House Introduced Bill 6301

HOUSE BILL No. 6301

September 17, 2002, Introduced by Rep. Wojno and referred to the Committee on Family and Children Services.

A bill to amend 1971 PA 174, entitled

"Office of child support act,"

by amending sections 1, 3a, 4b, 6, 7, and 9 (MCL 400.231,

400.233a, 400.234b, 400.236, 400.237, and 400.239), section 1 as

amended and sections 6, 7, and 9 as added by 1999 PA 161 and sec-

tion 3a as amended and section 4b as added by 1998 PA 112.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

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Sec. 1. As used in this act:

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(a) "Account" means any of the following:

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(i) A demand deposit account.

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(ii) A draft account.

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(iii) A checking account.

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(iv) A negotiable order of withdrawal account.

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(v) A share account.

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(vi) A savings account.

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(vii) A time savings account.

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(viii) A mutual fund account.

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(ix) A securities brokerage account.

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(x) A money market account.

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(xi) A retail investment account.

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(b) "Account" does not mean any of the following:

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(i) A trust.

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(ii) An annuity.

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(iii) A qualified individual retirement account.

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(iv) An account covered by the employee retirement income

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security act of 1974, Public Law 93-406, 88 Stat. 829.

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(v) A pension or retirement plan.

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(vi) An insurance policy.

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(c) "Address" means the primary address shown on the records

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of a financial institution used by the financial institution to

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contact an account holder.

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(d) "Adult responsible for the child" means a parent, rela-

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tive who has physically cared for the child, putative father, or

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current or former guardian of a child, including an emancipated

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or adult child.

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(e) "Current employment" means employment within 1 year

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before a friend of the court CHILD request for information.

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(f) "Department" means the family independence agency.

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(g) "Financial asset" means stock, a bond, a money market

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fund, a deposit, an account, or a similar instrument.

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(h) "Financial institution" means any of the following:

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(i) A state or national bank.

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(ii) A state or federally chartered savings and loan

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association.

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(iii) A state or federally chartered savings bank.

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(iv) A state or federally chartered credit union.

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(v) An insurance company.

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(vi) An entity that offers any of the following to a resi-

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dent of this state:

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(A) A mutual fund account.

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(B) A securities brokerage account.

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(C) A money market account.

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(D) A retail investment account.

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(vii) An entity regulated by the securities and exchange

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commission that collects funds from the public.

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(viii) An entity that is a member of the national associa-

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tion of securities dealers and that collects funds from the

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public.

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(ix) An entity that collects funds from the public.

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(i) "Office" means the office of child support.

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(j) "Payer", "recipient of support", "source of income", and

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"support" mean those terms as defined in section 2 of the support

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and parenting time enforcement act, 1982 PA 295, MCL 552.602.

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(k) "State disbursement unit" or "SDU" means the entity

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established in section 6 for centralized state receipt and dis-

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bursement of support and fees.

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Sec. 3a. (1) Upon receipt of a request from the office of

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the friend of the court CHILD under section 24 of the support

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and parenting time enforcement act, 1982 PA 295, MCL 552.624, the

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office of child support shall initiate offset proceedings against

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the state tax refunds and federal income tax refunds of a parent

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who is obligated to support a child and who owes past due

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support.

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(2) The office shall send to a parent who is the subject of

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a request under subsection (1) advance written notice of the pro-

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posed offset. The notice shall inform the parent of the opportu-

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nity to contest the offset of his or her state income tax refund

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on the grounds that the offset is not proper because of a mistake

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of fact concerning the amount of overdue support or the identity

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of the parent.

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(3) The office shall provide for the prompt reimbursement of

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an amount withheld in error or an amount found to exceed the

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amount of overdue support.

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Sec. 4b. (1) A financial institution incurs no obligation

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or liability to a depositor, account holder, or other person or

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entity arising from the furnishing of a report or information to

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the office, to an office agent or representative, or to the fed-

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eral government or its designee under this act or from the fail-

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ure to disclose to a depositor, account holder, or other person

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that the name of a person was included in the report or informa-

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tion provided.

