81R3133 KKA-F

By: Villarreal H.B. No. 446

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the enforcement of unpaid child support.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 157.005(b), Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) The court retains jurisdiction to confirm the total amount of child support arrearages and render judgment for past-due child support until the date all current child support and medical support and child support arrearages, including interest and any applicable fees and costs, have been paid [if a motion for enforcement requesting a money judgment is filed not later than the 10th anniversary after the date:

[(1) the child becomes an adult; or

[(2) on which the child support obligation terminates under the child support order or by operation of law].

SECTION 2. Section 157.311(1), Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

(1) "Account" means:

(A) any type of a demand deposit account, checking or negotiable withdrawal order account, savings account, time deposit account, money market mutual fund account, certificate of deposit, or any other instrument of deposit in which an individual, as a signatory or not, has a beneficial ownership either in its entirety or on a shared or multiple party basis, including any accrued interest and dividends, and includes an account in which:

(i) the obligor has a community or separate property interest; or

(ii) funds are held for the obligor's benefit or placed at the direction of the obligor, regardless of whether the funds are held in the name of a nominal owner other than the obligor; and

(B) a life insurance policy in which an individual has a beneficial ownership or liability insurance against which an individual has filed a claim or counterclaim.

SECTION 3. Section 157.312(g), Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

(g) A child support lien under this subchapter may not be directed to an employer in lieu of an order or writ under Chapter 158 to withhold child support from [attach to] the disposable earnings of an obligor [paid by the employer].

SECTION 4. Section 157.314, Family Code, is amended by amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:

(d) If a child support lien notice is delivered to a financial institution with respect to an account of the obligor, the institution shall immediately:

(1) provide the claimant with the last known address of the obligor and disclose to the claimant the amount in the account at the time of receipt of the notice; and

(2) notify any other person having an ownership interest in the account that the account has been frozen in an amount not to exceed the amount of the child support arrearage identified in the notice.

(e) On request, a financial institution to which a child support lien notice has been delivered shall provide the claimant with a statement showing all transactions involving the obligor's account that occurred from the date of receipt of the child support lien notice to the date of receipt of the request for information.

SECTION 5. Sections 157.327(b), (c), and (f), Family Code, are amended to read as follows:

(b) The notice under this section must:

(1) identify the amount of child support arrearages owing at the time the amount of arrearages was determined or, if the amount is less, the amount of arrearages owing at the time the notice is prepared and delivered to the financial institution; and

(2) direct the financial institution to pay to the claimant, not earlier than the 15th day or later than the 21st day after the date of delivery of the notice, an amount from the assets of the obligor or from funds due to the obligor at the time the levy is paid that are held or controlled by the institution or that should have been held or controlled by the institution, not to exceed the amount of the child support arrearages identified in the notice, unless:

(A) the institution is notified by the claimant that the obligor has paid the arrearages or made arrangements satisfactory to the claimant for the payment of the arrearages;

(B) the obligor or another person with an ownership interest in the account files, not later than the 10th day after the date of delivery of the notice, a suit under Section 157.323 requesting a hearing by the court; or

(C) if the claimant is the Title IV-D agency, the obligor has requested an agency review under Section 157.328.

(c) A financial institution that receives a notice of levy under this section may not close an account in which the obligor has a beneficial [an] ownership interest, permit a withdrawal from any account the obligor owns, in whole or in part, or pay funds to the obligor or a nominal owner so that any amount remaining in the account is less than the amount of the arrearages identified in the notice, plus any fees due to the institution and any costs of the levy identified by the claimant.

(f) A financial institution may collect any fees and costs identified in Subsection (c) from the obligor but may not deduct those [the] fees and costs [identified in Subsection (c)] from the obligor's assets before paying the appropriate amount to the claimant.

SECTION 6. Section 34.001, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(c) This section does not apply to a child support judgment or any other child support collection remedy authorized by the Family Code.

SECTION 7. The changes in law made by this Act to Section 157.005, Family Code, apply to child support arrearages regardless of the date:

(1) the child support became due; or

(2) the child support obligation terminated.

SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections 157.311 and 157.312, Family Code, apply only to a child support lien notice filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A child support lien notice filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the lien notice was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections 157.314 and 157.327(f), Family Code, apply only to a financial institution that receives a lien notice or notice of levy under those sections on or after the effective date of this Act. A financial institution that receives a lien notice or notice of levy under those sections before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the lien notice or notice of levy is received, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 10. The changes in law made by this Act to Section 34.001, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, apply to each child support judgment or collection remedy, regardless of the date on which the judgment is rendered or the remedy is sought.

SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.