Tennessee Child Support Collections and Fees

UPDATED: Jul 15, 2021

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Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...

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UPDATED: Jul 15, 2021

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UPDATED: Jul 15, 2021

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It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.

We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.

UPDATED: Jul 15, 2021Fact Checked

As in other states, noncustodial parents in Tennessee must consider almost any source of their income as being potentially subject to garnishment for child support collection purposes. All income, including bonuses or lump-sum payments, must be reported to the Tennessee office of child support. Enforcing an order for child support garnishment can mean extra work for the employer. To accommodate the administrative fees associated with child support collections, Tennessee allows employers to charge the employee for each payment remitted, subject to a maximum amount. It’s important that employers familiarize themselves with Tennessee wage garnishment laws, because penalties for noncompliance are serious. This article will help clarify these laws for both an employer and a noncustodial parent subject to an order for support in Tennessee.

Income Subject to Withholding for Child Support Garnishment

A noncustodial parent subject to an order for support in Tennessee must consider any form of income as subject to withholding. Tennessee defines income to include wages, commissions, salaries, bonuses, workers’ compensation, disability, pension payments, or any profit-sharing, interest, or annuities.

Bonuses and Other Lump Sum Payments

Tennessee law mandates that employers report any lump-sum payments due to an employee subject to a support order. There is no timeframe specified for this. For more information contact:

Pamela Harney

TN Child Support Services

400 Deaderick Street, 12th floor

Nashville, TN 37243

Phone: (615) 313-2282

Email: Pamela.C.Harney@state.tn.us

Termination of Employment

When an employee subject to a support order ends his or her employment with the employer, the employer must notify the agency immediately. They should send the agency a copy of the order along with the employee’s name and address, the company name, the date of termination of employment, and the new employer’s address, if known. If the employee retires, the employer should notify the agency to inform them of the name and address of the employee’s pension or other retirement administrator.

Administrative Fees

To account for administrative fees associated with the enforcement of an order, the employer may charge up to 5% of the payment amount (not to exceed $5) per month. The fee must be deducted from the employee’s wages, and not the support payment. Further, the support payment can never exceed Tennessee’s maximum withholding limits.

Penalty for Noncompliance

An employer in Tennessee who fails to withhold or to remit payment for the support order will be subject to a Class C misdemeanor. The employer will also be held liable for up to the full amount that should have been withheld.

Tennessee State Office of Child Support – Contact Information

Department of Human Services

Child Support Services

400 Deadrick Street, 12th Floor

Nashville, TN 37248-7400

Phone: (615) 313-4880; (800) 838-6911

Fax: (615) 532-2791

Website

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Jeffrey Johnson

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Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...

Insurance Lawyer

Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.

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