Child support/self-employed

AN ACT Relating to reporting self-employed workers to the 1
division of child support; amending RCW 26.23.060, 74.20A.080, and 2
74.20A.350; reenacting and amending RCW 26.23.020; adding a new 3
section to chapter 26.23 RCW; and providing an effective date.4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
Sec. 1. RCW 26.23.020 and 2023 c 248 s 2 are each reenacted and 6
amended to read as follows: 7
The definitions contained in RCW 74.20A.020 shall be incorporated 8
into and made a part of this chapter. 9
(1) "Disposable earnings" means that part of the earnings of an 10
individual remaining after the deduction from those earnings of an 11
amount required by law to be withheld. 12
(2) "Earnings" means compensation paid or payable for personal 13
services, whether denominated as wages, salary, commission, bonus, or 14
otherwise, and, notwithstanding any other provision of law making the 15
payments exempt from garnishment, attachment, or other process to 16
satisfy support obligations, specifically includes periodic payments 17
pursuant to pension or retirement programs, or insurance policies of 18
any type, but does not include payments made under Title 50 RCW, 19
except as provided in RCW 50.40.020 and 50.40.050, or Title 74 RCW. 20
Earnings shall specifically include all gain from capital, from 21
Z-0270.2
HOUSE BILL 1297
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Walen, Ormsby, Fey, Simmons, and Hill; by request
of Department of Social and Health Services
Read first time 01/14/25. Referred to Committee on Civil Rights &
Judiciary.
p. 1 HB 1297
labor, or from both combined, not including profit gained through 1
sale or conversion of capital assets. 2
(3) "Employee" means a person in employment as defined in Title 3
50 RCW to whom an employer is paying, owes or anticipates paying 4
earnings as a result of services performed. 5
(4) "Employer" means any person or entity who pays or owes 6
earnings in employment as defined in Title 50 RCW to the responsible 7
parent including but not limited to the United States government, or 8
any state or local unit of government. 9
(5) "Lump sum payment" means income other than a periodic 10
recurring payment of earnings on regular paydays and does not include 11
reimbursement for expenses. Lump sum payment includes, but is not 12
limited to, discretionary and nondiscretionary bonuses, commissions, 13
performance bonuses, merit increases, safety awards, signing bonuses, 14
moving and relocation incentive payments, holiday pay, termination 15
pay, and severance pay. Lump sum payment also includes workers' 16
compensation, insurance settlements, and personal injury settlements 17
paid as replacement for wages owed. 18
(6) "Service provider" means any person:19
(a) 18 years of age or older, a corporation with a sole 20
shareholder, or a limited liability company with a sole member;21
(b) Who is not an employee of the service recipient; and22
(c)(i) Who contracts or provides services for compensation to a 23
service recipient doing business in this state in an amount equal to 24
or greater than $600 in the calendar year;25
(ii) Who logs in as a driver to the digital network of a 26
transportation network company doing business in this state or a 27
company operating a network in this state to facilitate delivery of 28
food, goods, or services to persons seeking those services; or29
(iii) Who logs in as a service provider to a digital platform 30
company doing business in this state or a company operating a network 31
in this state to facilitate the performance of services to persons 32
seeking those services.33
(7) "Service recipient" means:34
(a) A person doing business in the state of Washington who, as 35
part of that business, enters into a contract for services with a 36
service provider or receives services from a service provider; or37
(b) A person doing business in this state as a company that 38
maintains a digital network to facilitate services by:39
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(i) Transportation network company drivers or drivers delivering 1
food, goods, or services to a person seeking those services; or2
(ii) Others who meet the definition of a service provider.3
(8) "Support order" means a superior court order or 4
administrative order, as defined in RCW 74.20A.020.5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 26.23 6
RCW to read as follows: 7
(1) All service recipients shall report to the Washington state 8
support registry: 9
(a) The hiring or use of a service provider to whom the service 10
recipient: 11
(i) Pays $600 or more to the service provider in a calendar year; 12
or 13
(ii) Enters into a contract with the service provider for $600 or 14
more in a calendar year; and 15
(b) The date on which the service provider first performed, or is 16
anticipated to perform, services for pay for the service provider.17
(2) Service recipients shall report by any means authorized by 18
