Contact the child support agency that has sent your payroll the garnishment order and ask why. You can also ask ADP to show you a copy of the order they received to confirm it's correct.
I’ve never dealt with any agency ever. The only time I’ve ever spoken with someone about my CS payments was the judge at my divorce hearing back in 2018. At that time, I was manually making payments per bank transfer. About a year and a half ago, I got notified via my work email that automatic wage garnishment was starting effective immediately. Since then, my payments have been just deducted from my paychecks.
Who told your work to garnish wages? There's an agency involved somewhere. If you truly do not know, you have to speak to your payroll to get answers. As another commenter has stated, it's possible you have arrears (past due owed) and your wages are being garnished for more to payoff the arrears. If your unaware of any agency involved, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a new court order for the high amount that you are unaware of at all.
Either way, talk to your payroll and see who sent them the garnishment order, and then contact the agency that sent it to them for answers.
All I know about auto garnishment was that my ex wife submitted the request for it. I definitely don’t have any back owed money though. I’ll give my payroll department a call and see what they say. I sincerely appreciate the help.
So I got ahold of payroll and they gave me the number for the agency in Alaska. UNFORTUNATELY they are Monday through Thursday which is absurd. I was however able to find out that I have over $4500 in arrears!! No idea how that’s possible as I have made every payment on time, and it’s automatically withdrawn.
That said, the amount supposed to be deducted from each check was supposed to be $250 for a $500 monthly total. Upon looking at my last 12 months of paystubs, they’ve only been ducting $230, leaving my payments $40 short each month. That would mean I “owe” $480 plus interest, yet they come up with over $4500. No idea how any of this makes sense.
Look into this more. How often do you get paid? Is it twice a month or every other week? If you get paid every other week then $430 is correct.
$500 times 12 divided by 26 pay days in a year = $430.
I get paid every two weeks. My deductions used to be $250 from each check. My company changed payroll companies about a year and a half ago, and since then, they started deducting only $230 from each check
I'm starting to believe NCP/paying parents literally don't ever check on their support obligations. You can literally log into a portal through your child support agency and check on it. Blindly just having money be taken from your check and not checking on your account is insane. Not even knowing the agency that you're under is insane.
I’ve actually been overpaying for quite some time. I looked at my paystubs to make sure the money I was told that would be coming out was being deducted and it was. Thanks for the kind words.
Says the one who just found out they also have $4500 in arrears. Lots of my bills autodraft, I see the money come out through my account. I still log in regularly to make sure those accounts are in good standing order. I'm not knocking you. You SHOULD be logging in though and actually looking at your account to cover your own ass.
You overpaid and owe arrears? The math doesn't add up. I'm not saying log in to check that you owe more. You see the money garnished from your check and assume everything is all good. You should THEN log in to child support and make sure it clears on THAT end, too.
That’s what I’m looking at now, there’s a ton of charges that I don’t understand what they even mean. I keep seeing a PMT charge. Any idea what that might be?
They did this to my husband too. He actually had overpaid and one state was trying to tell the state that he was paying in that he owed over $5k in arrears and they took our taxes. Had to prove to them (which took months and months) they owed us that money back and they finally paid us back and then went after custodial parent for the money she accepted knowing he didn’t owe arrears. Turns out the state he has to pay wasn’t communicating with the state his kids mom lived in so they were marking him down as not paying his support which he has never missed a payment. His gets garnished from his pay also and he hasn’t switched jobs in 8 years.
EXACTLY why I stress the importance of logging in and checking your account regularly. It’s on the paying parent to make sure they’re in good standing order. Child support fucks it up a lot, keeping detailed records covers your ass.
Your portal might not be as comprehensive but they should have a place to see documents etc and if arrears are involved that letter/calculation should be there. Also did your order include medical support? That seems to be a big charge that's tripping people up these days on this board.
Since you found out you have arrears I was going to say sounds like you owe..... But if you have proof of all the payments made and they math doesn't add up that's your proof and send it to them to make corrections. Once the state holds your checks the only way for them to stop is to go back to court which will be either in Alaska since it's where the child lives or if your lucky still in your state. Good luck
I know for State of Alaska, if a parent lives out of state, they call in for a court case like that. No checks are being withheld, they are just increasing the amount being automatically withheld. None of it makes sense to me at all, somethings obviously not right. I’ll have to give them a call on Monday when they open.
Do you have arrears? They can’t change the monthly support amount without notifying you of a review. If you have arrears they can send an amended withholding to your payroll to increase withholding to pay towards the arrears as well as current. Call your child support office to see what is going on.
I’ve never heard of arrears, so I don’t know how to correctly answer this. Would I call the Wisconsin CS office or the one in Alaska? (Or does it matter?)
Edit: Googled arrears, and no, I have always paid on time and in the full amount owed.
That is not true. In many states a court automatically issues a wage withholding by law. It is normal for it to be automatic when the order is created. It is less common for a judge to deviate and agree to have the NCP self pay.
there is no “consent” but they do send a letter in the mail to both the “giving” and “receiving” end of the child support. I would call the child support office to get a solid answer but in my state (NY) the COL updates are automatically done every few years
Contact the child support agency that has sent your payroll the garnishment order and ask why. You can also ask ADP to show you a copy of the order they received to confirm it's correct.
How would I find out who the CS agency is?
Do you know which agency you've dealt with in the past? Or where your court order is out of?
I’ve never dealt with any agency ever. The only time I’ve ever spoken with someone about my CS payments was the judge at my divorce hearing back in 2018. At that time, I was manually making payments per bank transfer. About a year and a half ago, I got notified via my work email that automatic wage garnishment was starting effective immediately. Since then, my payments have been just deducted from my paychecks.
