Library: Policy

340:25-5-305. Overpayment and recovery policies

Revised 9-15-23

(a) Legal authority. Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS), Child Support Services (CSS) recovers CSS overpayments per Title IV, Part A of Subchapter IV of Chapter 7 of Title 42 of the United States Code; Section 109.5 of Title 43 of the Oklahoma Statues (43 O.S. § 109.5); and 56 O.S. §§ 171, 185, and 231 through 244.

(b) Purpose. The rules in this Part:

(1) establish CSS policies and procedures used to recover CSS overpayments to custodial persons (CP), noncustodial parents (NCP), and other entities; and

(2) resolve payment disputes arising from overpayments.

(c) Overpayment recipient and categories. An overpayment means a CSS payment to a CP, NCP, or other entity to which the entity or person is not entitled. The recipient of the overpayment owes the amount to CSS, acting on behalf of the state of Oklahoma. Categories of overpayments are described in (1) through (3) of this subsection.

(1) Retained support occurs when the CP kept support payment(s) in violation of the assignment of support rights.

(2) Erroneous payment occurs when CSS incorrectly paid money to a CP, NCP, or other entity, or failed to retain money assigned to Oklahoma because of an administrative error.

(3) Bad debt occurs when:

(A) the funding for a payment CSS makes to a CP or NCP is subsequently withdrawn when a tax intercept or other collection is revoked;

(B) a check or other payment instrument CSS receives from an NCP or other payor on behalf of the NCP is dishonored after a payment is made to the CP; or

(d) Overpayment recovery.

(1) CSS may use any legal remedy to recover overpayments including, but not limited to:

(A) voluntary payments;

(B) state income tax refund intercepts per 68 O.S. § 205.2; and

(2) When an overpayment resulted in whole or in part from false or misleading statements, concealed information, willful misrepresentation, or when fraud is otherwise suspected, CSS reports the information to the OKDHS Office of Inspector General for appropriate action. Action may include, but is not limited to, investigation and criminal prosecution. ■ 1 & 2

(3) In active Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cases, when a TANF recipient retains child support receipts, CSS may make a noncooperation referral to Title IV-A staff. CSS recovers overpayments from TANF customers through voluntary payments, state income tax refund intercepts, and lottery prize claims.

(e) Recovery amount.

(1) To recover child support overpayments, CSS retains 25 percent of monthly current support payments collected for the recipient and retains the total amount of any arrearage payments collected at any time until the overpayment is recovered in full. The percent retained can be changed:

(A) at the CSS director's discretion; or

(B) when the CSS Center for Finance and Budget determines the overpayment is a result of CP fraud.

(2) When the CP receives his or her full monthly support payment in the same month as an overpayment, CSS retains the full amount of any subsequent payments for that month up to the overpayment amount. CSS satisfies any remaining overpayment as set forth in (1) of this subsection.

(f) Notice and administrative review.

(1) CSS sends an overpayment and recovery notice to the overpayment recipient. The notice includes the overpayment amount, payment withholding and collection remedies, and instructions for requesting an administrative review and hearing, per Oklahoma Administrative Code 340:25-5-200.1.

(2) The administrative review provides an opportunity for the overpayment recipient to offer new or additional information regarding the overpayment amount. After the review, CSS issues a notice of administrative review decision.

(3) When an agency, agent, or entity of the state of Oklahoma or another state owes the overpayment, CSS may collect the amount of overpayment without notice or providing the opportunity to object. ■ 3

(g) Limits to overpayment recovery.

(1) CSS Center for Finance and Budget completes a case review on the balances owed to a CP prior to disbursing an overpayment. ■ 4

(2) CSS is not responsible for creating or recovering overpayments for:

(A) non-Title IV-D time periods when non-Title IV-D cases convert to Title IV-D cases;

(B) time periods when:

(i) CSS collects under a court order that was later vacated or after the case is dismissed; ■ 5

(ii) the parties fail to provide CSS with verification of a change in the child's physical custody;

(iii) CSS collects under a court order that is later modified; or ■ 5 & 6

(iv) CSS collects under a court order and the child is adopted;

(C) time periods when cash medical support is distributed to a CP and the Oklahoma Health Care Authority retroactively certifies medical assistance; or

(D) ongoing regular payments during the period an NCP incarcerated.

