Income Withholding Notices

In cases where any form of support is ordered or past due, an Income Withholding Notice (IWN) will be issued to the obligor’s employer, if known, to withhold income from his or her check. The withheld payment is then sent by the employer to the Michigan State Disbursement Unit to apply to the support obligation and be distributed to the recipient of support.

An IWN instructs the employer to withhold a predetermined amount from their employee’s paycheck. This amount is based on the current charging support plus an additional amount intended to be applied to the past due support, also known as arrearages. The arrearage payment is determined based on guidelines set forth within the Michigan Child Support Formula which indicate that a payer is to pay 2% per month of the total arrearage owed at the time the IWN. This amount is not to be less than $50 per month nor is it to be greater than half of the current monthly support obligation(if there is no current support obligation, the last ordered charging amount is to be used as the maximum withholding amount toward arrearages).

The maximum amount of support an employer can withhold from an employee is 50% of your net income during any given pay-period. Contact the Friend of Court if you have questions regarding income withholding.

If you would like to report a new employer for yourself or someone else, you may update the information through the Change of Address or Employment.