Library: Policy

340:25-5-350.3. Payment of support through Centralized Support Registry

Revised 9-16-19

(a) Centralized Support Registry.Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) Child Support Services (CSS) operates a Centralized Support Registry (Registry), also known as the State Disbursement Unit, for the receipt, recording, allocation, distribution, and disbursement of support payments. • 1 CSS operates the Registry, per Sections 410 and 413 of Title 43 of the Oklahoma Statutes (43 O.S. §§ 410 and 413), Sections 302.51 and 303.100 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations (45 C.F.R. §§ 302.51 and 303.100), and Sections 654b and 657 of Title 42 of the United States Code (42 U.S.C. §§ 654b and 657).

(1) This Section applies to both Title IV-D and non-Title IV-D cases, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(2) When a non-Title IV-D child support case has an income assignment in place, the Registry processes child support payments received from unemployment compensation benefits as income assignments per federal and state law. • 2

(b) Support payments.

(1) Support payments must be paid as instructed in writing by CSS to the Registry.

(2) CSS offices may accept support payments when a payment is made:

(A) in connection with a court action; or

(B) as part of a settlement agreement on a lien or levy. • 3 through 5

(c) Method of payment. CSS may require payors and persons to provide information needed to identify and properly allocate and distribute payments and to submit payments to the Registry, per 43 O.S. § 413.

(1) Support payment amounts are converted from a foreign country's order amount to a United States (U.S.) dollar amount at the time of the referral or application and that exchange rate remains in place until the child support order is modified or the arrears are confirmed.

(2) CSS:

(A) allocates and distributes support payments, per Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:25-5-351;

(B) modifies or enforces international orders, per OAC 340:25-5-285;

(C) safeguards case information and records received from payors and persons. Information and records concerning Title IV-D and non-Title IV-D recipients of services through the Registry are confidential, per 56 O.S. § 183 except as provided in OAC 340:25-5-67;

(D) sends custodial persons (CPs) a quarterly written notice of the amount of current support, arrears, and interest collected, and the amount of collections paid to the CP. CPs may also obtain this information over the Internet or by phoning CSS, per OAC 340:25-1-2.1;

(E) reserves the right to refuse to accept a personal or business check or direct debit after receiving a dishonored personal or business check, direct debit, electronic funds transfer (EFT), or other negotiable instrument from the same payor or on the same case; and

(F) considers the date of collection to be the date payments are received by the Registry and applies payments to existing case balances as of that date. When a payment collected represents the current support amount for future months, the amount is applied to such future months when there are no past due balances on any of the noncustodial parent's (NCP's) cases, per 45 C.F.R. § 302.51. • 6

(3) When CSS refuses to accept a personal or business check, direct debit, EFT, or other negotiable instrument from a payor per (2)(E) of this subsection, the payor:

(A) must submit the payment by cashier's check, certified check, money order, or cash at a CSS verified payment location as identified on the CSS page at http://www.okdhs.org;

(B) is added to the CSS Returned Payments List;

(i) the payment is returned due to missing endorsement;

(ii) the payor provides prior notification that payment will be returned and remits a replacement payment within 10-calendar days of notification in the manner required by CSS; • 7

(iii) the returned payment is insufficient funds caused by a CSS Financial Institution Data Match levy; or

(iv) CSS deems the reason for returned payment is out of payor's control; or

(D) must request removal from the Returned Payments List by contacting CSS, per OAC 340:25-1-2.1.

(4) CSS notifies the payor by mail:

(A) of the reason for the returned payment;

(B) that the payor was placed on the Returned Payments List;

(D) how the payor can be removed from the Returned Payments List.

(5) When CSS removes the payor from the Returned Payments List and subsequently has another payment returned, the payor is added back to the Returned Payments List and remains there indefinitely. • 7

(d) EFT support payments. NCPs, employers, and other payors may register to make electronic payments through the CSS online child support payment system (e-Pay), available through http://www.okdhs.org/services/ocss/pages/paymentoptions.aspx.

