§ 19-11-150.Issuance of income withholding orders
Chapter 11. Enforcement of Duty of Support · Article 3. Uniform Interstate Family Support Act · Part 5. Direct Enforcement of Order of Another State Without Registration · Last amended 2024 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-11-150
Plain-English Summary
This section opens Part 5 of Georgia’s interstate support article, which allows direct enforcement of another state’s order without registration. It creates a shortcut. An income withholding order issued in another state may be sent — by the obligee, by someone on the obligee’s behalf, or by the support enforcement agency — directly to the obligor’s employer. No petition, comparable pleading or registration with a Georgia tribunal has to come first.
“Employer” here means the person defined as the obligor’s employer in §§ 19-6-32 through 19-6-33.1, Georgia’s income withholding statutes. Those sections use the term “payor,” meaning the person who provides earnings to an obligor, and they define “earnings” broadly to include wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, workers’ compensation, disability, pension or retirement payments, and interest.
The section covers orders “issued in another state.” Under § 19-11-101, a “state” includes the other states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, U.S. territories and Indian nations or tribes. A foreign country’s support order can instead be registered under § 19-11-160. The sections that follow tell the employer what to do (§ 19-11-151), how to handle multiple orders (§ 19-11-152), when it is protected (§ 19-11-153) and when it faces penalties (§ 19-11-154). An obligor who disagrees may contest the order under § 19-11-155. The section was last amended in 2024.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I send an out-of-state child support withholding order directly to a Georgia employer?
Yes. An income withholding order issued in another state may be sent by or on behalf of the obligee, or by the support enforcement agency, directly to the obligor’s employer. You don’t have to file a petition or register the order with a Georgia tribunal first. The employer’s duties then follow from § 19-11-151.
Does an out-of-state withholding order have to be registered in Georgia first?
No. This section allows the order to go to the employer without first filing a petition or comparable pleading or registering it with a Georgia tribunal. Registration under § 19-11-160 remains an option, and an obligor who wants to contest the order may register it and file a contest under § 19-11-155.
Does direct withholding work for child support orders from other countries?
This section covers income withholding orders “issued in another state.” Under § 19-11-101, “state” means a U.S. state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, a U.S. territory or insular possession, or an Indian nation or tribe. A foreign support order may be registered in Georgia for enforcement under § 19-11-160.
Who counts as the employer for a direct withholding order?
The section points to Georgia’s withholding statutes, §§ 19-6-32 through 19-6-33.1. They use the term “payor,” meaning the person that provides earnings to an obligor, and define earnings to include wages, salary, commission, bonus, workers’ compensation, disability, payments under a pension or retirement program, and interest.
What if the paying parent disagrees with an out-of-state withholding order?
The obligor may contest it under § 19-11-155, either by registering the order in a Georgia tribunal and filing a contest under Part 6 of the article, or by contesting it the same way as if a Georgia tribunal had issued it. The obligor must notify the obligee’s support agency, each employer that received the order, and the person designated to receive payments (or the obligee, if no one is designated).
Amendment History
Laws 1997, p. 1613, § 33; Laws 2013, Act 224, § 1, eff. July 1, 2013; Laws 2017, Act 242, § 1-28, eff. July 1, 2017; Laws 2024, Act 428, § 9, eff. July 1, 2024.