http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/updates/story/137994.html
A new fee for custodial parents starts Oct. 1
M. ALEXANDER OTTO; The News Tribune
Published: August 21st, 2007 11:47 AM
Starting Oct. 1, the state will deduct $25 per year from child support payments made to about 75,000 Washington parents who have been awarded custody of their children, typically following a divorce.
The fee will kick in after at least $500 has been collected, and will apply only to custodial parents who have never been on welfare.
Two-thirds of the $1.88 million expected to be raised will go to the federal government, a third will stay in Washington, said Adolfo Capestany, a spokesman for the state's Department of Social and Health Services.
The fee is an outgrowth of the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which requires every state to begin collecting the money Oct. 1.
It's to "offset the costs of providing services," said Capestany.
The department will automatically deduct the $25 when child support payments pass through it from one parent to the other, Capestany said.
His department will mail out 75,000 fliers this week to alert parents to the fee.
Parents can petition the department for a waiver if they feel paying $25 a year will cause hardship, but the department said in a Tuesday statement "waivers will be granted only in limited circumstances."
Information is available by calling 1-800-457-6202 or by visiting the state's child support Web site, childsupportonline.wa.gov.