(1) To transfer child support payments electronically, NCPs, employers, and other payors must:

(A) call CSS at the phone numbers provided in OAC 340:25-1-2.1 to set up the EFT process;

(B) have a valid email account;

(D) be a legal owner of a:

(i) bank account held at a financial institution within the U.S.; or

(ii) VISA or MasterCard credit or debit card held at a financial institution within the U.S.; and

(E) register to use e-Pay. • 8

(2) E-Pay payments do not replace federally mandated income withholding and will not stop or cancel income-withholding orders for NCPs.

(3) CSS may adjust and release payroll deductions that were electronically transferred from an NCP's wages. When an adjustment cannot be processed in time to effect the change on the next scheduled electronic funds transfer, employers do not refund money to the employee, make adjustments to subsequent EFT payments, or take other action to correct the amount deducted. • 9

(4) CSS reserves the right to:

(A) close an e-Pay account and impose fees and charges when a scheduled payment transaction is returned for any reason; • 8

(B) add the payor to Returned Payments List, per (c)(3) of this Section; and

(C) specify what payment formats are used to conduct the electronic funds transfer between businesses to state child support entities.

(e) Payment issuance.

(1) Per 42 U.S.C. § 654 and 45 C.F.R. § 302.38, CSS issues payments to the CP only by transferring funds electronically, also known as direct deposit, or through debit cards.

(2) In interstate cases, CSS issues payments to the initiating state Title IV-D agency by electronic funds transfer and only issues payments by paper warrant to initiating states that do not have an electronic funds transfer system.

(3) Payments issued by debit card.

(A) When a DHS customer has a debit card, at the point of CSS initial child support payment issuance for a CP, a letter is mailed explaining that child support funds are added to the existing debit card account.

(B) When a DHS customer was not issued an Oklahoma debit card at the point of CSS initial child support payment issuance, a letter is mailed explaining the debit card activation process and that the debit card should be expected within 10- business days. The CP must activate the debit card within 90-calendar days of issuance.

(i) When a card is not activated, CSS mails a second letter to the CP after 45- calendar days and a third letter after 90-calendar days. The letters explain the importance of activating the debit card and that when the card is not activated within 90-calendar days the payment is no longer available on the debit card.

(ii) Payments issued to a CP who has not activated the debit card are returned to CSS after 90-calendar days. When payments are returned to CSS, payments are applied, per OAC 340:25-5-350.4. When the payments were distributed to other case balances or returned to the NCP, the payments are not redistributed to the CP.

(4) Payments issued by direct deposit. After receiving a debit card, the CP may enroll in direct deposit by calling the toll-free customer service phone number located on the back of the debit card. There are no charges or fees for receiving child support payments by direct deposit. A CP must have a bank account held at a financial institution within the U.S. to receive direct deposit child support payments and normal banking charges may apply. • 10

(f) Forged endorsement on warrants.

(1) When a CP reports that a warrant has been fraudulently cashed, CSS compares the payee's signature against the endorsement on the warrant and verifies that the signatures do not match.

(2) CSS sends the following completed and signed documentation by the payee to the Oklahoma State Treasurer's Office (OST):

(A) Form 10AD044E, Affidavit of Lost or Destroyed Warrant;

(B) Form 10AD045E, Affidavit of Forged Endorsement; and

(3) CSS issues a replacement warrant to the payee after CSS receives the return of funds from OST and the OST mandatory 60-calendar day holding period closes.

(g) Overcollected support amounts. CSS returns overcollected support amounts, per OAC 340:25-5-350.1.

(h) Payment errors. When payments were disbursed, CSS manages payment errors as described in this subsection.

(1) When a payor makes a payment error, CSS is not required to correct, redirect, or recover the distributed payment, unless it was retained by DHS.

(2) When CSS errs, CSS recovers overpayments to parties or CPs in Title IV-D and non-Title IV-D cases, per OAC 340:25-5, Part 37.

(i) Suspicious payment activity. CSS restricts use of payment methods by imposing limits, hold times, or other measures when CSS believes that suspicious activity occurred or may occur on a payor's account.

INSTRUCTIONS TO STAFF 340:25-5-350.3

Revised 9-16-19

1. Child Support Services (CSS) staff follows the Finance Child Support Manual Chapters, available from the CSS InfoNet, for information on receipt, recording, allocation, distribution, and disbursement of support payments.

