Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB446 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R3133 KKA-F
2	2	By: Villarreal H.B. No. 446
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the enforcement of unpaid child support.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 157.005(b), Family Code, is amended to
10	10	read as follows:
11	11	(b) The court retains jurisdiction to confirm the total
12	12	amount of child support arrearages and render judgment for past-due
13	13	child support until the date all current child support and medical
14	14	support and child support arrearages, including interest and any
15	15	applicable fees and costs, have been paid [if a motion for
16	16	enforcement requesting a money judgment is filed not later than the
17	17	10th anniversary after the date:
18	18	[(1) the child becomes an adult; or
19	19	[(2) on which the child support obligation terminates
20	20	under the child support order or by operation of law].
21	21	SECTION 2. Section 157.311(1), Family Code, is amended to
22	22	read as follows:
23	23	(1) "Account" means:
24	24	(A) any type of a demand deposit account,
25	25	checking or negotiable withdrawal order account, savings account,
26	26	time deposit account, money market mutual fund account, certificate
27	27	of deposit, or any other instrument of deposit in which an
28	28	individual, as a signatory or not, has a beneficial ownership
29	29	either in its entirety or on a shared or multiple party basis,
30	30	including any accrued interest and dividends, and includes an
31	31	account in which:
32	32	(i) the obligor has a community or separate
33	33	property interest; or
34	34	(ii) funds are held for the obligor's
35	35	benefit or placed at the direction of the obligor, regardless of
36	36	whether the funds are held in the name of a nominal owner other than
37	37	the obligor; and
38	38	(B) a life insurance policy in which an
39	39	individual has a beneficial ownership or liability insurance
40	40	against which an individual has filed a claim or counterclaim.
41	41	SECTION 3. Section 157.312(g), Family Code, is amended to
42	42	read as follows:
43	43	(g) A child support lien under this subchapter may not be
44	44	directed to an employer in lieu of an order or writ under Chapter
45	45	158 to withhold child support from [attach to] the disposable
46	46	earnings of an obligor [paid by the employer].
47	47	SECTION 4. Section 157.314, Family Code, is amended by
48	48	amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
49	49	follows:
50	50	(d) If a child support lien notice is delivered to a
51	51	financial institution with respect to an account of the obligor,
52	52	the institution shall immediately:
53	53	(1) provide the claimant with the last known address
54	54	of the obligor and disclose to the claimant the amount in the
55	55	account at the time of receipt of the notice; and
56	56	(2) notify any other person having an ownership
57	57	interest in the account that the account has been frozen in an
58	58	amount not to exceed the amount of the child support arrearage
59	59	identified in the notice.
60	60	(e) On request, a financial institution to which a child
61	61	support lien notice has been delivered shall provide the claimant
62	62	with a statement showing all transactions involving the obligor's
63	63	account that occurred from the date of receipt of the child support
64	64	lien notice to the date of receipt of the request for information.
65	65	SECTION 5. Sections 157.327(b), (c), and (f), Family Code,
66	66	are amended to read as follows:
67	67	(b) The notice under this section must:
68	68	(1) identify the amount of child support arrearages
69	69	owing at the time the amount of arrearages was determined or, if the
70	70	amount is less, the amount of arrearages owing at the time the
71	71	notice is prepared and delivered to the financial institution; and
72	72	(2) direct the financial institution to pay to the
73	73	claimant, not earlier than the 15th day or later than the 21st day
74	74	after the date of delivery of the notice, an amount from the assets
75	75	of the obligor or from funds due to the obligor at the time the levy
76	76	is paid that are held or controlled by the institution or that
77	77	should have been held or controlled by the institution, not to
78	78	exceed the amount of the child support arrearages identified in the
79	79	notice, unless:
80	80	(A) the institution is notified by the claimant
81	81	that the obligor has paid the arrearages or made arrangements
82	82	satisfactory to the claimant for the payment of the arrearages;
83	83	(B) the obligor or another person with an
84	84	ownership interest in the account files, not later than the 10th day
85	85	after the date of delivery of the notice, a suit under Section
86	86	157.323 requesting a hearing by the court; or
87	87	(C) if the claimant is the Title IV-D agency, the
88	88	obligor has requested an agency review under Section 157.328.
89	89	(c) A financial institution that receives a notice of levy
90	90	under this section may not close an account in which the obligor has
91	91	a beneficial [an] ownership interest, permit a withdrawal from any
92	92	account the obligor owns, in whole or in part, or pay funds to the
93	93	obligor or a nominal owner so that any amount remaining in the
94	94	account is less than the amount of the arrearages identified in the
95	95	notice, plus any fees due to the institution and any costs of the
96	96	levy identified by the claimant.
97	97	(f) A financial institution may collect any fees and costs
98	98	identified in Subsection (c) from the obligor but may not deduct
99	99	those [the] fees and costs [identified in Subsection (c)] from the
100	100	obligor's assets before paying the appropriate amount to the
101	101	claimant.
102	102	SECTION 6. Section 34.001, Civil Practice and Remedies
103	103	Code, is amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
104	104	(c) This section does not apply to a child support judgment
105	105	or any other child support collection remedy authorized by the
106	106	Family Code.
107	107	SECTION 7. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
108	108	157.005, Family Code, apply to child support arrearages regardless
109	109	of the date:
110	110	(1) the child support became due; or
111	111	(2) the child support obligation terminated.
112	112	SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
113	113	157.311 and 157.312, Family Code, apply only to a child support lien
114	114	notice filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A child
115	115	support lien notice filed before the effective date of this Act is
116	116	governed by the law in effect on the date the lien notice was filed,
117	117	and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
118	118	SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
119	119	157.314 and 157.327(f), Family Code, apply only to a financial
120	120	institution that receives a lien notice or notice of levy under
121	121	those sections on or after the effective date of this Act. A
122	122	financial institution that receives a lien notice or notice of levy
123	123	under those sections before the effective date of this Act is
124	124	governed by the law in effect on the date the lien notice or notice
125	125	of levy is received, and the former law is continued in effect for
126	126	that purpose.
127	127	SECTION 10. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
128	128	34.001, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, apply to each child
129	129	support judgment or collection remedy, regardless of the date on
130	130	which the judgment is rendered or the remedy is sought.
131	131	SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.