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42 U.S.C. 651 through 658, 659a, 660, 663, 664, 666, 667, 1302, 1396a(a)(25), 1396b(d)(2), 1396b(o), 1396b(p), 1396(k), and 25 U.S.C. 1603(12) and 1621e.
40 FR 27164, June 26, 1975, unless otherwise noted.
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Nomenclature changes to part 303 appear at 64 FR 6249, Feb. 9, 1999.
(a) General responsibilities. A State IV-D agency must:
(1) Establish and use procedures for managing its intergovernmental IV-D caseload that ensure provision of necessary services as required by this section and include maintenance of necessary records in accordance with § 303.2 of this part;
(2) Periodically review program performance on intergovernmental IV-D cases to evaluate the effectiveness of the procedures established under this section;
(3) Ensure that the organizational structure and staff of the IV-D agency are adequate to provide for the administration or supervision of the following functions specified in § 303.20(c) of this part for its intergovernmental IV-D caseload: Intake; establishment of paternity and the legal obligation to support; location; financial assessment; establishment of the amount of child support; collection; monitoring; enforcement; review and adjustment; and investigation;
(4) Use federally-approved forms in intergovernmental IV-D cases, unless a country has provided alternative forms as part of its chapter in A Caseworker's Guide to Processing Cases with Foreign Reciprocating Countries. When using a paper version, this requirement is met by providing the number of complete sets of required documents needed by the responding agency, if one is not sufficient under the responding agency's law;
(5) Transmit requests for information and provide requested information electronically to the greatest extent possible;
(6) Within 30 working days of receiving a request, provide any order and payment record information requested by a State IV-D agency for a controlling order determination and reconciliation of arrearages, or notify the State IV-D agency when the information will be provided;
(7) Notify the other agency within 10 working days of receipt of new information on an intergovernmental case; and
(8) Cooperate with requests for the following limited services: Quick locate, service of process, assistance with discovery, assistance with genetic testing, teleconferenced hearings, administrative reviews, high-volume automated administrative enforcement in interstate cases under section 466(a)(14) of the Act, and copies of court orders and payment records. Requests for other limited services may be honored at the State's option.
(b) Central registry.
(1) The State IV-D agency must establish a central registry responsible for receiving, transmitting, and responding to inquiries on all incoming intergovernmental IV-D cases.
(2) Within 10 working days of receipt of an intergovernmental IV-D case, the central registry must:
(i) Ensure that the documentation submitted with the case has been reviewed to determine completeness;
(ii) Forward the case for necessary action either to the central State Parent Locator Service for location services or to the appropriate agency for processing;
(iii) Acknowledge receipt of the case and request any missing documentation; and
(iv) Inform the initiating agency where the case was sent for action.
(3) If the documentation received with a case is incomplete and cannot be remedied by the central registry without the assistance of the initiating agency, the central registry must forward the case for any action that can be taken pending necessary action by the initiating agency.
(4) The central registry must respond to inquiries from initiating agencies within 5 working days of receipt of the request for a case status review.
(c) Initiating State IV-D agency responsibilities. The initiating State IV-D agency must:
(1) Determine whether or not there is a support order or orders in effect in a case using the Federal and State Case Registries, State records, information provided by the recipient of services, and other relevant information available to the State;
(2) Determine in which State a determination of the controlling order and reconciliation of arrearages may be made where multiple orders exist;
(3) Determine whether the noncustodial parent is in another jurisdiction and whether it is appropriate to use its one-state remedies to establish paternity and establish, modify, and enforce a support order, including medical support and income withholding;
(4) Within 20 calendar days of completing the actions required in paragraphs (1) through (3) and, if appropriate, receipt of any necessary information needed to process the case:
(i) Ask the appropriate intrastate tribunal, or refer the case to the appropriate responding State IV-D agency, for a determination of the controlling order and a reconciliation of arrearages if such a determination is necessary; and
(ii) Refer any intergovernmental IV-D case to the appropriate State Central Registry, Tribal IV-D program, or Central Authority of a country for action, if one-state remedies are not appropriate;
(5) Provide the responding agency sufficient, accurate information to act on the case by submitting with each case any necessary documentation and intergovernmental forms required by the responding agency;
(6) Within 30 calendar days of receipt of the request for information, provide the responding agency with an updated intergovernmental form and any necessary additional documentation, or notify the responding agency when the information will be provided;
(7) Notify the responding agency at least annually, and upon request in an individual case, of interest charges, if any, owed on overdue support under an initiating State order being enforced in the responding jurisdiction;
(8) Submit all past-due support owed in IV-D cases that meet the certification requirements under § 303.72 of this part for Federal tax refund offset,
(9) Send a request for review of a child support order to another State within 20 calendar days of determining that a request for review of the order should be sent to the other State and of receipt of information from the requestor necessary to conduct the review in accordance with section 466(a)(10) of the Act and § 303.8 of this part;
(10) Distribute and disburse any support collections received in accordance with this section and §§ 302.32, 302.38, 302.51, and 302.52 of this chapter, sections 454(5), 454B, 457, and 1912 of the Act, and instructions issued by the Office;
(11) Notify the responding agency within 10 working days of case closure that the initiating State IV-D agency has closed its case pursuant to § 303.11 of this part, and the basis for case closure;
(12) Instruct the responding agency to close its interstate case and to stop any withholding order or notice the responding agency has sent to an employer before the initiating State transmits a withholding order or notice, with respect to the same case, to the same or another employer unless the two States reach an alternative agreement on how to proceed; and
(13) If the initiating agency has closed its case pursuant to § 303.11 and has not notified the responding agency to close its corresponding case, make a diligent effort to locate the obligee, including use of the Federal Parent Locator Service and the State Parent Locator Service, and accept, distribute and disburse any payment received from a responding agency.