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(2) A financial institution incurs no obligation or

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liability to the office or another person or entity for an error

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or omission made in good faith compliance with this act.

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(3) A financial institution incurs no obligation or liabil-

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ity for blocking, freezing, placing a hold upon, surrendering, or

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otherwise dealing with a person's or entity's financial assets in

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response to a lien imposed or information provided pursuant to

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UNDER this act.

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(4) A financial institution is not obligated to block,

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freeze, place a hold upon, surrender, or otherwise deal with a

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person's or entity's financial assets until served with and

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having a reasonable opportunity to act upon a subpoena, summons,

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warrant, court order, administrative order, lien, or levy served

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upon the financial institution in accordance with the laws of

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this state. A financial institution that surrenders financial

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assets to the friend of the court CHILD in response to a lien

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imposed under state law is discharged from any obligation or

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liability to the depositor, account holder, or other person or

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entity related to the financial assets that are surrendered to

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the friend of the court CHILD.

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(5) A financial institution that surrenders financial assets

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to the friend of the court CHILD may assess the account holder

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a service charge not to exceed 10% of the amount surrendered to

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the friend of the court CHILD. The service charge shall be in

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addition to any other fee or charge authorized by this act or

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otherwise not prohibited by law.

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Sec. 6. (1) The state disbursement unit is established as

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the direct responsibility of the office. The SDU shall use

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automated procedures, electronic processes, and computer-driven

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technology to the maximum extent feasible, efficient, and econom-

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ical to receive and disburse support and fees.

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(2) The SDU is the single location to which a payer or

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source of income subject to this section shall send a support or

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fee payment. The SDU shall disburse a support payment to the

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recipient of support within 2 business days after the SDU

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receives the support payment. Not less than twice each calendar

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month, the SDU shall disburse fees that it receives to the appro-

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priate county treasurer or office of the friend of the court

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CHILD.

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(3) If a payer or source of income attempts to make a sup-

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port or fee payment to the SDU and the payment transaction fails

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due to nonsufficient funds, the SDU may take actions to collect

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from the payer or source of income the support or fee payment

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amount, plus an amount for the expense of those actions.

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Sec. 7. (1) The department shall develop a schedule for the

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transition from receipt and disbursement of support and fees by

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offices of the friend of the court CHILD to centralized receipt

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and disbursement by the state disbursement unit. The schedule

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may provide for the transition to take place in stages so that,

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during the transition period, the SDU is responsible for the

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receipt and disbursement of the support and fee payments of less

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than all the payers and recipients of support whose cases are

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administered by a particular office of the friend of the court

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CHILD. In developing the schedule, the department shall consult

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with other state agencies and with local agencies.

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(2) In accordance with section 9 of the friend of the

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court CHILD act, 1982 PA 294, MCL 552.509, and the transition

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schedule developed under subsection (1), SDU receipt and dis-

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bursement applies to the case of a payer or recipient of support

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starting on the date specified in a notification to the office of

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the friend of the court CHILD, which administers the case, that

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the SDU is prepared to receive and disburse support and fees for

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the case or for a class of cases to which the case belongs. As

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of the date that SDU receipt and disbursement of support and fees

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applies to a particular support order, a provision in the order

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directing support and fees to be paid to an office of the friend

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of the court CHILD shall be considered to direct the payments

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to the SDU.

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Sec. 9. The department, the SDU, and each office of the

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friend of the court CHILD shall cooperate in the transition to

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the centralized receipt and disbursement of support and fees. An

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office of the friend of the court CHILD shall continue to

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receive and disburse support and fees through the transition,

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based on the schedule developed as required by section 6 7, and

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modifications to that schedule as the department considers

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necessary.

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Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take

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effect unless Senate Bill No. _____ or House Bill No. 6317

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(request no. 07684'02) of the 91st Legislature is enacted into

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law.

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