the Washington state support registry which will result in timely 19
reporting. 20
(3) Service recipients shall submit reports to the Washington 21
state support registry within 20 days of the earlier of:22
(a) Paying, or anticipating paying, $600 or more to the service 23
provider in a calendar year; or 24
(b) Entering into a contract with the service provider for $600 25
or more in a calendar year. 26
(4) The service recipient is not required to report the service 27
provider to the Washington state support registry if the service 28
recipient: 29
(a) Has previously reported the service provider to the 30
Washington state support registry; and 31
(b) Has paid the service provider within the previous 60 calendar 32
days. 33
(5) The report must contain the following information:34
(a) The service provider's: 35
(i) Name; 36
(ii) Address; 37
(iii) Date of birth; and 38
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(iv) Social security number or other identifying number assigned 1
under section 6109 of the internal revenue code of 1986;2
(b) An indication that the person is being reported as a service 3
provider and not as an employee; 4
(c) The service recipient's: 5
(i) Name; 6
(ii) Address; and 7
(iii) Identifying number assigned under section 6109 of the 8
internal revenue code of 1986. 9
(6) If the division of child support sends an income withholding 10
order under this chapter or an order to withhold and deliver under 11
chapter 74.20A RCW to the service recipient regarding a child support 12
obligation owed by the service provider, the service recipient shall:13
(a) Withhold from the payment or payments due to the service 14
provider according to the terms of the notice or order issued by the 15
division of child support; and 16
(b) Remit amounts withheld from the payment or payments to the 17
registry within seven days. 18
(7) A service recipient who fails to report as required under 19
this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of:20
(a) $25 per month per service provider; or 21
(b) $500, if the failure to report is the result of a conspiracy 22
between the service recipient and the service provider not to supply 23
the required report, or to supply a false report. All violations 24
within a single month shall be considered a single violation for 25
purposes of assessing the penalty. The penalty may be imposed and 26
collected by the division of child support under RCW 74.20A.350.27
(8) The registry shall retain or destroy reports it receives from 28
service recipients, as appropriate. 29
(a) The registry must retain the information for a particular 30
service provider only if the registry is responsible for 31
establishing, enforcing, or collecting a support debt of the service 32
provider. The registry may, however, retain information for a 33
particular service provider for as long as may be necessary to:34
(i) Transmit the information to the national directory of new 35
hires as required under federal law; or 36
(ii) Provide the information to other state agencies for 37
comparison with records or information possessed by those agencies as 38
required by law. 39
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(b) Information that is not permitted to be retained shall be 1
promptly destroyed. Agencies that obtain information from the 2
department of social and health services under this section shall 3
maintain the confidentiality of the information received, except as 4
necessary to implement the agencies' responsibilities.5
(9) The secretary of the department of social and health services 6
may adopt rules to implement this section and may establish 7
exemptions if needed to reduce unnecessary or burdensome reporting, 8
such as: 9
(a) Working with service recipients on implementation strategies 10
that extend beyond the effective date of this section; or11
(b) Developing a process a service recipient may use to request 12
an exception to the requirement. 13
Sec. 3. RCW 26.23.060 and 2023 c 248 s 3 are each amended to 14
read as follows: 15
(1) The division of child support may issue an income withholding 16
order: 17
(a) As authorized by a support order that contains a notice 18
clearly stating that child support may be collected by withholding 19
from earnings, wages, or benefits without further notice to the 20
obligated parent; or 21
(b) After service of a notice containing an income-withholding 22
provision under this chapter or chapter 74.20A RCW.23
(2) The division of child support shall serve an income 24
withholding order upon a responsible parent's employer or upon the 25
employment security department for the state in possession of or 26
owing any benefits from the unemployment compensation fund to the 27
responsible parent pursuant to Title 50 RCW or from the paid family 28
and medical leave program under Title 50A RCW: 29
(a) In the manner prescribed for the service of a summons in a 30
civil action; 31
(b) By certified mail, return receipt requested;32
