The Child Support Lien Docket
The Child Support Lien Docketing system is a new
administrative enforcement tool that will be used to collect nearly $1.9
billion in unpaid child support.
by Constance M. Chesnik & Lisa A. Petersen
Property buyers beware! When the new child support lien docketing
system is fully implemented, child support obligors whose support orders
are enforced by a county child support agency may discover that liens
exist against all their real and personal titled property if they are in
arrears of their court-ordered support. Currently, more than 190,000
cases with Wisconsin court orders statewide are receiving services from
the child support program. That number includes cases where one of the
parties is receiving public assistance and cases where an application
for support enforcement services has been filed in the local agency.
Title insurers will be required to check the child support lien
docket as a routine part of title searches. Potential buyers will need
to be aware of the increased likelihood that the property they are
purchasing may have a lien against it for unpaid child support.
Attorneys practicing real estate or family law are likely to see an
increase in cases as the number of individuals on Wisconsin's child
support lien docket increases.
New Tools to Collect Child Support Arrearages
The lien docket is one of many new enforcement tools available to
collect child support arrearages resulting from passage of the federal
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA)
in 1996.1 Enactment of this legislation marked a
turning point in the provision of public assistance programs in this
country. Eligibility for public assistance is now time limited, and
recipients are required to participate in job training and/or work
programs designed to increase their self-sufficiency. A major factor in
the ability of a single parent household to achieve and maintain
self-sufficiency is the receipt of child support. Children who receive
financial support from both parents are much less likely to find
themselves dependent on public aid.
Wisconsin has long been a leader nationwide in both establishing and
enforcing child support orders. In 1999, Wisconsin collected nearly $1
billion in child support. However, Wisconsin still has almost $1.9
billion in uncollected child support. Although many of our existing
enforcement tools are effective in collecting support, more stringent
enforcement tools are needed to ensure that all children receive the
financial support they deserve.
The PRWORA requires all states to enact new measures to enforce child
support orders. States that do not comply with this requirement will
lose the continued receipt of federal funding. In Wisconsin, federal
funding for the child support and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
programs approaches $420 million annually.
Among the new requirements was an amendment to 42 U.S.C. 666(a)(4)
requiring all states to have laws or procedures under which child
support arrearages become liens, by operation of law, against all real
and personal property owned by an obligor who either resides or owns
property in a state. States were given until April 1998 to enact the
necessary legislation and until Oct. 1, 2000, to implement the new
procedures.
