Our moderators over on FindLaw Answers receive a lot of questions about Social Security and child support. Everyone wants to know whether the government can garnish Social Security benefits – retirement or disability – for the purpose of paying past due child support.

It can. And it will.

Before the Social Security Administration may garnish benefits, it must be served with a copy of a court order. To accomplish this, an individual must go to court and prove that the other party has failed to fulfill its child support obligations. The individual must then request a garnishment order from the judge.

Only at this point may the agency garnish Social Security benefits to pay a recipient’s child support obligations.

As it stands, the federal government may only withhold up to 65% of a person’s monthly benefits. It may be less depending on the state maximum and whether the individual is supporting another child or spouse.

However, a new Treasury Department regulation seems to change this amount. The regulation requires states to establish a system to analyze bank accounts on a quarterly basis, explains Margot Saunders of the National Consumer Law Center. The goal is to find assets belonging to child support debtors. If a match is made, the state will automatically seize the account.

An individual can end up losing 100% of his Social Security benefits to child support.

If the federal government has garnished your Social Security to pay child support, you should contact a family law attorney to discuss your options. You may be able to reverse the garnishment order, or lessen your monthly burden.

Related Resources:

  • Need child support help? Get a free review of your case now. (Consumer Injury)
  • New Rules for Garnishing Bank Accounts Containing Federal Benefits (FindLaw)
  • Child Support (FindLaw)
  • How To Reduce Child Support Payments (FindLaw’s Law & Daily Life)

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