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Administration for Children and Families US Department of Health and Human Services
The Office of Child Support Enforcement Giving Hope and Support to America's Children
[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 45, Volume 2, Parts 200 to 499]
[Revised as of October 1, 1998]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 45CFR302.51]
[Page 132-135]

TITLE 45--PUBLIC WELFARE AND HUMAN SERVICES

PART 302--STATE PLAN REQUIREMENTS

Sec. 302.51 Distribution of support collections.

     The State plan shall provide as follows:

     (a)(1) For purposes of distribution in a IV-D case, amounts collected, except as provided under paragraphs (a)(3) of this section, shall be treated first as payment on the required support obligation for the month in which the support was collected and if any amounts are collected which are in excess of such amount, these excess amounts shall be treated as amounts which represents payment on the required support obligation for previous months.

     (2) In AFDC and title IV-E foster care cases in which conversion to a monthly amount is necessary because support is ordered to be paid other than monthly, the IV-D agency may round off the converted amount to whole dollar amounts for the purpose of distribution under this section and Sec. 302.52 of this part.

     (3) Amounts collected through Federal and State income tax refund offset must be distributed as arrearages in accordance with Secs. 303.72(h) and 303.102(g) of this chapter, respectively.

     (4) With respect to payments made through wage or other income withholding and received by the IV-D agency on or after January 1, 1989, the date of collection for distribution purposes in all IV-D cases must be the date the wages or other income are withheld to meet the support obligation. If the employer fails to report the date of withholding, the IV-D agency must reconstruct that date by contacting the employer or comparing actual amounts collected with the pay schedule specified in the court or administrative order.

     (5) Except with respect to those collections addressed under paragraph (a) (3) and (4) of this section:

     (i) Effective June 9, 1988, the date of collection for distribution purposes in all IV-D cases shall be the date on which the payment is received by the IV-D agency or the legal entity of any State or political subdivision actually making the collection, whichever is earliest; and

     (ii) Effective January 1, 1989, a State may use on a statewide basis either the definition of the date of collection in paragraph (a)(5)(i) of this section or the date the payment is mailed, as evidenced by a legible U.S. Postal Service postmark or a legibly dated receipt from a commercial carrier, as the date of collection in all IV-D cases.

     (b) The amounts collected as support by the IV-D agency pursuant to the State plan for children and the parents of such children who are current recipients of aid under the State's title IV-A plan and for whom an assignment under Sec. 232.11 of this title is effective shall be distributed as follows:

     (1) Of such amounts as are collected periodically which represent monthly support payments, the first $50 of any payments for a month received in that month, and the first $50 of payments for each prior month received in that month which were made by the absent parent in the month when due, shall be paid to the family. This payment may not be used in determining the amount paid, if any, to the family in paragraph (b)(3) of this section. If the amount collected includes payment on the required support obligation for a previous month or months, the family shall only receive the first $50 of the amount which represents the required support obligation for the month in which the support was collected. If amounts are collected for one family which represent support payments from two or more absent parents, only the first $50 of the amount collected which represents the total required support obligation for the month in which the support was collected shall be paid to the family under this paragraph. No payment shall be made to a family under this paragraph for a month in which there is no child support collection.

     (2) Any amount that is collected in a month which represents payment on the required support obligation for that month and is in excess of the amount paid to the family under paragraph (b)(1) of this section shall be retained by the State to reimburse, in whole or in part, the assistance payment for the month in which the support was collected or the next month. Of the amount retained by the State as reimbursement for that month's assistance payment, the IV-D agency shall determine the Federal Government's share of the amount so retained so the IV-A agency may reimburse the Federal Government to the extent of its participation in the financing of the assistance payment. From the Federal government's share, the State IV-D agency or political subdivision of the State pursuant to the title IV-D State plan shall deduct and pay the incentive payment, if any, prescribed in Sec. 304.12.

     (3) If the amount collected is in excess of the amount required to be distributed under paragraphs (b) (1) and (2) of this section, the family shall be paid such excess up to the difference between the assistance payment for the month in which the amount of the collection was used to redetermine eligibility for an assistance payment under the State's title IV-A plan (see Sec. 302.32) and the court ordered amount for that month. If such court ordered amount is less than such assistance payment, no amount shall be paid to the family under this paragraph. In cases in which there is no court order, the family shall not be paid any amount under this paragraph.

