§ 19-11-30.1.Bank Match Registry
Chapter 11. Enforcement of Duty of Support · Article 1. Child Support Recovery Act · Last amended 2017 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-11-30.1
Plain-English Summary
This section opens a group of provisions, §§ 19-11-30.1 through 19-11-30.6, that help Georgia’s child support program find money held in banks and similar institutions. It directs the Department of Human Services to establish a computer-based registry of account data obtained from financial institutions doing business in the state, called the Department of Human Services Bank Match Registry.
The registry is narrow by design. It may include only identifying information for two groups: obligors the child support enforcement agency believes owe child support but who aren’t under a support order, and obligors who are behind by an amount equal to or more than one month’s support payment. Only the child support enforcement agency may access the data, and only to establish and enforce support orders.
The department sets the procedures, and the costs to be paid, for the data searches and for delivering results to its child support enforcement agency. “Financial institution” is defined broadly in § 19-11-3 to include commercial and savings banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions, insurance companies, trust companies, safe-deposit companies, benefit associations and money market mutual funds. Section 19-11-30.2 governs how the department asks institutions for data, § 19-11-30.3 covers matching and verification, and § 19-11-30.4 limits disclosure. The section was last amended in 2017.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Georgia child support services find my bank account?
It can, through the Bank Match Registry. The department keeps a computer-based registry of account data from financial institutions doing business in Georgia. It covers obligors the agency believes owe support but who aren’t under an order, and obligors behind by at least one month’s support payment. The details of how the department requests data from institutions are in § 19-11-30.2.
Who can see the Bank Match Registry data in Georgia?
Only the child support enforcement agency. The section makes it the sole agency with access to the data and limits that access to establishing and enforcing orders for support. Section 19-11-30.4 adds that state employees and agents may not divulge the information except to others performing Title IV-D child support work.
Do I have to be behind on child support to be in Georgia’s bank match registry?
Not necessarily. The registry covers two groups: obligors the agency believes owe child support and who aren’t yet under a support order, and obligors who are delinquent in an amount equal to or more than one month’s support payment. A parent under an order who is current falls in neither group.
What counts as a financial institution for the child support bank match?
Section 19-11-3 defines the term broadly: federal or state chartered commercial or savings banks, including savings and loan associations and cooperative banks; credit unions; benefit associations; insurance companies; safe-deposit companies; trust companies; and money market mutual funds. The registry draws on institutions of those kinds that do business in Georgia.
Does the bank match registry let the state take money from my account?
Not by itself. This section creates a registry of identifying account data and limits who may use it and why. Taking money requires a separate enforcement tool, such as the liens, levies and seizures the child support enforcement agency may use under § 19-11-18, each with its own notice and review rules.
Amendment History
Laws 1997, p. 1613, § 30; Laws 2002, p. 1247, § 10; Laws 2009, Act 102, § 2-2, eff. July 1, 2009; Laws 2017, Act 242, § 2-3, eff. July 1, 2017.