10- 144 C.M.R. ch. 351, § 8-4

Current through 2024-44, October 30, 2024

Section 144-351-8-4 - NOTICE OF PROCEEDING

To begin an administrative proceeding to establish a support order, the Department shall serve the responsible parent with a Notice and blank Statement of Income form. A copy of the Notice and a blank Statement of Income shall be sent by regular mail to the custodial parent. The Notice must state the following:

A. The names of both parents and the names of the dependent child or children;

B. The Department's intention to establish a support order, which may include a periodic payment for current support, a debt for past necessary support including medical expenses and an obligation to provide health insurance coverage;

C. That the responsible parent must complete and submit the Statement of Income to the Department within 30 days;

D. That the Department will calculate a proposed support order based on the State's child support guidelines using all available information and, if there is a lack of sufficient reliable information about a parent's actual earnings for a current or past period, the Department presumes for the purpose of establishing a current support obligation or a debt for past necessary support that the responsible parent has or had an earning capacity equal to the average weekly wage as determined by Department of Labor statistics for the applicable years;

E. That the Department will send to the responsible parent by regular mail a copy of the proposed support order and the Department's child support worksheet;

F. That the responsible parent may request a hearing in writing within 30 days of the date of mailing of the proposed support order;

G. That if the Department does not receive a timely request for hearing, it will issue a decision that incorporates the findings of the proposed support order and send a copy of the decision to both parents by regular mail;

H. That, after a decision is issued, the Department may enforce the decision by any lawful means, including (but not limited to) immediate income withholding, lien and foreclosure, administrative seizure and disposition, order to withhold and deliver and tax refund intercept; and

I. That, if a debt for past necessary support is established, the Department may report the responsible parent and the amount of the debt to a consumer credit reporting agency.

10- 144 C.M.R. ch. 351, § 8-4