(3) When a child support modification order is effective back to the date the motion to modify was filed and the modified support amount is less than the amount previously ordered and paid, CSS satisfies the amount due when the NCP owes past-due child support by offsetting the arrears amount, up to the balances currently owed.

(4) CSS does not charge, collect, or pay interest on overpayments.

(h) Issuing refunded amounts. When an NCP makes an overpayment, amounts less than $3 are not refunded unless issued on an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. Amounts less than $3 and not issued on an EBT card are remitted to the OKDHS General Revenue Fund Treasury.

(i) Returning excess support amounts. When CSS receives a payment that exceeds the NCP's total arrears balance, CSS returns the excess amount to the payor within 45-calendar days after discovering the over collection. ■ 7

(j) Payments made in error. When CSS receives an erroneous payment from the payor that is not disbursed, CSS returns it to the payor within 45-calendar days after discovery. CSS is not required to correct, redirect, or recover the payment unless it is retained;

(k) Payments that cannot be disbursed to a party.

(1) CSS applies support collections to other applicable balances associated with the NCP, such as assigned state balances or balances owed to another CP, when the:

(A) CP's address is unknown;

(B) CP fails to activate the debit card; or

(2) CSS remits a payment to the OKDHS General Revenue Fund Treasury, when the payment cannot be:

(A) disbursed to a CP;

(B) applied to assigned state balances associated with an NCP;

(i) address is unknown;

(ii) debit card is not activated; or

(iii) debit card is returned to the vendor; or

(D) returned to the payor.

(l) Inactive status and closure of overpayment recovery cases.

(1) CSS may place an overpayment recovery case in inactive status when the whereabouts of the recipient of the overpayment are unknown. When the recipient is located, CSS returns the case to active status.

(2) CSS may close an overpayment recovery case when:

(A) the overpayment has been satisfied by payment in full;

(B) the recipient dies and leaves no resources from which the overpayment may be paid; or

INSTRUCTIONS TO STAFF 340:25-5-305

Revised 9-15-23

1. (a) Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS) Child Support Services (CSS) staff reports to the OKDHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) cases, when the overpayment recipient:

(1) improperly received at least $500;

(2) had no judgments for recovery of the overpayment;

(3) had a last incident of fraud no older than two and one-half years from the date of the fraud report; and

(4) resides in Oklahoma.

(b) OIG evaluates a referral involving an out-of-state overpayment recipient on a case-by-case basis.

2. CSS staff reports fraud to OIG on Form 19MP001E, Referral Form, with documentation evidencing the fraud, including original documents when available.

3. CSS initially contacts the entity in an attempt to recover the overpayment. When that is unsuccessful, CSS staff follows the Consistent Excellence (CE) Overpayment Guide for the overpayment recovery process.

4. When an overpayment is in excess of $500, Center for Finance and Budget (CFB) staff does not refund prior to a review of the case facts to determine if a refund is appropriate.

(1) Prior to informing the parties of a potential refund and possible overpayment CSS district office staff does a review and decides if a hearing is needed.

(A) CSS district office staff reviews the reason for the overpayment that may include reviewing caselog to see if the parties have been calling in about issues on the case (for example: incorrect emancipation date, child support should not be accruing as noncustodial parent has child) and contacts the parties regarding any waivers or private agreements.

(B) CSS district office may contact CFB or Center of Operations for guidance on next appropriate steps.

(C) CSS staff sets a hearing to determine the arrears, overpayment, or both when the CSS States Attorney decides it is appropriate.

(2) When the district office review or hearing is complete:

(A) CSS district office staff request CFB review the overpayment through a Finance Action Request referenced in the CE Overpayment Guide; and

(B) CSS district office staff provides all relevant documents, including court orders for overpayments, and facts.

5. When CSS staff was notified of a change in the child support order and failed to update the Oklahoma Support Information System (OSIS), CSS refunds the amount to the payor and recovers the overpayment.

6. When the CSS call center sends a For Your Information (FYI) message to a district office advising of a child support order obtained or modified without CSS involvement, CSS staff attempts to obtain a copy of the new order from the parties or court records.

7. Collections for future support are not excess support amounts.