Ohio Administrative Code|Rule 5101:12-80-10.2 | Prorating support collections.

                                                
(A) When the office of child support
		  (OCS) or a child support enforcement agency (CSEA) receives a collection for or
		  from an obligor with more than one support order and there are no instructions
		  included with the collection or remitter instructions cannot be obtained for
		  apportioning the payment between the support orders, OCS or the CSEA shall
		  identify the qualified support orders and prorate the collection. A prorated
		  collection shall be allocated in accordance with rules 5101:12-80-10 and
		  5101:12-80-10.1 of the Administrative Code.
(B) For the purpose of the calculations
		  described in this rule:
(1) A support order or a
			 case without a support order is considered a "qualified" support
			 order when:
(a) The collection is received as a result of a notice of
				proposed action having been issued to the obligor; or
(b) The obligor makes the support payment and a notice of
				proposed action has not been issued to the obligor.
(2) "Monthly
			 obligation" means the sum of the current obligation and any ordered
			 payment(s).
(C) Scenarios illustrating qualified
		  support orders include:
(1) An obligor has three
			 support orders and two of the support orders were submitted for and met all the
			 criteria for a federal income tax refund offset. The two support orders that
			 were submitted for offset would be considered qualified support orders for
			 purposes of prorating a federal income tax refund offset; the third support
			 order would not be considered a qualified support order and so would not
			 receive any of the prorated federal income tax refund offset
			 collection.
(2) An obligor has three
			 support orders and the CSEA issued an order to the obligor's employer to
			 attach a lump sum payment on two of the support orders. Only the support orders
			 that the lump sum order was issued for would be considered qualified support
			 orders for purposes of prorating the lump sum payment.
(3) One CSEA has administrative
			 responsibility for an obligor's two support orders and a second CSEA has
			 administrative responsibility for the same obligor's third support order.
			 Only the first CSEA issues income withholding notices for the two support
			 orders to the obligor's employer. The employer subsequently sends in a
			 support payment without posting identifiers and remitter instructions cannot be
			 obtained. Only the two support orders from the first CSEA are considered
			 qualified support orders for the purposes of prorating the payment received
			 from the employer.
(D) When the collection is not a federal
		  income tax refund offset, OCS or the CSEA shall prorate the collection using
		  the following calculations:
(1) When the collection
			 is not sufficient to satisfy all of the unpaid monthly obligations owed on the
			 qualified support orders:
(a) First, add the unpaid monthly obligation for each qualified
				support order to determine the total unpaid monthly obligation
				amount;
(b) Then, for each qualified support order:
(i) Divide the unpaid
				  monthly obligation by the total unpaid monthly obligation amount to determine
				  the prorated percentage for the order; and
(ii) Multiply the
				  collection by the prorated percentage to determine the amount of the collection
				  to apply to the order.
(2) When the collection
			 is a lump sum payment and is not sufficient to satisfy the total arrears
			 obligations owed on the qualified support orders:
(a) First, add the arrears amount owed for each qualified support
				order to determine the total arrears amount;
(b) Then, for each qualified support order:
(i) Divide the arrears
				  amount for each order by the total arrears amount to determine the prorated
				  percentage for each order; then
(ii) Multiply the
				  collection by the prorated percentage to determine the amount of the collection
				  to apply to the order.
(3) When the collection equals or exceeds
			 the unpaid monthly obligation for each qualified support order, satisfy the
			 unpaid monthly obligations for each qualified support order.
When the monthly obligations for each qualified
			 support order are satisfied and a balance remains from the collection that is
			 less than the total arrears owed on the qualified support orders:
(a) For each qualified support order, add the total unpaid
				arrears and debts for the order to determine the outstanding amount owed on the
				order;
(b) Add the outstanding amounts owed on each order to determine
				the total outstanding amount owed;
(c) Divide the balance of the collection by the total outstanding
				amount owed to determine the prorated percentage; and
(d) For each qualified support order, multiply the outstanding
				amount owed on the order by the prorated percentage to determine the amount of
				the balance to apply to the order.
(4) When all of the monthly obligations,
			 arrears, and debts are satisfied and funds remain from the collection, allocate
			 any remaining funds to the current obligation(s) for the future month(s), for
			 each qualified support order:
(a) First, add the monthly obligation for each qualified support
				order to determine the total monthly obligation amount;
(b) Then, for each qualified support order:
(i) Divide the balance of
				  the collection by the total monthly obligation amount to determine the prorated
				  percentage; and
(ii) Multiply the monthly
				  obligation by the prorated percentage to determine the amount of the balance to
				  apply to the order.
(5) When the collection
			 is a lump sum payment, and the collection equals or exceeds the total amount of
			 arrears owed on the qualified support orders:
(a) Satisfy all of the arrears owed on the qualified support
				orders, then
(b) When the arrears are satisfied, issue any remaining balance
				in accordance with paragraph (C)(9) of rule 5101:12-80-10.1 of the
				Administrative Code, unless the CSEA has negotiated an alternative allocation
				with the obligor.
(E) When the collection is from a federal
		  tax refund offset, OCS or the CSEA shall prorate the collection using the
		  following calculations:
(1) When the collection
			 is not sufficient to satisfy all of the eligible arrears owed on the qualified
			 support orders:
(a) For each qualified support order, add the unpaid eligible
				assigned arrears for the order to determine the outstanding assigned arrears
				amount owed on the order;
(b) Add the outstanding assigned arrears amount owed on each
				order to determine the total outstanding assigned arrears amount
				owed;
(c) Divide the collection by the total outstanding assigned
				arrears amount owed to determine the prorated percentage;
(d) For each qualified support order, multiply the outstanding
				assigned arrears amount owed on the order by the prorated percentage to
				determine the amount of the collection to apply to the order; and
(e) Repeat the process described in paragraphs (E)(1)(a) to
				(E)(1)(d) of this rule for all eligible unassigned arrears owed on the
				qualified support orders.
(2) When the collection
			 equals or exceeds the total amount of eligible arrears owed on the qualified
			 support orders:
(a) Satisfy all of the eligible arrears owed on the qualified
				support orders, then
(b) When the eligible arrears are satisfied, issue any remaining
				balance to the obligor, unless the CSEA has negotiated an alternative
				allocation with the obligor in accordance with rule 5101:12-80-10.1 of the
				Administrative Code.


Last updated July 7, 2021 at 1:46 PM