Lawyers Manual - Unified Court System

146 Judy Reichler
SCU also may provide the necessary distance between the noncustodial
parent and a family who is afraid of his violent or threatening behavior. If the
noncustodial parent resists paying support to her, he may not be so resistant to
making payments to the SCU. Payment of child support may then come to be
seen like any other obligation — not money he advances when he’s feeling
generous and retracts when things are a little tight or don’t go his way.
If support payments are made payable through the SCU, enforcement of the
order will be handled by the agency. Although some of the enforcement
methods used by the agency are also available through the court (e.g. salary
deduction), there are several methods of collection that are only available when
the order is payable through the SCU (e.g. interception of tax refunds and
lottery winnings). These methods may be particularly effective in collecting
from persons who change jobs frequently or who are self employed.
However, your client will have no control over the enforcement method used.
Most of the enforcement methods are computer-generated and automatically
triggered. This means that, even if your client knows that a particular method of
enforcing an order will be likely to inspire violence from the payor (e.g., the
suspension of a driving license), she cannot request that it not be used. She can, of
course, terminate the SCU services, but she will have to return to court to request
that the order be modified so the money can be payable directly to her.
Some of the Services Provided by the SCU 9
Statewide Register of Child Support Orders
All orders for child support — including orders entered by the Supreme
Court — must be forwarded to the statewide register of child support orders in
Albany. This makes it easier to determine which of several orders is valid and to
track payments.
Access to Private and Governmental Information
The SCU has authority to obtain information from certain private and
governmental agencies. The information includes such things as marriage and
birth information from the Bureau of Vital Statistics, state and local income tax
returns, and vehicle and registration information from the Department of Motor
Vehicles. This cannot be obtained through the court.
Data Matches with Financial Institutions
The SCU can find out information about an obligor’s bank accounts through
a direct matching program. This is not available through the court.