided within twenty (20) days of the date the notice

is served upon the obligor. If the notice is a subsequent notice as

provided in subsection C of this section, the date of service shall

be the date the notice is mailed to the obligor, and the notice

shall state the date it is being mailed.

E. 1. Upon receipt of a timely request for an administrative

review, the Department shall schedule a review to be held within

thirty (30) days of receipt of the request. The obligor shall be

served with notice of the administrative review as provided in

subsection B of Section 2005 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

The review shall be conducted by an employee of the Department who

will attempt to resolve all disputed issues without the necessity of

a hearing. If all issues are resolved at the review, the obligor

shall sign an agreed administrative or district court order which

shall be filed, at the option of the Department, with the clerk of

the district court in the county of residence of the custodian of

the child, in the county of residence of the obligor, in the county

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 56. Poor Persons

of the underlying support order, or in any other county in which the

obligor has real or personal property.

2. If all disputed issues are not resolved at the

administrative review, the Department shall set the matter for a

hearing. The obligor shall be served with notice of the hearing as

provided in subsection B of Section 2005 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma

Statutes. The district or administrative court shall hear the

matter and shall enter an order determining the contested issues and

affirming the other provisions of the notice. An administrative

order shall be filed, at the option of the Department, with the

clerk of the district court in the county of residence of the

custodian of the child, in the county of residence of the obligor in

the county of the underlying support order, or in any other county

in which the obligor has real or personal property.

3. If the obligor fails to request a timely administrative

review, or fails to appear for a review or a hearing, the obligor

may no longer contest the contents of the notice, and the obligor

shall be obligated to make payments pursuant to the payment plan as

stated in the notice to collect the past due support and those

amounts shall be subject to income withholding. The notice shall

have the same legal effect as a court order and be enforceable as a

court order. The notice with proof of service upon the obligor and

the custodian of the child shall be filed, at the option of the

Department, with the clerk of the district court in the county of

residence of the custodian of the child, in the county of residence

of the obligor, in the county of the underlying support order, or in

any other county in which the obligor has real or personal property.

4. The district or administrative court may order an obligor to

pay all costs involved in proceedings under this subsection.

5. A final order entered pursuant to this section shall be

served upon the obligor in accordance with subsection B of Section

2005 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

6. A final administrative order entered pursuant to this

section may be appealed pursuant to Section 240.3 of this title.

Added by Laws 1998, c. 323, § 16, eff. Oct. 1, 1998. Amended by

Laws 2000, c. 384, § 10, eff. Nov. 1, 2000; Laws 2001, c. 407, § 16,

eff. July 1, 2001; Laws 2004, c. 124, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 2004.