Section 466-11-003 - ASSIGNMENT OF SUPPORT Under current state statute, the right to support payments that become due while the person is receiving applicable public payments, aid, or assistance is assigned to the State of Nebraska. In certain circumstances, support payments that became due while a person was not receiving public assistance are also assigned. The State of Nebraska has elected not to waive its rights to such assigned arrears and accrued interest. The amount of arrears assigned to the State of Nebraska does not exceed the cumulative amount of unreimbursed assistance paid to the family.
003.01PERMANENTLY ASSIGNED ARREARAGES. Support payments and interest accrued thereon are permanently assigned to the State of Nebraska when: (A) Such support payments are or were assigned under an assignment of support rights in effect on or before September 30, 1997; or(B) Such support payments accrued under an assignment entered into on or after October 1, 1997, while a family is or was receiving assistance.003.02TEMPORARILY AND CONDITIONALLY ASSIGNED ARREARAGES. Arrears which accrued prior to the family receiving assistance (pre-assistance) and which were assigned to the State of Nebraska after September 30, 1997 and before October 1, 2009 are temporarily assigned to the State of Nebraska. These arrears are not permanently assigned and the temporary assignment converts to a conditional assignment when the family leaves assistance. There is no temporary assignment of pre-assistance arrears for assignments that became effective on or after October 1, 2009. Conditionally assigned arrears which do not exceed the cumulative amount of unreimbursed assistance paid to the family as of the date the family leaves the assistance rolls are owed to the family unless they are collected through Federal Income Tax Refund Offset. If a conditionally assigned arrearage is collected through a Federal Income Tax Refund Offset, the collection is retained by the state to reimburse the state and the federal government up to the cumulative amount of unreimbursed assistance paid to the family. Collections of conditionally assigned arrearages by any other enforcement mechanism are paid to the appropriate court-ordered payee.003.03DISTRIBUTION OF SUPPORT COLLECTED IN FOSTER CARE CASES. Nebraska law operates as an assignment of support for certain persons receiving aid from child welfare funds. Amounts collected as support of behalf of children for whom the state is making foster care maintenance payments will be distributed as follows: (A) Any amount that is collected in a month which represents payment on the required support obligation for that month shall be retained by the state to reimburse itself for foster care maintenance payments.(B) If the amount collected is in excess of the monthly amount of the foster care maintenance payment but not more than the monthly support obligation, the excess will be paid to the state agency responsible for supervising the child's placement and care. The state agency will use the money in the manner it determines will serve the best interests of the child including: (i) Setting aside amounts for the child's future needs; or(ii) Making all or part of the amount available to the person responsible for meeting the child's daily needs to be used for the child's benefit.(C) If the amount collected exceeds the amount required to be distributed under paragraphs (B)(i) and (B)(ii) of this section, but not the total unreimbursed foster care maintenance payments provided under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act or unreimbursed assistance payments provided under Title IV-A of the Social Security Act, the state shall retain the excess to reimburse itself for these payments. If past assistance or foster care maintenance payments are greater than the total support obligation owed, the maximum amount retained as reimbursement for such payments is the amount of such obligation. If amounts are collected which represent the required support obligation for periods prior to the first month in which the family received assistance under the IV-A plan or foster care maintenance payments under the IV-E plan, such amounts may be retained to reimburse the difference between such support obligation and such payments.(D) Any balance shall be paid to the state agency responsible for supervising the child's placement and care and shall be used to serve the best interests of the child as specified in 003.0(B) of this section.003.04CURRENT SUPPORT. A support payment is considered current support only if the support was paid during the period it was due and only up to the amount specified in the order.466 Neb. Admin. Code, ch. 11, § 003
Amended effective 7/4/2020