A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT amending the laws relating to child support enforcement in order to clarify and enhance those laws.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 50‑13.9 reads as rewritten:
"§ 50‑13.9.  Procedure to insure payment of child support.
(a)	Upon its own motion or upon motion of either party, the court may order at any time that support payments be made to the State Child Support Collection and Disbursement Unit for remittance to the party entitled to receive the payments. For child support orders initially entered on or after January 1, 1994, the immediate income withholding provisions of G.S. 110‑136.5(c1) apply.
(b)	After entry of an order by the court under subsection (a) of this section, the State Child Support Collection and Disbursement Unit shall transmit child support payments that are made to it to the custodial parent or other party entitled to receive them, unless a court order requires otherwise.
(b1)	In a IV‑D case:
(1)	The designated child support enforcement agency shall have the sole responsibility and authority for monitoring the obligor's compliance with all child support orders in the case and for initiating any enforcement procedures that it considers appropriate.
(2)	The clerk of court shall maintain all official records in the case.
(3)	The designated child support enforcement agency shall maintain any other records needed to monitor the obligor's compliance with or to enforce the child support orders in the case, including records showing the amount of each payment of child support received from or on behalf of the obligor, along with the dates on which each payment was received. In any action establishing, enforcing, or modifying a child support order, the payment records maintained by the designated child support agency shall be admissible evidence, and the court shall permit the designated representative to authenticate those records.
(b2)	In a child support case not managed by the IV‑D program:	(2)	The clerk of court shall maintain all official records in the case.		In a IV‑D case, the parties affected by the order shall inform the designated child support enforcement agency of any change of address or other condition that may affect the administration of the order. The court may provide in the order that a party failing to inform the court or, as appropriate, the designated child support enforcement agency, of a change of address within a reasonable period of time may be held in civil contempt.								(d1)	The clerk or a district court judge may order the obligor to appear and show cause why the obligor should not be subjected to income withholding or adjudged in contempt of court, or both, and shall order the obligor to bring to the hearing records and information relating to the obligor's employment, the obligor's licensing privileges, and the amount and sources of the obligor's disposable income.
					
(g)	Nothing in this section shall preclude the independent initiation by a party of proceedings for civil contempt or for income withholding."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 110‑135 reads as rewritten:
"§ 110‑135.  Debt to State created.
Acceptance of public assistance by or on behalf of a dependent child creates a debt, in the amount of public assistance paid, due and owing the State by the responsible parent or parents of the child. Provided, however, that in those cases in which child support was required to be paid incident to a court order during the time of receipt of public assistance, the debt shall be limited to the amount specified in such court order. This liability shall attach only to public assistance granted subsequent to June 30, 1975, and only with respect to the period of time during which public assistance is granted, and only if the responsible parent or parents were financially able to furnish support during this period.
The United States, the State of North Carolina, and any county within the State which has provided public assistance to or on behalf of a dependent child shall be entitled to share in any sum collected under this section, and their proportionate parts of such sum shall be determined in accordance with the matching formulas in use during the period for which assistance was paid.
No action to collect such debt shall be commenced after the expiration of five years subsequent to the receipt of the last grant of public assistance. The county attorney or an attorney retained by the county and/or State shall represent the State in all proceedings brought under this section.
A past-due public assistance debt as described in this section may be deemed negotiable and subject to reduction if the public assistance debt is not less than fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) and the responsible parent continues to be obligated to pay current child support. Upon agreement between the State and the responsible parent, the responsible parent shall pay all child support payments, including payments due on child support arrears, entered by a valid court order for a 24‑month period of time. Upon the timely payment of each court‑ordered child support obligation during the full 24‑month period, including payments due on child support arrears, the State shall reduce the responsible parent's public assistance debt by two‑thirds. If the responsible parent is late or defaults on any single payment during the 24‑month period, no portion of the public assistance debt shall be reduced. The responsible parent may attempt to achieve 24 consecutive months of child support payments as often as possible in order to reduce his or her public assistance debt. However, once the responsible parent's public assistance debt has been reduced by two‑thirds because of the successful completion of this agreement, the responsible parent shall no longer be eligible for this program. The reduction of public assistance debt as set forth in this section shall be in addition to all other remedies available to the State for the retirement of the debt. This program shall not prevent the State from taking any and all other measures available by law.
Upon the termination of a child support obligation due to the death of the obligor, the Department shall determine whether the obligor's estate contains sufficient assets to satisfy any child support arrearages. If sufficient assets are available, the Department shall attempt to collect the arrearage."