(c) By electronic means if there is an agreement between the 33
secretary and the person, firm, corporation, association, political 34
subdivision, department of the state, or agency, subdivision, or 35
instrumentality of the United States to accept service by electronic 36
means; or 37
(d) By regular mail to a responsible parent's employer unless the 38
division of child support reasonably believes that service of process 39
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in the manner prescribed in (a) or (b) of this subsection is required 1
for initiating an action to ensure employer compliance with the 2
withholding requirement. 3
(3) Service of an income withholding order upon an employer or 4
employment security department requires the employer or employment 5
security department to immediately make a mandatory payroll deduction 6
from the responsible parent's unpaid disposable earnings or benefits 7
paid by the employment security department. The amount to be withheld 8
stated in the income withholding order is as follows:9
(a) If the income withholding order is not for a lump sum payment 10
under RCW 26.23.063, the employer or employment security department 11
shall thereafter deduct each pay period the amount stated in the 12
order divided by the number of pay periods per month. The payroll 13
deduction each pay period shall not exceed 50 percent of the 14
responsible parent's disposable earnings; or 15
(b) If the income withholding order is for a lump sum payment 16
under RCW 26.23.063, the employer shall withhold the lump sum payment 17
or the amount stated in the order, whichever is less, unless a 18
portion of the lump sum payment is disposable earnings. If a portion 19
of the lump sum payment is comprised of disposable earnings, 50 20
percent of the portion considered disposable earnings is not subject 21
to the income withholding order. 22
(4) An income withholding order for support shall have priority 23
over any wage assignment, garnishment, attachment, or other legal 24
process. 25
(5) The income withholding order shall be in writing and include:26
(a) The name and social security number of the responsible 27
parent; 28
(b) The amount to be deducted from the responsible parent's 29
disposable earnings each month, or alternate amounts and frequencies 30
as may be necessary to facilitate processing of the payroll 31
deduction; 32
(c) A statement that the total amount withheld shall not exceed 33
50 percent of the responsible parent's disposable earnings;34
(d) The address to which the payments are to be mailed or 35
delivered; and 36
(e) A notice to the responsible parent warning the responsible 37
parent that, despite the payroll deduction, the responsible parent's 38
privileges to obtain and maintain a license, as defined in RCW 39
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74.20A.320, may not be renewed, or may be suspended if the parent is 1
not in compliance with a support order as defined in RCW 74.20A.320.2
(6) An informational copy of the income withholding order shall 3
be mailed to the last known address of the responsible parent by 4
regular mail. 5
(7) An employer or employment security department that receives 6
an income withholding order shall make immediate deductions from the 7
responsible parent's unpaid disposable earnings and remit proper 8
amounts to the Washington state support registry within seven working 9
days of the date the earnings are payable to the responsible parent.10
(8) An employer, or the employment security department, upon whom 11
an income withholding order is served, shall make an answer to the 12
division of child support within 20 days after the date of service. 13
The answer shall confirm compliance and institution of the payroll 14
deduction or explain the circumstances if no payroll deduction is in 15
effect. The answer shall also state whether the responsible parent is 16
employed by or receives earnings from the employer or receives 17
benefit payments from the employment security department, whether the 18
employer or employment security department anticipates paying 19
earnings or benefits and the amount of earnings or benefit payments. 20
If the responsible parent is no longer employed, or receiving 21
earnings from the employer, the answer shall state the present 22
employer's name and address, if known. If the responsible parent is 23
no longer receiving benefit payments from the employment security 24
department, the answer shall state the present employer's name and 25
address, if known. 26
The returned answer or a payment remitted to the division of 27
child support by the employer constitutes proof of service of the 28
income withholding order in the case where the order was served by 29
regular mail. 30
(9) The employer may deduct a processing fee from the remainder 31
of the responsible parent's earnings after withholding under the 32
income withholding order, even if the remainder is exempt under RCW 33
