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Learn about the role of probation in the creation, enforcement, and satisfaction of child support judgments. Explore how judgments are obtained and their impact on support obligations.
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CHILD SUPPORT JUDGMENTSUnderstanding Probation’s Role in the Creation, Enforcement and Satisfaction of Child Support Judgments
Overview • Most of our collection remedies require the Non-Custodial Parent (NCP) to be in arrears prior to enforcement action being taken. • Having a judgment for arrears is the essential first step in collecting past due payments. • Judgments can occur either by order of the court or by operation of law.
Overview Title IV, Part D of the Social Security Act was enacted to enable the states to have a comprehensive mechanism to facilitate: • Locating NCPs, • Establishing paternity, and • Establishing and enforcing support obligations owed by NCPs.
Overview • Probation Child Support Enforcement (PCSE) units operate in accordance with numerous State statutes, court rules and Administrative Directives. • As required by federal law, New Jersey (NJ) has passed laws, adopted court rules or issued administrative regulation to comply with Title IV-D mandates. • Court rules and directives available on the Judiciary InfoNet (staff) and njcourts.gov (public access)
Overview Federal and state law and regulations require that: • All support orders are entitled to judgment status; • Unpaid court-ordered child support become a judgment by operation of law.
Overview Judgments, once docketed with the Clerk of the Superior Court, are entitled to: • full force, effect and attributes of other state judgments, including the ability to be enforced as a civil money judgment, • full faith and credit in this state and in any other state, and • be recognized as a lien on all real estate owned by the judgment debtor in the State of New Jersey.
What Makes a Case IV-D? • Not all child support cases are IV-D. • Child support enforcement services provided by IV-D agencies are often referred to as “IV-D services.” • IV-D cases are divided into public assistance (PA) cases and nonpublic assistance (NPA) cases where the obligor or obligee applies for support enforcement services.
What Makes a Case IV-D? • IV-D cases are not just child support. They can include spousal support if the child for whom child support is ordered is or was living with the obligee. • Upon application by a party for Title IV-D services and payment of a $6.00 fee, these cases receive full IV-D services.
What Makes a Case IV-D? Some cases are automatically considered IV-D if they involve: • IV-A (TANF); • IV-E (Foster Care); • XXIV (Medicare); or • Referral from OCSE IV-D Application and filing fee are not required.
Alimony Only vs. Spousal Support Cases Alimony Only Cases • Pursuant to statute (N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.14), these cases are Monitoring-Only for an annual fee of $25.00 and receive limited services. • If court ordered, Probation will enforce your case, but will not handle the process to enter a judgment for alimony only cases. • These cases can never be Title IV-D cases.
Alimony Only vs. Spousal Support Cases Spousal Support Cases • These are cases with child support combined in the same order as spousal support. • Probation will enforce the case and process the judgment. • These cases are eligible to receive full IV-D services upon application and payment of fee.
Non Title IV-D Cases and Arrears • No IV-D application has been filed • Alimony only • Direct pay support • Final Judgments of divorce • Pendente lite orders • judgments for Non-IV-D cases would not be entered by operation of law and may require the entry of a “paper” judgment.
Non Title IV-D Cases and Arrears • Party seeking entry of such judgment on the Civil Judgment and Order Docket (CJOD), is responsible for submission of the judgment and payment of any required filing fee to the Clerk of the Superior Court. • Once the case becomes Title IV-D and Probation is now responsible to provide full IV-D services, any arrears from that point forward will become a judgment by operation of law.
Child Support Lien Law • Governing statute N.J.S.A.2A:17-56.23b • Child support judgments operate as liens against the net proceeds of any settlement of a lawsuit, civil judgment, civil arbitration award, or Workers’ Compensation (WC) award.
Child Support Lien Law • Priorities are: • Costs of suit, • Then the first $2,000 of the net proceeds (See Simpkins v. Saiani, 356 N.J.Super.26 (App.Div.2002), • Then child support. • All other debts of the obligor are subordinate.
Child Support Lien Law • In all cases where the settlement exceeds $2000, the prevailing party, attorney, insurance company, or agent responsible for the final distribution of the proceeds must conduct a search of child support judgments before disbursing funds. • The search can be done by any title company. By statute, the cost of the search is less than $10 and can be deducted from the gross proceeds. • If a search reveals a child support judgment, Probation must be contacted for further instructions.