     (4) If the amount collected is in excess of the amounts required to be distributed under paragraphs (b) (1) through (3) of this section, any such excess shall be retained by the State as reimbursement for past assistance payments made to the family for which the State has not been reimbursed. The State may apply the amount retained to any sequence of months for which it has not yet been reimbursed. Of the amount retained by the State as reimbursement of past assistance payments, the IV-D agency shall determine the Federal Government's share of the amounts so retained so the IV-A agency may reimburse the Federal Government to the extent of its participation in the financing of the assistance payments. From the Federal government's share, the State IV-D agency or political subdivision of the State pursuant to the title IV-D State plan shall deduct and pay the incentive payment, if any, prescribed in Sec. 304.12. If past assistance payments are greater than the total support obligation owed, the maximum amount the State may retain as reimbursement for such assistance payments is the amount of such obligation, unless amounts are collected which represent the required support obligation for periods prior to the first month in which the family received assistance under the State's title IV-A plan, in which case such amounts may be retained by the State to reimburse the difference between such support obligation and such assistance payments.

     (5) If the amount collected is in excess of the amounts required to be distributed under paragraphs (b)(1) through (4) of this section, such excess shall be paid to the family.

     (c) If an amount collected as support represents payment on the required support obligation for future months, the amount shall be applied to such future months. However, no such amounts shall be applied to future months unless amounts have been collected which fully satisfy the support obligation assigned under section 402(a)(26) of the Act for the current month and all past months.

     (d) Any amount paid under paragraph (b) (1), (3) or (5) of this section shall be identified as not being an assistance payment.

     (e)(1) The amounts collected by the IV-D agency which represent specific dollar amounts designated in the support order for medical purposes that have been assigned to the State under 42 CFR 433.146 shall be forwarded to the Medicaid agency for distribution under 42 CFR 433.154.

     (2) When a family ceases receiving assistance under the State's title XIX plan, the assignment of medical support rights under section 1912 of the Act terminates, except for the amount of any unpaid medical support obligation that has accrued under such assignment. The IV-D agency shall attempt to collect any unpaid specific dollar amounts designated in the support order for medical purposes. Under this requirement, any medical support collection made by the IV-D agency under this paragraph shall be forwarded to the Medicaid agency for distribution under 42 CFR 433.154.

     (f) When a family ceases receiving assistance under the State's title IV-A plan, the assignment of support rights under Sec. 232.11 of this title terminates, except with respect to the amount of any unpaid support obligation that has accrued under such assignment. From this accrued amount, the IV-D agency shall attempt to collect such unpaid obligation. Under this requirement:

     (1) Such collections shall be used to reimburse any amounts of past assistance which have not been reimbursed under paragraph (b)(4) of this section;

     (2) Of the amount collected, the IV-D agency shall determine the Federal Government's share of the collection so the IV-A agency may reimburse the Federal Government to the extent of its participation in the financing of the assistance payments. From the Federal Government's share the State IV-D agency or political subdivision of the State pursuant to the title IV-D State plan shall deduct and pay the incentive payment, if any, prescribed in Sec. 304.12;

     (3) Only amounts collected pursuant to this paragraph which exceed the amount of unreimbursed past assistance shall be paid to the family;

     (4) For those cases in which collections are authorized under Sec. 302.33(a)(1)(iii), priority shall be given to collection of current support.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control numbers 0960-0385 and 0970-0107)

[40 FR 27159, June 26, 1975, as amended at 47 FR 37889, Aug. 27, 1982; 47 FR 57281, Dec. 23, 1982; 49 FR 35605, Sept. 10, 1984; 50 FR 19648, May 9, 1985; 50 FR 31719, Aug. 6, 1985; 51 FR 37731, Oct. 24, 1986; 53 FR 21644, June 9, 1988; 54 FR 32309, Aug. 4, 1989; 54 FR 32309, Aug. 4, 1989; 56 FR 8004, Feb. 26, 1991; 56 FR 22353, May 15, 1991]