Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia › Department 290 - RULES OF DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES › Chapter 290-7 - OFFICE OF CHILD SUPPORT RECOVERY › Subject 290-7-1 - RECOVERY AND ADMINISTRATION OF CHILD SUPPORT › Rule 290-7-1-.14 - Collection and Disbursement of Child Support Payments

Current
				through Rules and Regulations filed through June 27, 2024
(a) The payment of public assistance to or on
				behalf of a child creates a debt due and owing to the State of Georgia by the
				parent or parents responsible for the support of the child. By accepting such
				assistance on behalf of a child, the recipient assigns by law the Department
				the right to receive any child support owed for the child. The Department shall
				be subrogated to the right of the child or children or the person having
				custody to initiate any support action existing under the laws of Georgia and
				to recover any payments ordered by the courts of this or any other
				state.
(b) In the absence of any
				such public assistance, the submission of an application to the Department for
				child support services shall constitute an assignment of the right to the
				Department to receive any and all child support payments owed.
(c) Any collections received by the
				Department under the CSRA shall be distributed and deposited by the Department
				in conformity with state and federal law.
(d) Distribution of any child support being
				held by the Department shall be paid to the obligee within two days from
				receipt of same unless the obligor is entitled to an appeal under these Rules
				or state law and has exercised his or her right to appeal. In such instances,
				the Department is required to retain the collected amount until all appeals
				have been resolved.
(e) The
				Department is authorized to seek statutory interest only upon child support
				orders it was a party to, whether through establishment or modification, or, in
				intergovernmental cases, as permitted by the laws of a referring state or
				foreign jurisdiction as calculated by the referring state or foreign
				jurisdiction. The Department may collect interest charges awarded by a court
				and reduced to a judgment by any means permitted by law.
(f) Any collection received directly by an
				obligee who has received public assistance or applied for services from the
				Department must be turned over to the Department and be disbursed through the
				Family Support Registry. Any obligor making payments through any means other
				than the Family Support Registry after the Department is assigned the right of
				support is running a grave risk of having those payments not credited as
				received. Any obligor wishing to receive credit for such payments is required
				to submit money order receipts, cancelled checks or other verifiable evidence
				of having made such payments directly to the obligee; otherwise the Department
				will proceed as if the support amount went unpaid.
(g) Payments made pursuant to the Uniform
				Interstate Family Support Act, when collected on behalf of a foreign
				jurisdiction, shall be forwarded to the appropriate collection agent in the
				foreign jurisdiction.
(h) An
				erroneous payment may be the result of an agency error. The Department has the
				responsibility to collect all erroneous payments. Collection methods which may
				be utilized to recover the payments are through voluntary repayment plans,
				income tax offset, recoupment from future support payments, referral to a
				collection agency and/or through legal action. Repayment may be accepted in a
				lump sum or in negotiated payments. These may be in the form of cash, personal
				check, income tax intercepts, or money orders. The use of tax intercept for
				cases involving agency error will be done as permitted under these Rules for
				collection of debts owed to the Department.
(i) The date of collection for support is the
				date of receipt by the Family Support Registry.
(j) Disbursement may be made to a private
				collection agency acting on behalf of the obligee only if the private
				collection agency is duly registered with the Governor's Office of Consumer
				Affairs and authorized under Georgia law to operate within this state.
				Additionally, no disbursements shall be made to a private collection agency of
				any funds collected solely through the Department's efforts.
O.C.G.A. §§
				  19-6-33.1,
				  19-11-4 through
				  19-11-8,
				  19-11-18,
				  19-11-21,
				  19-11-30.1,
				  19-11-30.10,
				  19-11-32,
				  19-11-100,
				  50-13-1 et
				  seq.