(d) Responding State IV-D agency responsibilities. Upon receipt of a request for services from an initiating agency, the responding State IV-D agency must:
(1) Accept and process an intergovernmental request for services, regardless of whether the initiating agency elected not to use remedies that may be available under the law of that jurisdiction;
(2) Within 75 calendar days of receipt of an intergovernmental form and documentation from its central registry:
(i) Provide location services in accordance with § 303.3 of this part if the request is for location services or the form or documentation does not include adequate location information on the noncustodial parent;
(ii) If unable to proceed with the case because of inadequate documentation, notify the initiating agency of the necessary additions or corrections to the form or documentation;
(iii) If the documentation received with a case is incomplete and cannot be remedied without the assistance of the initiating agency, process the case to the extent possible pending necessary action by the initiating agency;
(3) Within 10 working days of locating the noncustodial parent in a different State, the responding agency must return the forms and documentation, including the new location, to the initiating agency, or, if directed by the initiating agency, forward/transmit the forms and documentation to the central registry in the State where the noncustodial parent has been located and notify the responding State's own central registry where the case has been sent.
(4) Within 10 working days of locating the noncustodial parent in a different political subdivision within the State, forward/transmit the forms and documentation to the appropriate political subdivision and notify the initiating agency and the responding State's own central registry of its action;
(5) If the request is for a determination of controlling order:
(i) File the controlling order determination request with the appropriate tribunal in its State within 30 calendar days of receipt of the request or location of the noncustodial parent, whichever occurs later; and
(ii) Notify the initiating State agency, the Controlling Order State and any State where a support order in the case was issued or registered, of the controlling order determination and any reconciled arrearages within 30 calendar days of receipt of the determination from the tribunal;
(6) Provide any necessary services as it would in an intrastate IV-D case including:
(i) Establishing paternity in accordance with § 303.5 of this part and, if the agency elects, attempting to obtain a judgment for costs should paternity be established;
(ii) Establishing a child support obligation in accordance with § 302.56 of this chapter and §§ 303.4, 303.31 and 303.101 of this part;
(iii) Reporting overdue support to Consumer Reporting Agencies, in accordance with section 466(a)(7) of the Act and § 302.70(a)(7) of this chapter;
(iv) Processing and enforcing orders referred by an initiating agency, whether pursuant to UIFSA or other legal processes, using appropriate remedies applied in its own cases in accordance with §§ 303.6, 303.31, 303.32, 303.100 through 303.102, and 303.104 of this part, and submit the case for such other Federal enforcement techniques as the State determines to be appropriate, such as administrative offset under 31 CFR 285.1 and passport denial under section 452(k) of the Act;
(v) Collecting and monitoring any support payments from the noncustodial parent and forwarding payments to the location specified by the initiating agency. The IV-D agency must include sufficient information to identify the case, indicate the date of collection as defined under § 302.51(a) of this chapter, and include the responding State's case identifier and locator code, as defined in accordance with instructions issued by this Office; and
(vi) Reviewing and adjusting child support orders upon request in accordance with § 303.8 of this part;
(7) Provide timely notice to the initiating agency in advance of any hearing before a tribunal that may result in establishment or adjustment of an order;
(8) Identify any fees or costs deducted from support payments when forwarding payments to the initiating agency in accordance with paragraph (d)(6)(v) of this section;
(9) Within 10 working days of receipt of instructions for case closure from an initiating State agency under paragraph (c)(12) of this section, stop the responding State's income withholding order or notice and close the intergovernmental IV-D case, unless the two States reach an alternative agreement on how to proceed; and
(10) Notify the initiating agency when a case is closed pursuant to §§ 303.11(b)(17) through (19) and 303.7(d)(9).
(e) Payment and recovery of costs in intergovernmental IV-D cases.
(1) The responding IV-D agency must pay the costs it incurs in processing intergovernmental IV-D cases, including the costs of genetic testing. If paternity is established, the responding agency, at its election, may seek a judgment for the costs of testing from the alleged father who denied paternity.
(2) Each State IV-D agency may recover its costs of providing services in intergovernmental non-IV-A cases in accordance with § 302.33(d) of this chapter, except that a IV-D agency may not recover costs from an FRC or from a foreign obligee in that FRC, when providing services under sections 454(32) and 459A of the Act.
(f) Imposition and reporting of annual $35 fee in interstate cases. The title IV-D agency in the initiating State must impose and report the annual $35 fee in accordance with § 302.33(e) of this chapter.
[75 FR 38642, July 2, 2010, as amended at 81 FR 93564, Dec. 20, 2016; 85 FR 35207, June 9, 2020]