A. Any payor who has been served with a notice to withhold income shall deduct and pay over income as provided in this section. The payor shall deduct the amount designated in the notice to withhold income no later than the next payment of income that is payable to the obligor following service of the notice to withhold income and shall forward the amount withheld to the public office or in the case of non-Title IV-D support payments, pursuant to the court order until October 1, 1998, within seven business days of the employee's normal pay date. For each withholding of income, the payor shall be entitled to and may deduct a one dollar ($1.00) fee to be taken from the income to be paid to the obligor.

B. Whenever the obligor is no longer receiving income from the payor, the payor shall notify the public office, and the payor shall inform the obligee and public office of the last known address of the obligor and any subsequent payor, if known.

C. Withholding of income under the Support Enforcement Act shall have priority over any other legal process under the laws of this state against the same income. Where there is more than one order for withholding against a single obligor pursuant to the Support Enforcement Act, the payor shall allocate support among obligees, but in no case shall the allocation result in a withholding for one of the support obligations not being implemented.

D. No payor shall discharge, discipline, refuse to hire or otherwise penalize any obligor because of the duty to withhold income.

E. The payor shall terminate or modify withholding within fourteen days of receipt of a conformed copy of a notice to terminate or modify a withholding.

F. Any order or notice for income withholding made pursuant to Section 40-4A-4.1 or 40-4A-5 NMSA 1978 shall be binding against future payors by operation of law upon actual knowledge of the contents of the order or notice or upon receipt by personal delivery or certified mail of a filed copy of the order or notice to the payor.

History: Laws 1985, ch. 105, § 8; 1990, ch. 30, § 3; 1997, ch. 237, § 11.

Cross references. — For Title IV-D of the federal Social Security Act, see 42 U.S.C. § 651 et seq.

The 1997 amendment, effective April 11, 1997, rewrote the second sentence in Subsection A, deleted "designated" following "notify the" in Subsection B, and in Subsection C, substituted "the payor shall allocate support among obligees, but in no case shall the allocation result in a withholding for one of the support obligations not being implemented" for "the orders shall receive priority in payment according to the date of service on the payor, subject to any contrary directive established pursuant to Subsection B of Section 40-4A-9 NMSA 1978" at the end of the last sentence.

The 1990 amendment, effective May 16, 1990, substituted "and the payor shall inform the obligee and public office" for "Upon request the payor shall inform the obligee" in Subsection B; redesignated former Subsection C as part of present Subsection B; redesignated former Subsections D to F as present Subsections C to E; in present Subsection C, corrected a misspelling and substituted "Section 40-4A-9 NMSA 1978" for "Section 9 of the Support Enforcement Act"; and added Subsection F.