2. CSS provides enforcement for Title IV-D cases only.CSS does not provide enforcement for non-Title IV-D cases.Non-Title IV-D cases receiving an unemployment insurance benefit payment have a distribution code of K listed on the CFRRX payment screen on the automated Oklahoma Support Information System (OSIS).

3. When a payment is received by a district office, the payment is:

(1) entered in an office receipt book;

(2) logged in the office payment spreadsheet; and

(3) forwarded to the Oklahoma Centralized Support Registry (Registry) no later than the next business day. A settlement payment made by an attorney using a trust check, per Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:25-5-200 Instructions to Staff (ITS) # 4 may be held longer by agreement. When a payment is not forwarded the same day it is received, it must be secured in a locked cabinet.

4. CSS staff only accepts cash when paid in court.Cash payments are not otherwise accepted in a district office.CSS staff converts any cash received to a money order or cashier's check before sending the payment to the Registry.When there is a charge for converting cash, staff must advise the payor the cost is deducted from the payment and the remaining balance is credited to the child support case.CSS staff may refuse to accept cash payments and may require a payor to convert a cash payment to a money order or cashier's check.

5. Unless ordered by the court, CSS only accepts three payments by the same payor in a district office.CSS staff refuses to accept further payments not ordered by the court to be made in the office.CSS staff directs the payor to a payment kiosk, e-Pay, or the Registry, and provides redirection information, such as a letter or publication.CSS staff shares the information from CSS Payment Options, publication number 11-47, with customers.

6. (a) For example, a noncustodial parent (NCP) pays current support on June 1, and makes another payment on June 30.The second payment represents earnings from future months, such as a contractor or a school teacher paid for work to be performed in the future.The second payment is applied to current support for the months of earnings it represents unless there are balances.Refer to OAC 340:25-5-351 ITS # 3 for direction when the NCP has multiple cases.

(b) When a second monthly payment received is a federal payment, such as DFAS or SSA, and represents a regular periodic payment, CSS logs the payment to the UNDA screen. When the OSIS futures program runs, the payment distributes to current support regardless of balances on the case.

7. Upon notification there is a returned payment CSS staff immediately communicates this to the Center for Finance and Budget (CFB) to stop the payment issuance.All replacement payments must be identified as replacement payments, either on the outside of the envelope or on the face of the check, and mailed to the CFB at the address provided in OAC 340:25-1-2.1.

8. Online and electronic transactions.

(1) E-Pay. For additional information on the terms and conditions of the CSS online child support payment system, e-Pay, CSS staff refers NCPs, employers, and other payors to the e-Pay site, available through http://www.okdhs.org/services/ocss/pages/paymentoptions.aspx.

(2) Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). EFT is a process that electronically transfers dollars from one bank account to another bank account at financial institutions located within the United States of America. EDI transfers information. EFT/EDI is used to simultaneously transfer child support payments and remittance information to state child support agencies.

(3) Electronic processing. When processing payments electronically to an initiating state, CSS provides the initiating state a list of cases CSS is processing for that state.

(A) For each case, the initiating state confirms case status as active and verifies the accuracy of case information regarding NCP name, custodial person (CP) name, Social Security numbers, and case identifying number.

(B) If the initiating state identifies incorrect information, CSS updates the case on OSIS.

(C) After case information is reconciled, the initiating state provides their banking information to CSS and CSS forwards the initiating state's banking information to the Oklahoma State Treasurer.

(D) CSS updates OSIS to send payments to the initiating state through EFT, which encompasses the direct:

(i) withdrawal of child support payments from an NCP's checking or savings account;

(ii) deposit of child support payments into a CP's checking or savings account; and

(iii) deposit of child support payments into an initiating state's banking account.

9. When money is electronically transferred to CSS in error and there are questions about the amount deducted, the CSS call center refers the customer to district office child support staff.CSS staff reviews the inquiry and make any necessary adjustments on OSIS and, in some cases refunds money to the employee.

10. CSS staff refers CPs with debit card questions to the toll-free customer service phone number located on the back of the debit card.Tips on how to use the debit card are provided with the card.