SECTION 3. G.S. 49‑14(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	The paternity of a child born out of wedlock may be established by civil action at any time prior to such child's eighteenth birthday. A copy of a certificate of birth of the child shall be attached to the complaint. The establishment of paternity shall not have the effect of legitimation. The social security numbers, if known, of the minor child's parents shall be placed in the record of the proceeding."
SECTION 4.  G.S. 130A‑101(f) reads as rewritten:
"(f)	If the mother was unmarried at all times from date of conception through date of birth, the name of the father shall not be entered on the certificate unless the child's mother and father complete an affidavit acknowledging paternity which contains the following:
(1)	A sworn statement by the mother consenting to the assertion of paternity by the father and declaring that the father is the child's natural father;
(2)	A sworn statement by the father declaring that he believes he is the natural father of the child;
(3)	Information explaining in plain language the effect of signing the affidavit, including a statement of parental rights and responsibilities and an acknowledgment of the receipt of this information; and
(4)	The social security numbers of both parents.
The State Registrar, in consultation with the Child Support Enforcement Section of the Division of Social Services, shall develop and disseminate a form affidavit for use in compliance with this section, together with an information sheet that contains all the information required to be disclosed by subdivision (3) of this subsection.
Upon the execution of the affidavit, the declaring father shall be listed as the father on the birth certificate, subject to the declaring father's right to rescind under G.S. 110‑132. The executed affidavit shall be filed with the registrar along with the birth certificate. In the event paternity is properly placed at issue, a certified copy of the affidavit shall be admissible in any action to establish paternity. The surname of the child shall be determined by the mother, except if the father's name is entered on the certificate, the mother and father shall agree upon the child's surname. If there is no agreement, the child's surname shall be the same as that of the mother.
The execution and filing of this affidavit with the registrar does not affect rights of inheritance unless the affidavit is also filed with the clerk of court in accordance with G.S. 29‑19(b)(2)."
SECTION 5.  G.S. 110‑139.2(b1) reads as rewritten:
"(b1)	The Department of Health and Human Services Child Support Enforcement Agency may notify any financial institution doing business in this State that an obligor who maintains an identified account with the financial institution has a child support obligation that may be eligible for levy on the account in an amount that satisfies some or all of the amount of unpaid support owed. In order to be able to attach a lien on and levy an obligor's account, the amount of unpaid support owed shall be  an amount not less than the amount of support owed for six months or one thousand dollars ($1,000), whichever is less.
Upon certification of the amount of unpaid support owed in accordance with G.S. 44‑86(c), the Child Support Agency shall serve or cause to be served upon the obligor, and when the matched account is owned jointly, any other nonliable owner of the account, and the financial institution a notice as provided by this subsection.  The notice shall include the name of the obligor, the financial institution where the account is located, the account number of the account to be levied to satisfy the lien, the certified amount of unpaid support, information for the obligor or account owner on how to remove the lien or contest the lien in order to avoid the levy, and a copy of the applicable law, G.S. 110‑139.2. The notice shall be served on the obligor, and any nonliable account owner, in any manner provided in Rule 4 of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. The financial institution shall be served notice in accordance with Rule 5 of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. Upon service of the notice, the financial institution shall proceed in the following manner:
(1)	Immediately attach a lien to the identified account.
(2)	Notify the Child Support Agency of the balance of the account and date of the lien or that the account does not meet the requirement for levy under this subsection.
In order for an obligor or account owner to contest the lien, within 10 days after the obligor or account owner is served with the notice, the obligor or account owner shall send written notice of the basis of the contest to the Child Support Agency and shall request a hearing before the district court in the county where the support order was entered. The obligor account holder may contest the lien only on the basis that the amount owed is an amount less than the amount of support owed for six months, or is less than one thousand dollars ($1,000), whichever is less, or the contesting party is not the person subject to the court order of support. The district court may assess court costs against the nonprevailing party. If no response is received from the obligor or account owner within 10 days of the service of the notice, the Child Support Agency shall notify the financial institution to submit payment, up to the total amount of the child support arrears, if available. This amount is to be applied to the debt of the obligor.
A financial institution shall not be liable to any person for complying in good faith with this subsection. The remedy set forth in this section shall be in addition to all other remedies available to the State for the reduction of the obligor's child support arrears. This remedy shall not prevent the State from taking any and all other concurrent measures available by law.
This levy procedure is to be available for direct use by all states' child support programs to financial institutions in this State without involvement of the Department."
SECTION 6.  This act is effective 90 days after it becomes law.