26.18.090. The processing fee may not exceed: (a) ((Ten dollars)) $10 34
for the first disbursement made to the Washington state support 35
registry; and (b) one dollar for each subsequent disbursement to the 36
registry. 37
(10) The income withholding order shall remain in effect until 38
released by the division of child support, the court enters an order 39
terminating the income withholding order and approving an alternate 40
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arrangement under RCW 26.23.050, or until 60 days after the employer 1
no longer employs the responsible parent and is no longer in 2
possession of or owing any earnings to the responsible parent. The 3
employer shall promptly notify the office of support enforcement when 4
the employer no longer employs the parent subject to the income 5
withholding order. For the employment security department, the income 6
withholding order shall remain in effect until released by the 7
division of child support or until the court enters an order 8
terminating the income withholding order. 9
(11) The division of child support must use income withholding 10
forms adopted and required by the United States department of health 11
and human services to take withholding actions under this section 12
whether the responsible parent is receiving earnings or unemployment 13
compensation in this state or in another state. 14
(12) For the purposes of this chapter and chapter 74.20A RCW, a 15
service recipient must honor an income withholding order or order to 16
withhold and deliver in the same manner as an employer. The actions 17
of withholding and remitting pursuant to an income withholding order 18
or order to withhold and deliver do not, by themselves, create an 19
employer-employee relationship between a service provider and service 20
recipient.21
Sec. 4. RCW 74.20A.080 and 2021 c 35 s 17 are each amended to 22
read as follows: 23
(1) The secretary may issue to any person, firm, corporation, 24
association, political subdivision, department of the state, or 25
agency, subdivision, or instrumentality of the United States, an 26
order to withhold and deliver property of any kind, including but not 27
restricted to earnings which are or might become due, owing, or 28
belonging to the debtor, when the secretary has reason to believe 29
that there is in the possession of such person, firm, corporation, 30
association, political subdivision, department of the state, or 31
agency, subdivision, or instrumentality of the United States property 32
which is or might become due, owing, or belonging to said debtor. 33
Such order to withhold and deliver may be issued: 34
(a) At any time, if a responsible parent's support order:35
(i) Contains notice that withholding action may be taken against 36
earnings, wages, or assets without further notice to the parent; or37
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(ii) Includes a statement that other income-withholding action 1
under this chapter may be taken without further notice to the 2
responsible parent; 3
(b) ((Twenty-one)) 21 days after service of a notice of support 4
debt under RCW 74.20A.040; 5
(c) ((Twenty-one)) 21 days after service of a notice and finding 6
of parental responsibility under RCW 74.20A.056; 7
(d) ((Twenty-one)) 21 days after service of a notice of support 8
owed under RCW 26.23.110; 9
(e) ((Twenty-one)) 21 days after service of a notice and finding 10
of financial responsibility under RCW 74.20A.055; or11
(f) When appropriate under RCW 74.20A.270. 12
(2) The order to withhold and deliver shall: 13
(a) State the amount to be withheld on a periodic basis if the 14
order to withhold and deliver is being served to secure payment of 15
monthly current support; 16
(b) State the amount of the support debt accrued;17
(c) State in summary the terms of RCW 74.20A.090 and 74.20A.100;18
(d) Be served: 19
(i) In the manner prescribed for the service of a summons in a 20
civil action; 21
(ii) By certified mail, return receipt requested;22
(iii) By electronic means if there is an agreement between the 23
secretary and the person, firm, corporation, association, political 24
subdivision, department of the state, or agency, subdivision, or 25
instrumentality of the United States to accept service by electronic 26
means; 27
(iv) By regular mail to a responsible parent's employer unless 28
the division of child support reasonably believes that service of 29
process in the manner prescribed in (d)(i) or (ii) of this subsection 30
is required for initiating an action to ensure employer compliance 31
with the withholding requirement; or 32
(v) By regular mail to an address if designated by the financial 33
institution as a central levy or garnishment address, and if the 34
notice is clearly identified as a levy or garnishment order. Before 35
the division of child support may initiate an action for 36
noncompliance with a withholding action against a financial 37
