OKDHS - OAC 340:25-5-140.1. Interest

340:25-5-140.1. Interest

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Revised 7-1-12

(a) General. Oklahoma Child Support Services (OCSS) collects and enforces interest on delinquent Oklahoma court-ordered child support payments per Section Section 114 of Title 43 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

(b) Support for a prior period. OCSS collects interest on support for a prior period per OAC 340:25-5-179.1 from the date of the order. • 1

(c) Accrual date. Interest accrues on any unpaid portion of the monthly current child support obligation on the first day of the month following:

(1) the due date specified in the court order; or
(2) the entry date of the child support order when a support order does not specify a due date. • 2

(d) Grace period and accrual. OCSS has a grace period when interest is not charged. Interest begins to accrue from the first day of the month following the date the arrears are in excess of one month's current support. • 3

(e) Interest on cash medical support. OCSS does not calculate or collect interest on unpaid cash medical support.

(f) Servicemember relief.

(1) Upon a servicemember's written request, an interest rate cap of six percent applies to child support arrearages of members of the military service incurred prior to the start of military service per Section 527 of Title 50A of the United States Code. • 4
(2) The servicemember must provide a written request for reduced interest and a copy of the military orders calling the servicemember to service and any orders further extending military service to OCSS no later than 180 days after the date of the servicemember's termination or release from military service.
(3) Upon receipt of these documents, OCSS applies the six percent interest rate to child support arrearages existing as of the date when the servicemember is called to military service and throughout the active military service.
(4) OCSS may initiate a court action to challenge the claim that the servicemember's military duty has materially affected his ability to pay an interest rate over six percent. • 5

(g) Interest rate.

(1) OCSS calculates simple interest per Section 114 of Title 43 of the Oklahoma Statutes. • 6
(2) For orders established in other states, the law of the state entering the order determines the amount and rate of interest due until a determination of controlling order is made. ¢ 7 through 10
(3) For orders established in Oklahoma, Oklahoma law determines the amount and rate of interest due.
(4) When there are multiple child support orders and Oklahoma is determining the controlling order, OCSS determines the rate of interest charged per Section 601-604 of Title 43 of the Oklahoma Statutes. • 7

(h) Order silent as to interest. When an order that settles or determines a past-due child support amount is silent as to interest, the party with the right to collect has not waived the interest. • 10

(i) Enforcement. Accrued interest is considered child support. Interest is included in enforcement remedies.

(j) Incoming interstate cases. In the absence of an Oklahoma order, OCSS collects interest on incoming interstate cases when an initiating state calculates the interest owed and requests that OCSS collect it. • 8 & 11

(k) Outgoing interstate cases. Before requesting a responding state to enforce a child support order(s) entered in a state other than the responding state, OCSS calculates the arrears including the accrued interest claimed. • 8

(l) Application of payments to interest. OCSS applies payments to interest per OAC 340:25-5-351.

(m) Waiver of interest. OCSS acknowledges the rights of the custodial person and noncustodial parent to mutually agree to waive, with approval of the court, all or a portion of the interest due to the custodial person. OCSS may negotiate the right to collect all or part of the interest owed to the State of Oklahoma. Settlements of interest must be memorialized in a court order and may include:

(1) a noncustodial parent's lump sum partial payment or a series of payments; or
(2) an agreement for the noncustodial parent to pay:
- (A) a specified number of current child support payments in the future; or
- (B) non-cash support. • 12

(n) Reopening closed cases. OCSS does not reopen closed child support cases at the request of a customer for the purpose of collecting interest.

INSTRUCTIONS TO STAFF 340:25-5-140.1

Revised 7-1-12

1.   Orders for support for a prior period are obtained in paternity and notice of support debt cases per OAC 340:25-5-179.1. Support for a prior period is defined per OAC 340:25-1-1.1.

2.   Oklahoma Child Support Services (OCSS) staff attempt to calculate interest from the accrual date in the original child support obligation, unless interest has been calculated and included in a judgment provision in a subsequent order. OCSS staff use Form 03EN002E, Affidavit of Child Support Payments Received, to obtain child support payment information from a custodial person.

(1) When OCSS staff do not have information on how a judgment was determined or on the amount of past-due child support accrued prior to when OCSS opened the child support case, OCSS staff mail the Interest Disclosure Notice document to the custodial person to gather this information and determine the calculation period. The Interest Disclosure Notice is available from the OCSS InfoNet Library page.

(2) If the custodial person fails to supply the information within two weeks or the information is not available, OCSS staff update the automated Oklahoma Support Information System (OSIS) with interest balances that have accrued on child support arrearages from the date adequate payment documentation exists. OCSS staff include the amount and time period of the interest accrued on the child support judgment in the child support order.

3.   (a) Example 1: Noncustodial parent (NCP) is ordered to pay $150 per month in current child support effective February 1. NCP pays $0 in February and $0 in March. NCP's child support arrears are not in excess of one month's current support until the March payment is missed. Therefore, interest accrues beginning April 1.

(b) Example 2: NCP is ordered to pay $150 per month in current child support effective February 1. NCP pays $75 in February and $75 in March. At the end of March, NCP's child support arrears are not in excess of one month's current support. Therefore, no interest accrues as of April 1. If the NCP does not pay the full child support amount in April, interest will accrue beginning May 1.

4.   Any arrearage incurred after the date the servicemember is called to active military service accrues interest at the statutory rate of ten percent.

5.   OCSS challenges the six percent interest rate if the servicemember is earning as much income in the military service as in non-military service.

6.   See Phillips v. Hedges, 2005 OK 77, that interprets Section 114 of Title 43 of the Oklahoma Statutes as meaning simple interest is applied to delinquent child support payments.

7.   When using the one-state process to enforce an order established in another state, it is the responsibility of OCSS staff to calculate interest using the interest rate of the state that established the order, also known as the issuing state.

8.   (a) When there is no initiating state, OCSS staff calculate the interest due on all existing child support orders in an action to enforce those arrears, even if the order was entered in another state.

(b) To determine the current applicable interest rate for orders from other states, OCSS staff look in the Support Details section of the Intergovernmental Referral Guide (IRG) on the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) website.

(c) OCSS staff consult with the district office OCSS state's attorney to determine if the interest rate has changed during the period when the arrears accrued.

9.   OCSS requests that an Oklahoma court determine the accrued principal and interest and registers that order with the responding state for enforcement when:

(1) Oklahoma asks another state to enforce arrears due under an Oklahoma child support order; and

(2) service of process is obtained on all parties.

10. If the settlement or waiver is silent or ambiguous as to interest, OCSS staff consult the OCSS state's attorney for the steps to determine the intent of the parties as to settlement or waiver of principal and interest arrearage balances. This includes contacting the parties to determine their intent, memorializing the agreement, and may include filing an action to determine the total principal and interest arrearage amount.

11. When using the two-state process in interstate cases, it is the responsibility of the initiating state to calculate whether the noncustodial parent has paid all current support, arrears, and interest under the law of the state that issued the order. [43 O.S. § 601-604]

12. Waiver of interest.

(1) OCSS staff use the legal settlement document on OSIS, Custodial Person's Waiver of Interest in Conjunction with a Settlement.

(2) OCSS staff include in the court order settlement terms of the waiver of interest. The district office OCSS state's attorney must approve all settlements of interest owed to Oklahoma.

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