§ 19-11-30.2.Information from financial institutions
Chapter 11. Enforcement of Duty of Support · Article 1. Child Support Recovery Act · Last amended 2017 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-11-30.2
Plain-English Summary
This section is the working manual for the bank match. Under subsection (f), the Department of Human Services shall enter into agreements with financial institutions doing business in Georgia to develop and operate a data match system to the maximum extent feasible. At a minimum the department identifies each obligor by name and social security number or other taxpayer identification number. If it knows an obligor’s geographic region, and it must try to find out, it starts with institutions in that region before asking institutions elsewhere in the state. It may pay a reasonable fee for the searches, capped at the institution’s actual costs.
Subsection (b) sets the duty and limits its frequency and scope. The department shall ask each institution, no more often than quarterly, for the name, record address, social security number and other identifying data of each listed person who has an account there, and the results go to the Bank Match Registry. Every calendar quarter the department must prune its list, removing anyone with no prior matches in the two immediately preceding quarters. Under subsection (c), it may keep checking a removed name once a year for the two calendar years after the year of removal, or “for cause,” which means the department has reason to believe the person has opened an account.
Requests go in machine-readable form unless an institution expressly asks for a written request. The institution must answer within 30 days, in machine-readable form meeting department criteria, covering accounts that bear a Georgia residential address when it processes the request. Subsection (e) draws a firm line: no request may name anyone other than an obligor the department has good reason to believe owes support and isn’t under an order, or an obligor at least one month’s support behind. An institution that fails to comply without reasonable cause faces the penalty in § 19-11-30.5. The section was last amended in 2017.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often can Georgia check bank accounts for child support?
No more often than quarterly. The department is required to request account data from each financial institution, but not more frequently than once a quarter. Names with no prior matches in the two preceding quarters come off the list, but the department may keep checking them once a year for the two calendar years after removal, or for cause, meaning it has reason to believe the person opened an account.
Can the state search for my bank account if I’m current on child support?
Not under this section if you’re under an order and current. Requests may name only an obligor the department has good reason to believe owes support and who isn’t under a support order, or an obligor delinquent by an amount equal to or more than one month’s support payment. A parent under an order who is paid up fits neither category.
How long does a bank have to answer a Georgia child support data match request?
Thirty days. The financial institution must furnish the requested information within 30 days of the request, in machine-readable form that meets criteria the department sets. Requests themselves come in machine-readable form unless the institution expressly asks for them in writing. An institution that fails to comply without reasonable cause can face the penalty in § 19-11-30.5.
Does the Georgia bank match cover accounts with an out-of-state address?
The duty this section places on institutions covers accounts that bear a residential address within Georgia at the time the institution processes the request. The section doesn’t require institutions to report accounts with other addresses. Separately, § 19-11-30.6 lets Georgia share wage and bank information with other states under reciprocal agreements.
Do banks get paid for child support account searches in Georgia?
They may. The department may pay a financial institution a reasonable fee for conducting the searches, but the fee can’t exceed the actual costs the institution incurs. The wording is permissive, so the section authorizes payment but doesn’t require it in every case.
Amendment History
Laws 1997, p. 1613, § 30; Laws 1999, p. 81, § 19; Laws 2002, p. 1247, § 11; Laws 2009, Act 102, § 2-2, eff. July 1, 2009; Laws 2014, Act 579, § 11, eff. July 1, 2014; Laws 2014, Act 669, § 19, eff. April 29, 2014; Laws 2017, Act 242, § 2-3, eff. July 1, 2017.