Child Support Lien Law • An attorney or other settlement agent, who disburses funds without contacting Probation, may be liable to the obligee for the amount of the judgment if it is not satisfied or partially paid, prior to the disbursement of net proceeds.
Child Support Lien Law • Note: • Settlement of $2000 or less does not require search. • Child support judgments that are to be paid out the WC award are handled by the WC judges. Information provided by Probation is no substitute for judgment search.
Child Support Lien Law - Probation • All confidentiality protocols must be observed. • A Letter of Representation, Power of Attorney, written release/authorization from a party, or documentation from Probate Court is required. • The requesting party must provide the name of the NCP, date of birth and social security number, along with the actual judgment search and judgment number. • Probation will respond to all inquiries in writing received from attorneys, title companies, executors, settlement agents.
Child Support Lien Law - Probation • Probation staff reviews case records, including NJKiDS and the CJOD to verify all outstanding judgments associated with the obligor. • Staff will determine the current amount of the arrears due and owing, which almost always is different from the judgment amount. • If the obligor has multiple cases in multiple enforcing counties, Probation staff will coordinate with the other counties to ensure that all arrears are being addressed, and to determine the correct proration of any payments.
Child Support Lien Law - Probation • On open cases, Probation can provide a Certification of Arrears, a payoff amount up until a specified date, or both. • Probation will provide payment instructions.
Judgment Procedures – Open Case Open Cases: • If the case is open, then the Judgment Coordinator (JC) should utilize the appropriate form letter and attach a Certification of Arrears. • Request title companies to contact the JC prior to the closing to obtain an updated Certification of Arrears. • At the request of the obligor, if there is no arrears balance, Probation may begin the Warrant of Satisfaction (WOS) process with creditors.
Judgment Procedures – Open Case WOS and Post-Judgment Interest (R.4:42-11): • If the Debtor (NCP) requests a WOS, then the Debtor should be informed of the outstanding judgment and that possible post-judgment interest may be requested. • Creditor (CP or CWA) should be advised that he/she is entitled to Post-Judgment Interest. • The JC should prepare the WOS and send to the Creditor when the account is paid current. • See Directive #16-06 Child Support Enforcement – Calculation of Interest on Child Support Judgment
Judgment Procedures – Open Case • If parties are represented, their attorneys are required under the Directive to calculate post-judgment interest. • If parties are unrepresented, the JC will assist the creditor in the calculation. • Creditor has the right to waive post-judgment interest. • If the Creditor rejects the calculated amount of interest or wishes not to sign the WOS, then the Debtor has to file a motion/ application.
Judgment Procedures – Open Case County of Enforcement vs. County of Venue: • County where the judgment was docketed is county of venue (where the underlying complaint was filed), which may differ from the county of enforcement. • If the case is open and the enforcing county is not the county of venue, then the enforcing county can still respond as appropriate.
Judgment Procedures – Multiple Cases Multiple Counties with Open Cases: • JCs are required to work together to address the inquiry, this includes sending the appropriate form letters and Certified Statement of Arrears for each case. • However, the attorney or representative of the NCP has a duty to contact each county, where a judgment exists on an open child support case. • Once the remitted amount is learned, the JCs should work on the proration of the judgment payment to ensure each case is getting its prorated share.
Judgment Procedures – Closed Case Closed/Archived Cases: • If the case is closed/archived, then the JC should utilize the appropriate form letter and may provide payment histories to a party or party’s legal representative upon request. • Although a case may have been enforced by County X, it may be appropriate to direct the inquiring party to a prior enforcing county, as appropriate. • Debtor (NCP) or requesting party is responsible to contact the Creditor (CP or CWA) to address the arrears, post-judgment interest and obtain a WOS. • This must be resolved between the parties on the judgment.
Judgment Procedures – Closed Case On closed and archived cases, staff shall NOT: • Obtain any signatures on the WOS, other than that of the Chief Probation Officer (CPO); • Re-open the case to process payments or collect any monies. Any monies to be remitted must be paid directly to the creditor.
