New Hampshire State Law
1. General Program-At-A-Glance
1. How many local child support offices are in your state excluding agencies with cooperative agreements? |
The NH Bureau of Child Support Services (BCSS) maintains 11 area offices across the state and 2 central offices. The area offices are set up by region. The offices are located in Berlin, Claremont, Concord, Conway, Keene, Laconia, Littleton, Manchester, Rochester, the Seacoast (Portsmouth), and Southern NH (Nashua & Salem). The Central Registry office and Interstate Office are located in Concord. |
2. What is the name of your IV-D agency? |
The New Hampshire Bureau of Child Support Services (BCSS). |
3. Is your state administrative, judicial, or a combination of both? In particular, does your state primarily use judicial or administrative procedures to establish and/or enforce support orders? Please describe. |
Both. Judicial process is used exclusively for establishment of support orders. All of NHs enforcement remedies are administrative other than civil contempt, which requires judicial action.
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4. Does your state use the following applications: EDE, CSENET, QUICK? |
Yes. |
2. Duration Of Support
3. Statute Of Limitations
1. What is your state's statute of limitations for the collection of past-due support? |
Pursuant to NH RSA 508:5 Once a debt is a judgment the statute of limitations is twenty (20) years and pursuant to RSA 458:17,VII, support payments become judgments when due and payable by operation of law. (effective 1988)
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2. What is your state's statute of limitations for the establishment of paternity/parentage? Please explain. |
Action must be commenced by the child's 18th birthday.
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3. Is dormancy revival/renewal possible? If yes, under what circumstances and for how long? |
No.
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4. Support Details
1. What guideline type or method does your state use to calculate child support (for example, Income Shares Model, Percentage of Income Model, Melson Formula)? |
New Hampshire's guidelines are statutorily determined using a percentage of income model.
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2. Does your state have any statute(s) addressing interest on arrears? If yes, indicate the amount of interest charged, any related conditions, and the statutory citation. |
No.
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3. Does your state's IV-D agency calculate interest on arrears? If yes, indicate the amount of interest charged and any related conditions. |
No.
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4. Does your state charge interest on retroactive support? If yes, indicate the amount of interest charged and any related conditions. |
No.
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5. Will your state enforce a medical debt for any uninsured portion? If yes, under what circumstances? |
Yes. Upon receipt of a court order adjudicating a medical support debt due to non payment of the uninsured portion previously ordered, NH BCSS will enforce collection of ordered debt. |
6. If your state has issued an order, and another IV-D agency asserts that the person/entity entitled to receive child support payments has changed from the person/entity designated in your state's order (due to a change in placement or foster care status), what does your state require in order to change the person/entity entitled to receive payments? |
Depending on specific facts, redirection of the child support may be possible or it may be necessary to modify or establish a new child support order for the new Obligee.
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6.1. Does it matter if the child receives TANF or Medicaid-only? If so, explain. |
No.
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7. Does your state require that a custodial party, who is not one of the biological parents, have legal custody of a child before enforcing an order for support that was issued to the biological parents as the parties for non-public assistance cases? |
No.
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8. Does your state IV-D agency give the noncustodial parent credit toward child support for Auxiliary Benefits received directly by the custodial parent on behalf of a child as a result of the noncustodial parent's Social Security Retirement, Survivors, or Disability Insurance (RSDI) benefit? |
If a dependent is receiving a benefit from the Obligors SSA disability, that income is added into the NCPs total income in the child support guidelines calculator. Once the calculation is complete, the amount of the dependents benefit is subtracted from the final guidelines figure. If the amount of the childs benefit is greater than the guidelines than the SSA benefit may be considered in lieu of child support. If the benefit is less, the difference may be ordered as child support.
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9. Does your state abate support? If yes, explain the circumstances and provide your statutory citation. |
No.
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5. Paternity/Parentage
6. Support Order Establishment
7. Income Withholding
8. Distribution
1. Does your state pass through collections (and disregard collections for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) eligibility purposes) in current assistance cases? If yes, provide the amount and explain. |
No. |
2. Does your state participate in the pass-through in former assistance cases? If yes, provide the date and explain. |
No. |
3. In former assistance cases, are federal income tax refund offset payments applied to families first (DRA distribution) or state arrears first (PRWORA distribution)? |
NH BCSS continues to distribute collections according to PRWORA distribution rules. |
4. How does your state distribute payments when the noncustodial parent has arrears due to your state and another state? |
Money is always distributed to current support first. Any remaining funds will be prorated between any arrears owed by the Obligor. |
4.1. If there are no arrears due to your state, how does your state distribute payments when the noncustodial parent has arrears due to multiple states? |
Money is always distributed to current support first. Any remaining funds will be prorated between any arrears owed by the Obligor.