institution, the division of child support must serve the order to 38
withhold and deliver on the financial institution in the manner 39
described in (d)(i) or (ii) of this subsection. 40
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(3) The division of child support must use income withholding 1
forms adopted and required by the United States department of health 2
and human services to take withholding actions under this section.3
(4) Any person, firm, corporation, association, political 4
subdivision, department of the state, or agency, subdivision, or 5
instrumentality of the United States upon whom service has been made 6
is hereby required to: 7
(a) Answer said order to withhold and deliver within ((twenty)) 8
20 days, exclusive of the day of service, under oath and in writing, 9
and shall make true answers to the matters inquired of therein; and10
(b) Provide further and additional answers when requested by the 11
secretary. 12
(5) The returned answer or a payment remitted to the division of 13
child support by the employer constitutes proof of service of the 14
order to withhold and deliver in the case where the order was served 15
by regular mail. 16
(6) Any such person, firm, corporation, association, political 17
subdivision, department of the state, or agency, subdivision, or 18
instrumentality of the United States in possession of any property 19
which may be subject to the claim of the department shall:20
(a)(i) Immediately withhold such property upon receipt of the 21
order to withhold and deliver; and 22
(ii) Within seven working days deliver the property to the 23
secretary; 24
(iii) Continue to withhold earnings payable to the debtor at each 25
succeeding disbursement interval as provided for in RCW 74.20A.090, 26
and deliver amounts withheld from earnings to the secretary within 27
seven working days of the date earnings are payable to the debtor;28
(iv) Deliver amounts withheld from periodic payments to the 29
secretary within seven working days of the date the payments are 30
payable to the debtor; 31
(v) Inform the secretary of the date the amounts were withheld as 32
requested under this section; or 33
(b) Furnish to the secretary a good and sufficient bond, 34
satisfactory to the secretary, conditioned upon final determination 35
of liability. 36
(7) An order to withhold and deliver served under this section 37
shall not expire until: 38
(a) Released in writing by the division of child support;39
(b) Terminated by court order; 40
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(c) A person or entity, other than an employer as defined in 1
Title 50 RCW, who has received the order to withhold and deliver does 2
not possess property of or owe money to the debtor; or3
(d) ((An)) 60 days after an employer who has received the order 4
to withhold and deliver no longer employs, contracts, or owes money 5
to the debtor under a contract of employment, express or implied.6
(8) Where money is due and owing under any contract of 7
employment, express or implied, or is held by any person, firm, 8
corporation, or association, political subdivision, or department of 9
the state, or agency, subdivision, or instrumentality of the United 10
States subject to withdrawal by the debtor, such money shall be 11
delivered by remittance payable to the order of the secretary.12
(9) Delivery to the secretary of the money or other property held 13
or claimed shall satisfy the requirement and serve as full 14
acquittance of the order to withhold and deliver. 15
(10) A person, firm, corporation, or association, political 16
subdivision, department of the state, or agency, subdivision, or 17
instrumentality of the United States that complies with the order to 18
withhold and deliver under this chapter is not civilly liable to the 19
debtor for complying with the order to withhold and deliver under 20
this chapter. 21
(11) The secretary may hold the money or property delivered under 22
this section in trust for application on the indebtedness involved or 23
for return, without interest, in accordance with final determination 24
of liability or nonliability. 25
(12) Exemptions contained in RCW 74.20A.090 apply to orders to 26
withhold and deliver issued under this section. 27
(13) The secretary shall also, on or before the date of service 28
of the order to withhold and deliver, mail or cause to be mailed a 29
copy of the order to withhold and deliver to the debtor at the 30
debtor's last known post office address, or, in the alternative, a 31
copy of the order to withhold and deliver shall be served on the 32
debtor in the same manner as a summons in a civil action on or before 33
the date of service of the order or within two days thereafter. The 34
copy of the order shall be mailed or served together with a concise 35
explanation of the right to petition for judicial review. This 36
requirement is not jurisdictional, but, if the copy is not mailed or 37
