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.