For Additional Information - No Link Provided |
9. Enforcement
10. Modification And Review/Adjustment
11. Lump Sum Payments
12. Cost Recovery And Fees
1. Does your state elect to recover costs in excess of any fees collected to cover administrative costs in your child support state plan? (See section 454(6) of the Social Security Act and 45 CFR 302.33(d).) If yes, does your state collect excess actual or standardized costs on a case-by-case basis? Please describe. |
No. |
1.1. If yes, does your state recover costs from the custodial parent or the noncustodial parent? (Note: No costs can be assessed against a foreign custodial parent applying through a Central Authority in a Hague Convention country, a foreign reciprocating country, or a foreign country with state-level reciprocity.) |
N/A |
2. Does your state recover costs on behalf of an initiating state that has elected to do cost recovery? If yes, describe. |
Yes. If the initiating state wishes NH BCSS to collect on interest, penalties or any other fees, it must be specified within the transmittal to enforce as well as be broken down on the statement of arrears provided within the requesting packet. |
3. How does your state impose and collect the mandatory $35 annual fee (after collecting the first $550)? This fee is applicable in IV-D cases in which individuals who never received IV-A assistance are receiving IV-D services. (See 45 CFR 302.33(e).) See options below. |
Directly from Obligee disbursements. |
3.1. Is it retained by the state from support collected? |
Yes. |
3.2. Is it paid by the individual applying for child support services? |
Yes, the fee is paid by the applicant for services. |
3.3. Is it recovered from the noncustodial parent? |
No. |
3.4. Is it paid by the state out of its state funds? |
No. |
13. Insurance Match
1. Does your state have legislation requiring insurance companies to work with child support agencies to identify claimants who owe past-due child support? Describe the requirements and provide the statutory citation. How does your state allocate payments when there is more than one claim against the noncustodial parent's income? Should the payment be divided equally or pro-rated among the cases? (See 45 CFR 303.100(a)(5).) |
No.
For Additional Information - No Link Provided |
2. What criteria must a noncustodial parent meet to be eligible for your state’s participation in the federal insurance match program? |
Must have an open case, open enforcement for at least sixty (60) days, Obligor's social security number must be known, arrears must be greater than sixty (60) days and $1000. |
3. What process does your state use to intercept insurance payments? |
Eligible cases are automatically selected; workers may then initiate the lien process.
For Additional Information - No Link Provided |
4. How does another state initiate and intercept collections from your state’s workers’ compensation agency? |
No.
For Additional Information - No Link Provided |
5. Does your state participate in the Child Support Lien Network or CSLN (which provides insurance match services)? |
No. |
14. Family Violence
15. CSENet
1. When your state is the initiating state, does it send a Child Support Enforcement Network (CSENet) case closure transaction to let the responding state know your state has closed its case (including the reason for closure) and/or the responding state's intergovernmental services are no longer needed? (MSC P GSC15; 45 CFR 303.7(c)(11).) |
No. |
2. When your state is the responding state, does it send a CSENet case closure transaction to notify the initiating state that its case is closed based on one of the following reasons: (MSC P GSC16)? Initiating state failure to take an action essential for the next steps? (45 CFR 303.11(b)(17).) The initiating state requested the responding state to close the case? (45 CFR 303.7(d)(10).) |
Yes. Yes. |
3. When your state is the initiating state, does it send a CSENet case closure transaction to notify the responding state that it must stop any income withholding orders or notices and close the intergovernmental case? (MSC P GSC17; 45 CFR 303.7(c)(12).) |
No. |
4. When your state is the responding state, does it send a CSENet case closure transaction to notify the initiating state that, per its request, the case is closed, and your state has stopped its income withholding order? (MSC P GSC18; 45 CFR 303.7(d)(9).) |
No. |
5. Does your state send CSENet transactions to request interest information? (MSC R GRINT) |
Yes; however, it is sent using a status request. |
6. Does your state send CSENet transactions to provide another state with interest and arrears information? (MSC P GSTAI) |
No. |
16. Copies Of Orders And Payment Records
1. What are the procedures and associated costs for obtaining a certified copy of a court order? |
A written request is sent to the initiating court asking for a certified copy to be sent to the child support worker.
For Additional Information - No Link Provided |
2. What are the procedures and associated costs for obtaining a certified payment record? |
An Interstate Enforcement Transmittal #2 is sent to the initiating state asking for a certified payment record.
There are no associated costs.
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17. Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA)
18. International - Reciprocity
1. With which foreign countries or other jurisdictions (such as Quebec) does your state have state-level reciprocity for child support? (Do not include federal foreign reciprocating or Hague Convention countries.) |
Quebec Province. |
2. Does your state exercise its option for enforcement of spousal-only orders for a foreign reciprocating country, a Hague Convention country, or a foreign country with which your state has state-level reciprocity? (See section 454(32)(B) of the Social Security Act.) |
No. |
3. Does your state agency accept direct applications for services from individuals residing outside the United States (See UIFSA 307 - Alternative A), or does your state's law allow discretion in accepting these applications (See UIFSA 307 - Alternative B)? |
Yes. |
19. International Information For Hague Convention Countries
20. International Payments
1. How does your state disburse child support payments to foreign reciprocating and Hague Convention countries when your state is the responding state in a case? |
Payments may be by check or by electronic funds transfer. |
2. What actions does your state take to reduce the costs and fees associated with international payment processing? |
All payments are processed through a designated authority within one day upon receipt. |
3. Does your state accept electronic payments from foreign reciprocating or Hague Convention countries in international cases? If so, provide payment instructions. |
No. |
21. Tribal Non IV-D
1. Has your state established cooperative arrangements with any Indian tribes or tribal organizations that don't have a tribal IV-D program? |
No. |
1.1. If yes, list the tribes and identify services provided, if less than full services. |
N/A
For Additional Information - No Link Provided |
2. Does your state have any IV-D attorneys licensed to practice in the courts of Indian tribes or tribal organizations that don't have tribal IV-D programs? |
No. |