(1) "Past-Due
Support" - The amount of support determined under a court order or an order of
an administrative process established under state law for support and
maintenance of a child or of a child and the parent with whom the child is
living, which has not been paid.
(2) In order for a past-due support
obligation to qualify for a federal tax refund intercept, the following
requirements must be met:
(a) When past-due
support is owed in a case in which there has been an assignment to the state
making the request for offset of support rights under Tennessee Code Annotated
§
71-3-124 or 42 U.S.C. §
671(a)(17);
1. The amount of past-due support
must be at least one hundred fifty dollars ($150).
2. For purposes of complying with part (a)1,
the state may combine assigned support amounts from the same obligor in
multiple cases to reach one hundred fifty dollars ($150). Amounts under this
subparagraph may not be combined with amounts that have accrued under
subparagraph (b) in order to reach one hundred fifty dollars ($150);
or
(b) When past-due
support is owed in a case in which an application for IV-D services has been
filed with the IV-D Agency, but in which there has been no assignment of
support rights pursuant to subparagraph (a);
1. The amount of past-due support must be at
least five hundred dollars ($500); and
2. In this part the term "past-due support"
means the amount of a delinquency, determined under a court order, or an order
of an administrative process established under State law, for support and
maintenance of a child (whether or not a minor), or of a child (whether or not
a minor) and the parent with whom the child (whether or not a minor) is
living.
3. For purposes of
complying with part (b)1, the state may combine support amounts from the same
obligor in multiple cases where the IV-D agency is providing IV-D services to
reach five hundred dollars ($500). Amounts under this subparagraph may not be
combined with amounts that have accrued under subparagraph (a) in order to
reach five hundred dollars ($500); and
(c) The Department has in its records:
1. A copy of the order and any modifications
upon which the amount referred is based which specify the date of issuance and
amount of support; and
2. A copy of
the payment record, or, if there is no payment record, an affidavit signed by
the custodial parent attesting to the amount of past-due support owed;
and
3. In non-title IV-A cases in
which support rights have not been assigned under subparagraph (a), the obligee
parent's current address; and
(d) Before submittal to the federal Office of
Child Support Enforcement, the Department has verified the accuracy of the name
and social security number of the obligor and the accuracy of the amount of
past-due support. If the Department has previously verified this information,
it need not reverify it.
(3) Any individual who has received notice
that his/her federal tax refund is or will be intercepted and applied to a past
due support obligation, may request and receive a fair hearing as provided in
1240-5-3-.01. If an individual requests a hearing upon receipt of a pre-offset
notice, he/she may not request a hearing upon receipt of a post-offset notice.
(a) If the hearing results in a deletion of,
or decrease in, the amount referred for offset, the Department will notify the
Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement of the deletion or
decrease.
(b) If, as a result of
the hearing, an amount which has already been offset is found to have exceeded
the amount of past due support owed, the Department will refund the excess
amount to the absent parent.
