Public Act 096-0858
 
SB0931 Enrolled LRB096 07151 AJO 17237 b

    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Income Withholding for Support Act is
amended by changing Sections 20 and 22 as follows:
 
    (750 ILCS 28/20)
    Sec. 20. Entry of order for support containing income
withholding provisions; income withholding notice.
    (a) In addition to any content required under other laws,
every order for support entered on or after July 1, 1997,
shall:
        (1) Require an income withholding notice to be prepared
    and served immediately upon any payor of the obligor by the
    obligee or public office, unless a written agreement is
    reached between and signed by both parties providing for an
    alternative arrangement, approved and entered into the
    record by the court, which ensures payment of support. In
    that case, the order for support shall provide that an
    income withholding notice is to be prepared and served only
    if the obligor becomes delinquent in paying the order for
    support; and
        (2) Contain a dollar amount to be paid until payment in
    full of any delinquency that accrues after entry of the
    order for support. The amount for payment of delinquency
    shall not be less than 20% of the total of the current
    support amount and the amount to be paid periodically for
    payment of any arrearage stated in the order for support;
    and
        (3) Include the obligor's Social Security Number,
    which the obligor shall disclose to the court. If the
    obligor is not a United States citizen, the obligor shall
    disclose to the court, and the court shall include in the
    order for support, the obligor's alien registration
    number, passport number, and home country's social
    security or national health number, if applicable.
    (b) At the time the order for support is entered, the Clerk
of the Circuit Court shall provide a copy of the order to the
obligor and shall make copies available to the obligee and
public office.
    (c) The income withholding notice shall:
        (1) be in the standard format prescribed by the federal
    Department of Health and Human Services; and
        (1.1) state the date of entry of the order for support
    upon which the income withholding notice is based; and
        (2) direct any payor to withhold the dollar amount
    required for current support under the order for support;
    and
        (3) direct any payor to withhold the dollar amount
    required to be paid periodically under the order for
    support for payment of the amount of any arrearage stated
    in the order for support; and
        (4) direct any payor or labor union or trade union to
    enroll a child as a beneficiary of a health insurance plan
    and withhold or cause to be withheld, if applicable, any
    required premiums; and
        (5) state the amount of the payor income withholding
    fee specified under this Section; and
        (6) state that the amount actually withheld from the
    obligor's income for support and other purposes, including
    the payor withholding fee specified under this Section, may
    not be in excess of the maximum amount permitted under the
    federal Consumer Credit Protection Act; and
        (7) state the duties of the payor and the fines and
    penalties for failure to withhold and pay over income and
    for discharging, disciplining, refusing to hire, or
    otherwise penalizing the obligor because of the duty to
    withhold and pay over income under this Section; and
        (8) state the rights, remedies, and duties of the
    obligor under this Section; and
        (9) include the Social Security number of the obligor;
    and
        (10) include the date that withholding for current
    support terminates, which shall be the date of termination
    of the current support obligation set forth in the order
    for support; and
        (11) contain the signature of the obligee or the
    printed name and telephone number of the authorized
    representative of the public office, except that the
    failure to contain the signature of the obligee or the
    printed name and telephone number of the authorized
    representative of the public office shall not affect the
    validity of the income withholding notice; and
        (12) direct any payor to pay over amounts withheld for
    payment of support to the State Disbursement Unit.
    (d) The accrual of a delinquency as a condition for service
of an income withholding notice, under the exception to
immediate withholding in subsection (a) of this Section, shall
apply only to the initial service of an income withholding
notice on a payor of the obligor.
    (e) Notwithstanding the exception to immediate withholding
contained in subsection (a) of this Section, if the court finds
at the time of any hearing that an arrearage has accrued, the
court shall order immediate service of an income withholding
notice upon the payor.
    (f) If the order for support, under the exception to
immediate withholding contained in subsection (a) of this
Section, provides that an income withholding notice is to be
prepared and served only if the obligor becomes delinquent in
paying the order for support, the obligor may execute a written
waiver of that condition and request immediate service on the
payor.
    (g) The obligee or public office may serve the income
withholding notice on the payor or its superintendent, manager,
or other agent by ordinary mail or certified mail return
receipt requested, by facsimile transmission or other
electronic means, by personal delivery, or by any method
provided by law for service of a summons. At the time of
service on the payor and as notice that withholding has
commenced, the obligee or public office shall serve a copy of
the income withholding notice on the obligor by ordinary mail
addressed to his or her last known address. A copy of an income
withholding notice and proof of service shall be filed with the
Clerk of the Circuit Court only when necessary in connection
with a petition to contest, modify, suspend, terminate, or
correct an income withholding notice, an action to enforce
income withholding against a payor, or the resolution of other
disputes involving an income withholding notice. The changes
made to this subsection by this amendatory Act of the 96th
General Assembly apply on and after September 1, 2009. A copy
of the income withholding notice together with proofs of
service on the payor and the obligor shall be filed with the
Clerk of the Circuit Court.
    (h) At any time after the initial service of an income
withholding notice, any other payor of the obligor may be
served with the same income withholding notice without further
notice to the obligor. A copy of the income withholding notice
together with a proof of service on the other payor shall be
filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court.
    (i) New service of an income withholding notice is not
required in order to resume withholding of income in the case
of an obligor with respect to whom an income withholding notice
was previously served on the payor if withholding of income was
terminated because of an interruption in the obligor's
employment of less than 180 days.
(Source: P.A. 94-43, eff. 1-1-06.)
 
