South Carolina § 63-17-1460 - Notice to withhold.

§ 63-17-1460. Notice to withhold.

(A) Fifteen days following the mailing of the notice of the delinquency to the obligor and if no petition to stay service has been filed, the clerk of court shall serve a notice to withhold on the payor or its agent by regular mail and may record the arrearage pursuant to Section 63-17-1600.

(B) The notice to withhold shall:

(1) direct any payor to withhold at the obligor's regularly scheduled pay periods an amount which over the period of one month would constitute one month's support obligation plus applicable fees pursuant to this article and costs as provided by Section 63-3-370;

(2) direct any payor to withhold an additional amount toward any arrearage until the arrearage is paid in full; however, amounts to be withheld under this item and item (1) may not exceed the limits set forth by the Federal Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. Section 1673(b));

(3) direct any payor to notify the clerk if health insurance is available to the obligor for the benefit of children for whom child support is being withheld;

(4) state the rights, responsibilities, and liabilities of the payor under this article.

(C) The payor shall then deduct the designated amount pursuant to the notice to withhold beginning no later than the next regularly scheduled pay period following the pay period during which the payor was served. Payors need not change their regular payroll pattern and may combine all withheld amounts into one payment to the State Disbursement Unit with an itemized statement showing accounts attributable to each obligor for each obligee. For each instance of withholding of income, the payor is entitled to receive a fee of up to three dollars to be deducted from the income of the obligor in addition to the amounts withheld pursuant to the notice to withhold unless the fee is waived by the payor.

(D) If there is more than one notice to withhold on a single obligor, the payor must comply with the notices by withholding the amounts designated in the notices to the extent possible pursuant to the Federal Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. Section 1673(b)). If the payor cannot fully comply with the notices because the amounts to be withheld would exceed the limits under the Federal Consumer Credit Protection Act, the payor shall notify the court in writing as to its reasons for failing to fully comply. Priority must be given to current support obligations. In no case may the allocation result in a withholding for one of the support obligations not being implemented.

(E) The employer shall promptly pay the amount withheld to the State Disbursement Unit within seven working days of the date income is withheld, in accordance with the notice to withhold and in accordance with any notification received from the clerk of court concerning withholding. The payor shall provide the date on which the income is withheld.

(F) After the obligor's arrearage has been satisfied, the clerk of court shall serve the payor by regular mail a notice of reduction of withholding. The notice shall inform the payor of the satisfied amount and direct the payor to discontinue withholding the additional amount as prescribed in the notice.

(G) Within twenty days after the obligor is no longer employed by the payor, the payor shall return a copy of the notice to withhold to the clerk of court and shall notify the clerk of court in writing of the date the obligor's employment terminated, the date of the obligor's final paycheck, the obligor's home address, and obligor's new employer and address, if known.

(H) Withholding of income from an obligor under this article has priority over any other legal process under state law against the same wages. Payment pursuant to a notice to withhold is a complete defense by the payor against any claims of the obligor or the obligor's creditors as to the sum paid.

(I) No payor may discharge, refuse to hire, or otherwise penalize any obligor because of the duty to withhold income.

(J) The responsibility of a payor who employs an obligor to withhold support from the pay of the obligor ends when the obligor leaves the employ of the payor. If this termination of employment occurs during the middle of a pay period, the final amount required to be withheld must be proportionately reduced in the same percentage that the time worked has to the time of the full pay period.

HISTORY: 2008 Act No. 361, SECTION 2; 2008 Act No. 332, SECTION 4.

Editor's Note

The State Disbursement Unit is to be implemented in accordance with Section 63-17-610. See 2008 Act No. 332, SECTION 8 referencing this section as enacted in Chapter 7 of Title 20.