served as in this section provided, or if any irregularity appears 38
with respect to the mailing or service, the superior court, in its 39
discretion on motion of the debtor promptly made and supported by 40
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affidavit showing that the debtor has suffered substantial injury due 1
to the failure to mail the copy, may set aside the order to withhold 2
and deliver and award to the debtor an amount equal to the damages 3
resulting from the secretary's failure to serve on or mail to the 4
debtor the copy. 5
(14) An order to withhold and deliver issued in accordance with 6
this section has priority over any other wage assignment, 7
garnishment, attachment, or other legal process. 8
(15) The division of child support shall notify any person, firm, 9
corporation, association, or political subdivision, department of the 10
state, or agency, subdivision, or instrumentality of the United 11
States required to withhold and deliver the earnings of a debtor 12
under this action that they may deduct a processing fee from the 13
remainder of the debtor's earnings, even if the remainder would 14
otherwise be exempt under RCW 74.20A.090. The processing fee shall 15
not exceed ((ten dollars )) $10 for the first disbursement to the 16
department and one dollar for each subsequent disbursement under the 17
order to withhold and deliver. 18
(16) For the purposes of this chapter and chapter 26.23 RCW, a 19
service recipient must honor an income withholding order or order to 20
withhold and deliver in the same manner as an employer. The actions 21
of withholding and remitting pursuant to an income withholding order 22
or order to withhold and deliver do not, by themselves, create an 23
employer-employee relationship between a service provider and service 24
recipient.25
Sec. 5. RCW 74.20A.350 and 2021 c 35 s 19 are each amended to 26
read as follows: 27
(1) The division of child support may issue a notice of 28
noncompliance to any person, firm, entity, or agency of state or 29
federal government that the division believes is not complying with:30
(a) An income withholding order issued under chapter 26.23 RCW;31
(b) A lien, order to withhold and deliver, or assignment of 32
earnings issued under this chapter; 33
(c) Any other wage assignment, garnishment, attachment, or 34
withholding instrument properly served by the agency or firm 35
providing child support enforcement services for another state, under 36
Title IV-D of the federal social security act; 37
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(d) A subpoena issued by the division of child support, or the 1
agency or firm providing child support enforcement for another state, 2
under Title IV-D of the federal social security act;3
(e) An information request issued by the division of child 4
support, or the agency or firm providing child support enforcement 5
for another state under Title IV-D of the federal social security 6
act, to an employer or entity required to respond to such requests 7
under RCW 74.20A.360; 8
(f) The duty to report newly hired employees imposed by RCW 9
26.23.040; ((or))10
(g) The duty to report the hiring or use of a service provider 11
imposed by section 2 of this act; or12
(h) The duty of a business, employer, or payroll processor that 13
has received an income withholding order from the department of 14
social and health services requiring payment to the Washington state 15
support registry to remit withheld funds by electronic means imposed 16
by RCW 26.23.065. 17
(2) Liability for noncompliance with a wage withholding, 18
garnishment, order to withhold and deliver, or any other lien or 19
attachment issued to secure payment of child support is governed by 20
RCW 26.23.090 and 74.20A.100, except that liability for noncompliance 21
with remittance time frames is governed by subsection (4) of this 22
section. 23
(3) Fines for noncompliance by a business, employer, or payroll 24
processor with the duty to remit withheld funds by electronic means 25
imposed by RCW 26.23.065 are governed by subsection (4)(c) of this 26
section. 27
(4) The division of child support may impose fines of up to ((one 28
hundred dollars)) $100 per occurrence for: 29
(a) Noncompliance with a subpoena or an information request 30
issued by the division of child support, or the agency or firm 31
providing child support enforcement services for another state under 32
Title IV-D of the federal social security act; 33
(b) Noncompliance with the required time frames for remitting 34
withheld support moneys to the Washington state support registry, or 35
the agency or firm providing child support enforcement services for 36
another state, except that no liability shall be established for 37
failure to make timely remittance unless the division of child 38
support has provided the person, firm, entity, or agency of state or 39
federal government with written warning: 40
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(i) Explaining the duty to remit withheld payments promptly;1