Judgment Procedures – Closed Case • Verify that all payments have been made; • Calculate post-judgment interest or certify that post-judgment interest has been properly calculated; • Provide any locate, monitoring or enforcement services; or
Full or Partial Satisfaction of Judgments • Warrant of Satisfaction • Court Order • Release of Lien
Release of Judgment Lien • The judgment creditor (CP or CWA) may execute a release document permitting the release of the judgment lien on a specific parcel of real property without extinguishment of the underlying judgment. • Commonly known as Deed of Release or Release of Lien. • The release document must be recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds in the county in which the property is situated. The recording of the release document is sufficient to remove the lien from the specified real property.
Release of Judgment Lien Release of lien document must, at a minimum, provide: • Names of judgment creditor (CP or CWA) and judgment debtor (NCP); • Judgment number, mortgage book and page reference of the property being released; • Legal description of the property being released; and • Signature of the judgment creditor (obligee) or obligee’s legal representative, witnessed by a notary public or an Attorney at Law.
Release of Judgment Lien • Execution of a release document allows the property to be sold or refinanced free from the child support judgment lien. • However, lien remains in effect and will encumber the transfer of title of any other real or personal property owned or subsequently acquired by the debtor (NCP). • The release document does not affect future child support obligations, nor does it prohibit the enforcement of the judgment against other assets owned by the debtor (NCP).
Release of Judgment Lien • PCSE staff does not prepare or sign off on the release document. • PCSE staff should request that the debtor (NCP) provide PCSE with a copy of the recorded release document. • The copy should be maintained in the case file and appropriate entries made on the NOTE page on NJKiDS.
Warrant of Satisfaction (WOS) Satisfaction of Judgments - Closed and Archived PCSE Cases: • New WOS form specifically designed for child support judgments • Fillable PDF WOS form, with instructions are available to the public on the Judiciary websiteat: www.njcourts.gov/forms/12208_wos_att_e.pdf
Warrant of Satisfaction (WOS) • Requests for WOS assistance on a closed/archived case may be handled by either vicinage staff or Central Office Call Management Unit (CMU) staff, as appropriate. • The response should be the same, regardless of which office receives the inquiry.
Warrant of Satisfaction (WOS) • It is the responsibility of the party requesting the WOS to obtain and complete the WOS form and obtain all required signatures. • Vicinage staff must verify that: • Probation case is closed. • All creditors have been identified, have signed the WOS and their signatures have been witnessed by a notary public or attorney at law. • Incomplete WOS will be returned to the requesting party with a deficiency letter indicating what information is missing.
Warrant of Satisfaction (WOS) • Probation staff will submit the fully completed WOS to the CPO or authorized manager for signature. • Once the WOS is signed by the CPO or manager, it will be returned to the requesting party. • The requesting party is responsible for filing the executed WOS document directly with the Clerk to satisfy the judgment and pay the associated fees, currently $50.
Warrant of Satisfaction (WOS) • If the party requesting assistance is unable to locate the creditor to sign the WOS, or the creditor is uncooperative, an application/motion must be filed by the requesting party for a court order to remove the judgment in lieu of a WOS. • Filings must be in the Family Division in the county of venue.
Order of Satisfaction • If creditor cannot be located or is uncooperative: • Motion or application must be filed in Family Division in county of venue. • Probation staff cannot serve the creditor (CP/CWA) with process or forward mail. • Probation staff cannot provide address information. • If motion or application is granted, then court order must be filed with the Clerk of the Superior Court, together with a filing fee of $35.00.
Superior Court Clerk’s Office Judgment Processing Services • Bail Registry and Enforcement • Statewide Lien Processing • Superior Court Trust Fund • Records Management Services
Superior Court Clerk’s Office Judgment Processing Services (JPS) • The Clerk of the Superior Court is required by statute and court rules to keep and maintain an abstract of money judgments called the Civil Judgment and Order Docket (CJOD). • The CJOD provides a searchable public record of the judgment.
Superior Court Clerk’s Office • The JPS team enters approximately 70,000 judgments, 36,000 writs, and 24,000 satisfactions of judgment annually. • Judgments entered in other states, countries or the federal court system (“foreign judgments”) can also be docketed in New Jersey as statewide judgment liens. See Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:49A-25 et seq.
