Reporting Special Circumstances

Bonus and lump sum payments made to employees are considered income and may be garnished to collect past-due child support.

Examples include severance, vacation payouts, retirement incentives, commissions, awards, and payments as a result of verdicts.

Choose one of the below options to report these payments:

Report by e-IWO

The Electronic Income Withholding for Support Order (e-IWO) process enables states and employers to exchange information about IWOs electronically, which includes information about upcoming bonus or lump sum payments. This option provides employers with the fastest and most efficient method of sending information. To learn more, read the Child Support e-IWO Factsheet: English | Accessible

To enroll, visit the federal e-IWO webpage.

Report by Employer Services Web Application

Report by Phone or Email

When an employee with a child support obligation through a child support agency leaves your company, notify the agency as soon as possible following the termination date. A termination occurs if the employee quits, retires, is fired or laid off.

Terminations

There are two ways to notify your local child support agency of a termination.  

• Complete the Termination of Benefits form, available only online, or
• Complete page four of the Income Withholding for Support form and mail or fax it to the issuing local agency. The information they will need is:
  • Employee’s name
  • Employee’s case number
  • Employee’s last known home address
  • New employer’s name and address (if known)
  • Date of separation.

Termination FAQs

Retirement

When an employee retires, the federal agency should notify the state Child Support Enforcement (CSE) agency of the termination and the name and address of the Federal payroll agency/processing center responsible for paying the retirement benefit. To avoid interruptions in payment to the employee’s child and accrual of arrears, the employee may choose to make his/her own payments directly to the local child support agency until the retirement processing center receives a new income withholding order.

States using the National Medical Support Notice may require that additional information on medical support or insurance be reported, primarily to avoid interruption of medical coverage for the employee’s child.

Notify the child support agency handling the case within ten (10) business days of any lapse of health care coverage, including:

• The reason for lapse in coverage
• Whether the lapse is temporary
• If the lapse is temporary, the date coverage will resume
• The effective date of the lapse in coverage

This information should be submitted to the agency on the Termination of Benefits form, available only online.

Do not stop withholding for child support until one of the following occurs:

• Official notification to stop withholding is received from the issuing agency,
• The employee is terminated, for whatever reason (including retirement or death), or
• Bankruptcy proceedings are underway and a bankruptcy trustee takes over the withholding.

For more information…

• Employer Forms
• Income Withholding Form to submit terminated employees