Income Withholding for Support
The Office of the Attorney General, as the title IV-D agency, is required to prescribe income withholding forms required by federal law in a standard format. Tex. Fam. Code § 158.106. The following form was promulgated by the title IV-D agency in 1 Tex. Admin. Code § 55.118. It may be downloaded from https://acf.gov/css/form/income-withholding-support-iwo-form-instructions-sample.
A sample version of the required form with Texas-specific SDU remittance information follows this page. The sample form also includes a supplemental information section that provides space for additional information. The attachment instructs the employer on complying with more than one order of withholding, as provided by Tex. Fam. Code § 158.207. It also includes step-down provisions for the current support amount if the support order is for more than one child, as required by Tex. Fam. Code § 154.127.
The income withholding for support may be generic, that is, addressed to “Any employer of” the obligor. If an employer’s name is included in the order, that name should be followed by “and any subsequent employer.” Tex. Fam. Code § 158.201(b).
This form supersedes certain forms used in the past: the order/notice to withhold income for child support, the employer’s order to withhold from earnings for child support, the judicial writ of withholding to employer, and the judicial writ of withholding to subsequent employer. This form may also be used to request voluntary withholding under Tex. Fam. Code § 158.011.
Note: Tex. Fam. Code § 8.101(d) requires that an order of withholding that combines withholding for spousal maintenance and for child support must be in this form.
An order that income be withheld from the obligor’s earnings to be applied toward the satisfaction of any ordered reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees, court costs, and expenses should be on a separate form from that which covers child support payments. The court must order that amounts withheld for fees, costs, and expenses be remitted directly to the attorney. Tex. Fam. Code § 158.0051(c). Payments for attorney’s fees should not be directed to the state disbursement unit.
See form 33-23 for an order to withhold for attorney’s fees, court costs, and expenses.