(ii) Explaining the potential for fines for delayed submission; 2
and 3
(iii) Providing a contact person within the division of child 4
support with whom the person, firm, entity, or agency of state or 5
federal government may seek assistance with child support withholding 6
issues; 7
(c) A business, employer, or payroll processor's noncompliance 8
with the duty to remit withheld funds by electronic means imposed by 9
RCW 26.23.065. The division of child support may not impose fines for 10
failure to comply with this requirement unless it has provided the 11
person, firm, entity, or agency of state or federal government with 12
written warning: 13
(i) Explaining the duty to remit withheld payments by electronic 14
means; 15
(ii) Explaining the potential for fines for failure to remit 16
withheld payments by electronic means when required under RCW 17
26.23.065; and 18
(iii) Providing a contact person within the division of child 19
support with whom the person, firm, entity, or agency of state or 20
federal government may seek assistance with child support withholding 21
issues. 22
(5) The division of child support may assess fines according to 23
RCW 26.23.040 and section 2 of this act for failure to comply with 24
((employer)) reporting requirements. 25
(6) The division of child support may suspend licenses for 26
failure to comply with a subpoena issued under RCW 74.20.225.27
(7) The division of child support may serve a notice of 28
noncompliance by personal service or by any method of mailing 29
requiring a return receipt. 30
(8) The liability asserted by the division of child support in 31
the notice of noncompliance becomes final and collectible on the 32
twenty-first day after the date of service, unless within that time 33
the person, firm, entity, or agency of state or federal government:34
(a) Initiates an action in superior court to contest the notice 35
of noncompliance; 36
(b) Requests a hearing by delivering a hearing request to the 37
division of child support in accordance with rules adopted by the 38
secretary under this section; or 39
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(c) Contacts the division of child support and negotiates an 1
alternate resolution to the asserted noncompliance or demonstrates 2
that the person, firm, entity, or agency of state or federal 3
government has complied with the child support processes.4
(9) The notice of noncompliance shall contain: 5
(a) A full and fair disclosure of the rights and obligations 6
created by this section; and 7
(b) Identification of the: 8
(i) Child support process with respect to which the division of 9
child support is alleging noncompliance; and 10
(ii) State child support enforcement agency issuing the original 11
child support process. 12
(10) In an administrative hearing convened under subsection 13
(8)(b) of this section, the presiding officer shall determine whether 14
or not, and to what extent, liability for noncompliance exists under 15
this section, and shall enter an order containing these findings. If 16
liability does exist, the presiding officer shall include language in 17
the order advising the parties to the proceeding that the liability 18
may be collected by any means available to the division of child 19
support under subsection (13) of this section without further notice 20
to the liable party. 21
(11) Hearings under this section are governed by the 22
administrative procedure act, chapter 34.05 RCW. 23
(12) After the ((twenty)) 20 days following service of the 24
notice, the person, firm, entity, or agency of state or federal 25
government may petition for a late hearing. A petition for a late 26
hearing does not stay any collection action to recover the debt. A 27
late hearing is available upon a showing of any of the grounds stated 28
in civil rule 60 for the vacation of orders. 29
(13) The division of child support may collect any obligation 30
established under this section using any of the remedies available 31
under chapter 26.09, 26.18, 26.21A, 26.23, 74.20, or 74.20A RCW for 32
the collection of child support. 33
(14) The division of child support may enter agreements for the 34
repayment of obligations under this section. Agreements may:35
(a) Suspend the obligation imposed by this section conditioned on 36
future compliance with child support processes. Such suspension shall 37
end automatically upon any failure to comply with a child support 38
process. Amounts suspended become fully collectible without further 39
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notice automatically upon failure to comply with a child support 1
process; 2
(b) Resolve amounts due under this section and provide for 3
repayment. 4
(15) The secretary may adopt rules to implement this section.5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. This act takes effect January 1, 2027.6
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