IN.gov - Skip Navigation

Note: This message is displayed if (1) your browser is not standards-compliant or (2) you have you disabled CSS. Read our Policies for more information.

Amber Alert
Amber Alert - TEST
Subscribe for e-mail updates
Current RFPs
Click to view the Practice Indicators

DCS  > Child Support > Attorneys Attorneys

Income Withholding Order (IWO) Information for Attorneys

Employers across the nation have long asked Congress
to enforce standardized child support Income Withholding (IWO) forms
as well as having one central location in every state for remittance
of income withholding payments.  The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE)
in conjunction with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued new rules
regarding these two issues and slightly modified the standardized federal Income Withholding forms. 

The two most important changes

  1. All child support income withholding orders must be issued on the new OMB-approved IWO form (OMB 0970-0154). 
    This form cannot be modified.
  2. Payments must be directed to each State’s statewide disbursement unit (SDU).  
    Indiana’s SDU is the Indiana State Central Collection Unit (INSCCU). 

To make this transition easier, the Child Support Bureau (CSB) of the Indiana Department of Child Services has created an Indiana-specific version of the new IWO for use by courts, private attorneys, and pro se litigants. This version is a “fillable” PDF of the OMB-approved IWO form.  CSB has created additional tools
such as a document with simplified instructions for pro se litigants. 
Additionally, we will be creating a Frequently Asked Questions document.
 
The following includes more detail on the new rules.  They depend on whether the IWO was issued before or after May 31, 2011.  The key changes are as follows:

On IWOs issued on or after May 31, 2011 - New IWOs

  • The IWO must direct payments to INSCCU.  If the IWO does not direct payments to INSCCU as required by federal law, then the employer must reject the IWO and return it to the sender,effective immediately. 
  • The IWO must be on the revised federally approved form.  If the employer receives a document to withhold income that is not issued on the OMB-approved  IWO form as required by federal law then the employer must reject the document and return it to the sender, effective May 31, 2012. 
  • If an IWO is received after May 31, 2011, but issued before May 31, 2012, and directs payment to INSCCU but is not on the federally approved OMB form, the employer should honor the order and contact the sender of the IWO  to request a revised IWO on the new OMB-approved form. The employer or income payor should honor the order until the revised IWO is received.

On IWOs issued before May 31, 2011 - IWOs already processed by the employer

  • If the IWO does not direct payments to INSCCU, then the employer or income payor should contact the sender of the IWO to request a revised IWO directing payment to INSCCU.  The employer or income payor should continue to send payments to the non-INSCCU address until the sender issues a revised IWO directing payment to INSCCU.
  • If the IWO is not issued on the federally approved IWO form as required by federal law and the order presents a problem for the employer or income payor, such as having  insufficient information to process the IWO, or the order has been modified,  then the employer or income payor should contact the sender to request an OMB-approved IWO form.  The employer or income payor should continue withholding income until a new OMB-approved IWO form is received.

An employer can reject an IWO under the new federal regulations for the following reasons:

  •  If on May 31, 2012, or thereafter, the sender of the IWO has not used the OMB-approved form; 

  •  If a newly issued IWO instructs the employer to send a payment to an entity other than INSCCU;

  •  If the form does not contain all the information necessary for the employer to comply with the withholding;

  •  If the form is altered or contains invalid information; or

  •  If the amount to withhold is not a dollar amount. 

  • One exception to an employer rejecting an IWO is that if the new IWO is related to an initial child support order that was issued prior to January 1, 1994, never modified,  has no arrearages, and is not associated with a IV-D case; then the employer must follow the payment instructions on the IWO form it receives.

 

For your information, the INSCCU address for employer payments is:

INSCCU,    PO Box 6219,    Indianapolis, IN    46206

Please note that the above address is only for employer payments.  Non-custodial parent personal checks or money orders are to be sent to:

 INSCCU,    PO Box 7130,    Indianapolis, IN    46207.


See below for a copy of the Income Withholding Order Document, Instructions, and other IWO tools.
 
                  
For a copy of the Federal Action Transmittal directing these changes, go to:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/pol/AT/2011/at-11-05.htm.

 

Income Withholding Order (IWO) Documents

Income Withholding Order Document (click for document) 

Income Withholding Order Fillable Document (click for document)

Income Withholding Order Federal Instructions (click for document)

Income Withholding Indiana Simplified Instructions (click for document)