New York Income Withholding Orders

One of the ways of collecting child support in New York is through income execution. Income execution is a process by which payments for current and/or overdue child support are deducted from a noncustodial parent’s wages or other income by the person’s employer or income payor. However, such garnishment of the noncustodial parent’s income is not automatic. Before the noncustodial parent’s employer can garnish the person’s income, the employer must receive an Income Withholding Order (IWO).  An IWO may be used to collect current as well as past due child support and employers must honor and comply with IWOs.  Here is a sample of an IWO: https://www.newyorkchildsupport.com/dcse/pdfs/IWO_NYS_8511.pdf

In New York State, the IWO is sent to the employer and to the noncustodial parent informing of the amount to the withheld for support. A copy of an IWO can be obtained by calling the Division of Child Support Enforcement Customer Service Helpline at 1-888-208-4485, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM-7:00 PM.

Once received, employers are required to withhold and remit a specific amount of child support each pay period of the noncustodial parent. However, the amount of garnishment is limited by the Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) and ranges from 50-65% of an employee’s disposable income depending whether the employee supports another spouse of child besides those listed in the IWO and whether the employee owes arrears greater than 12 weeks on any IWO. If the employee support another child or spouse but has no arrears or has arrears less than 12 weeks, the maximum income allowed to be withheld is 50% of the employee’s disposable income. If the employee does not support another child or spouse and has no child support arrears or has arrears less than 12 weeks, the maximum income allowed to be withheld is 60% of the employee’s disposable income. However these limits increase 5%, to 55% and 65%, if the employee has arrears that are greater than 12 weeks.

Disposable income is the net income after certain required deductions from gross pay. New York State law requires the following six deductions:

• Federal income tax

• Social Security tax (FICA)

• Medicare tax

• State income tax

• City/local income tax

• Involuntary retirement or pension plan payments