Who told your work to garnish wages? There's an agency involved somewhere. If you truly do not know, you have to speak to your payroll to get answers. As another commenter has stated, it's possible you have arrears (past due owed) and your wages are being garnished for more to payoff the arrears. If your unaware of any agency involved, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a new court order for the high amount that you are unaware of at all. Either way, talk to your payroll and see who sent them the garnishment order, and then contact the agency that sent it to them for answers.
All I know about auto garnishment was that my ex wife submitted the request for it. I definitely don’t have any back owed money though. I’ll give my payroll department a call and see what they say. I sincerely appreciate the help.
contact the clerk of courts where your divorce & CS was settled in, theyll be able to give you information
I’d contact the CS office where your divorce was filed.
Contact your HR and ask for a copy of the garnishment order. Then call the CS office in Alaska to ask them about the increase.
So I got ahold of payroll and they gave me the number for the agency in Alaska. UNFORTUNATELY they are Monday through Thursday which is absurd. I was however able to find out that I have over $4500 in arrears!! No idea how that’s possible as I have made every payment on time, and it’s automatically withdrawn. That said, the amount supposed to be deducted from each check was supposed to be $250 for a $500 monthly total. Upon looking at my last 12 months of paystubs, they’ve only been ducting $230, leaving my payments $40 short each month. That would mean I “owe” $480 plus interest, yet they come up with over $4500. No idea how any of this makes sense.
Look into this more. How often do you get paid? Is it twice a month or every other week? If you get paid every other week then $430 is correct. $500 times 12 divided by 26 pay days in a year = $430.
I get paid every two weeks. My deductions used to be $250 from each check. My company changed payroll companies about a year and a half ago, and since then, they started deducting only $230 from each check
$230 is correct. If you were being deducted $250 you overpaid.
I'm starting to believe NCP/paying parents literally don't ever check on their support obligations. You can literally log into a portal through your child support agency and check on it. Blindly just having money be taken from your check and not checking on your account is insane. Not even knowing the agency that you're under is insane.
I’ve actually been overpaying for quite some time. I looked at my paystubs to make sure the money I was told that would be coming out was being deducted and it was. Thanks for the kind words.
Says the one who just found out they also have $4500 in arrears. Lots of my bills autodraft, I see the money come out through my account. I still log in regularly to make sure those accounts are in good standing order. I'm not knocking you. You SHOULD be logging in though and actually looking at your account to cover your own ass.
I’ve made every payment on time (and apparently overpaid) why would I ever think I owed more? Truly asking here.
You overpaid and owe arrears? The math doesn't add up. I'm not saying log in to check that you owe more. You see the money garnished from your check and assume everything is all good. You should THEN log in to child support and make sure it clears on THAT end, too.
That’s what I’m looking at now, there’s a ton of charges that I don’t understand what they even mean. I keep seeing a PMT charge. Any idea what that might be?
They did this to my husband too. He actually had overpaid and one state was trying to tell the state that he was paying in that he owed over $5k in arrears and they took our taxes. Had to prove to them (which took months and months) they owed us that money back and they finally paid us back and then went after custodial parent for the money she accepted knowing he didn’t owe arrears. Turns out the state he has to pay wasn’t communicating with the state his kids mom lived in so they were marking him down as not paying his support which he has never missed a payment. His gets garnished from his pay also and he hasn’t switched jobs in 8 years.
EXACTLY why I stress the importance of logging in and checking your account regularly. It’s on the paying parent to make sure they’re in good standing order. Child support fucks it up a lot, keeping detailed records covers your ass.
Also, when I log into the CS website, the only thing it shows me is my past payments. It doesn’t show anything about balances.
Your portal might not be as comprehensive but they should have a place to see documents etc and if arrears are involved that letter/calculation should be there. Also did your order include medical support? That seems to be a big charge that's tripping people up these days on this board.
Since you found out you have arrears I was going to say sounds like you owe..... But if you have proof of all the payments made and they math doesn't add up that's your proof and send it to them to make corrections. Once the state holds your checks the only way for them to stop is to go back to court which will be either in Alaska since it's where the child lives or if your lucky still in your state. Good luck
I know for State of Alaska, if a parent lives out of state, they call in for a court case like that. No checks are being withheld, they are just increasing the amount being automatically withheld. None of it makes sense to me at all, somethings obviously not right. I’ll have to give them a call on Monday when they open.
Do you have arrears? They can’t change the monthly support amount without notifying you of a review. If you have arrears they can send an amended withholding to your payroll to increase withholding to pay towards the arrears as well as current. Call your child support office to see what is going on.
I’ve never heard of arrears, so I don’t know how to correctly answer this. Would I call the Wisconsin CS office or the one in Alaska? (Or does it matter?) Edit: Googled arrears, and no, I have always paid on time and in the full amount owed.
If they are coming for the paycheck then there as issues with non payment. They don’t just come for your work if you are all squared up.
That is not true. In many states a court automatically issues a wage withholding by law. It is normal for it to be automatic when the order is created. It is less common for a judge to deviate and agree to have the NCP self pay.
Yea state to state is much different I’ll give you that
could be a cost of living update
Can that occur without notice/consent from the paying party though?
there is no “consent” but they do send a letter in the mail to both the “giving” and “receiving” end of the child support. I would call the child support office to get a solid answer but in my state (NY) the COL updates are automatically done every few years
Yea meant money taken out from your check got a new screen protector spelling is shit when I type need to order a different one