    (750 ILCS 28/22)
    Sec. 22. Use of National Medical Support Notice to enforce
health insurance coverage.
    (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (c)(4)
of Section 20, when an order for support is being enforced by
the Title IV-D Agency under this Act, any requirement for
health insurance coverage to be provided through an employer,
including withholding of premiums from the income of the
obligor, shall be enforced through use of a National Medical
Support Notice instead of through provisions in an income
withholding notice.
    (b) A National Medical Support Notice may be served on the
employer in the manner and under the circumstances provided for
serving an income withholding notice under this Act, except
that an order for support that conditions service of an income
withholding notice on the obligor becoming delinquent in paying
the order for support, as provided under subdivision (a)(1) of
Section 20, shall not prevent immediate service of a National
Medical Support Notice by the Title IV-D Agency. The Title IV-D
Agency may serve a National Medical Support Notice on an
employer in conjunction with service of an income withholding
notice. Service of an income withholding notice is not a
condition for service of a National Medical Support Notice,
however.
    (c) At the time of service of a National Medical Support
Notice on the employer, the Title IV-D Agency shall serve a
copy of the Notice on the obligor by ordinary mail addressed to
the obligor's last known address. A copy of a National Medical
Support Notice and proof of service shall be filed with the
Clerk of the Circuit Court only when necessary in connection
with a petition to contest, modify, suspend, terminate, or
correct a National Medical Support Notice, an action to enforce
compliance with a National Medical Support Notice, or the
resolution of other disputes involving a National Medical
Support Notice. The changes made to this subsection by this
amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly apply on and after
September 1, 2009. The Title IV-D Agency shall file a copy of
the National Medical Support Notice, together with proofs of
service on the employer and the obligor, with the clerk of the
circuit court.
    (d) Within 20 business days after the date of a National
Medical Support Notice, an employer served with the Notice
shall transfer the severable notice to plan administrator to
the appropriate group health plan providing any health
insurance coverage for which the child is eligible. As required
in the part of the National Medical Support Notice directed to
the employer, the employer shall withhold any employee premium
necessary for coverage of the child and shall send any amount
withheld directly to the plan. The employer shall commence the
withholding no later than the next payment of income that
occurs 14 days following the date the National Medical Support
Notice was mailed, sent by facsimile or other electronic means,
or placed for personal delivery to or service on the employer.
    Notwithstanding the requirement to withhold premiums from
the obligor's income, if the plan administrator informs the
employer that the child is enrolled in an option under the plan
for which the employer has determined that the obligor's
premium exceeds the amount that may be withheld from the
obligor's income due to the withholding limitation or
prioritization contained in Section 35 of this Act, the
employer shall complete the appropriate item in the part of the
National Medical Support Notice directed to the employer
according to the instructions in the Notice and shall return
that part to the Title IV-D Agency.
    (e) If one of the following circumstances exists, an
employer served with a National Medical Support Notice shall
complete the part of the Notice directed to the employer in
accordance with the instructions in the Notice and shall return
that part to the Title IV-D Agency within 20 business days
after the date of the Notice:
        (1) The employer does not maintain or contribute to
    plans providing dependent or family health insurance
    coverage.
        (2) The obligor is among a class of employees that is
    not eligible for family health insurance coverage under any
    group health plan maintained by the employer or to which
    the employer contributes.
        (3) Health insurance coverage is not available because
    the obligor is no longer employed by the employer.
    (f) The administrator of a health insurance plan to whom an
employer has transferred the severable notice to plan
administrator part of a National Medical Support Notice shall
complete that part with the health insurance coverage
information required under the instructions in the Notice and
shall return that part to the Title IV-D Agency within 40
business days after the date of the Notice.
    (g) The obligor may contest withholding under this Section
based only on a mistake of fact and may contest withholding by
filing a petition with the clerk of the circuit court within 20
days after service of a copy of the National Medical Support
Notice on the obligor. The obligor must serve a copy of the
petition on the Title IV-D Agency at the address stated in the
National Medical Support Notice. The National Medical Support
Notice, including the requirement to withhold any required
premium, shall continue to be binding on the employer until the
employer is served with a court order resolving the contest or
until notified by the Title IV-D Agency.
    (h) Whenever the obligor is no longer receiving income from
the employer, the employer shall return a copy of the National
Medical Support Notice to the Title IV-D Agency and shall
provide information for the purpose of enforcing health
insurance coverage under this Section.
    (i) The Title IV-D Agency shall promptly notify the
employer when there is no longer a current order for health
insurance coverage in effect which the Title IV-D Agency is
responsible for enforcing.
    (j) Unless stated otherwise in this Section, all of the
provisions of this Act relating to income withholding for
support shall pertain to income withholding for health
insurance coverage under a National Medical Support Notice,
including but not limited to the duties of the employer and
obligor, and the penalties contained in Section 35 and Section
50. In addition, an employer who willfully fails to transfer
the severable notice to plan administrator part of a National
Medical Support Notice to the appropriate group health plan
providing health insurance coverage for which the child is
eligible, within 20 business days after the date of the Notice,
is liable for the full amount of medical expenses incurred by
or on behalf of the child which would have been paid or
reimbursed by the health insurance coverage had the severable
notice to plan administrator part of the Notice been timely
transferred to the group health insurance plan. This penalty
may be collected in a civil action that may be brought against
the employer in favor of the obligee or the Title IV-D Agency.
    (k) To the extent that any other State or local law may be
construed to limit or prevent compliance by an employer or
health insurance plan administrator with the requirements of
this Section and federal law and regulations pertaining to the
National Medical Support Notice, that State or local law shall
not apply.
    (l) As the Title IV-D Agency, the Department of Healthcare
and Family Services shall adopt any rules necessary for use of
and compliance with the National Medical Support Notice.
(Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.