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History and Summary of P.L. 2000, c. 81

History:

In 1995, NJ Legislation (Chapter 334) attempted to increase the collection of unpaid child support by requiring plaintiffs or their attorneys in all civil lawsuit actions to do one of the following:

File a certificate with the Probation Department identifying the plaintiff, requiring that staff in the Probation Department search that name in the ACSES computer system, confirming whether the plaintiff was a child support judgment debtor. If no response was received from the Probation Department within 30 days, the proceeds could be distributed.
Conduct a child support judgment search through a private abstract company.

Major implementation problems immediately ensued. Due to 500,000+ annual suit filings, Chapter 334 promptly overwhelmed the NJ court infrastructure since no dollar threshold was specified, certificates were consistently filed with the wrong office of the court, lawsuit proceeds were unnecessarily delayed to the 95%+ of lawsuit plaintiffs who were not child support judgment debtors, resulting in generally poor compliance with the existing statute.

Work began immediately on amending Chapter 334, resulting in a P.L. 2000, c. 81, which both greatly expands the scope of the priority lien process and simplifies the compliance requirements.

Federal welfare reform legislation (PRWORA) requires that all States intercept and seize lump sum payments from judgments, settlements and worker.s compensation, by imposing priority liens on those payments to pay off unpaid child support judgments. P.L. 2000, c. 81 is New Jersey.s response to the Federal mandate.

Summary:

Certified Child Support Judgment Searches . Recent NJ legislation, (P.L. 2000, c. 81) requires attorneys and involved parties in civil actions, probate procedures and worker.s compensation cases to ascertain whether the prevailing parties or beneficiaries are child support judgment debtors before releasing a monetary award or settlement. To expedite this process and to facilitate compliance with the law, Charles Jones offers Certified Child Support Judgment Searches. Within 24 hours, we will issue a certified search confirming whether a child support judgment exists against the name(s) requested. Charles Jones has been offering searches of child support judgments since they were first filed by the Probation Division of the Superior Court. Child Support Judgment Search results do not show the current amount of arrearage, since the actual judgment balance changes constantly due to ongoing payments on the related child support case, plus the accrual of post-judgment interest.

Effective January 1, 2001, Charles Jones Inc. streamlined its certified Child Support Judgment Search to automatically include up to 5 Status Reports at no additional charge. Now, if the name you requested to be searched shows a child support judgment, our staff will research the status of that judgment on the State's (ACSES) computer system and follow-up with the status information generally within 24 hours.

The Facts:

There is over $1.25 billion in past-due child support in NJ alone.
Approximately $300 million in unpaid child support each year.
About 500,000 NJ Children are affected by unpaid child support.

P.L. 2000, c. 81 Provisions:

Application: "A judgment for child support.docketed with the Clerk of the Superior Court shall be a lien against the net proceeds of any settlement negotiated prior or subsequent to the filing of a lawsuit, civil judgment, civil arbitration award, inheritance, or worker.s compensation award."
$2,000 Threshold: P.L. 2000, c. 81 applies only if the net proceeds (after court costs, attorney.s fees, medical costs, etc.) exceed $2,000 to any individual prevailing party or beneficiary.
Requirement to use private search company: With an exception made for the insurance industry, the new legislation requires a child support judgment search be ordered from a private abstract company capable of certifying the results of its search.

Requirement for identification certificate: To enhance the effectiveness of the child support judgment search process and to eliminate liability for any party ordering the search with potentially faulty information, the statute requires that all prevailing parties or beneficiaries complete a certification listing their name, address, date of birth and SSN. The certificate must be provided to their attorney, legal representative or agent responsible for the distribution of relevant proceeds.
Benefit to Attorneys: With all responsibility for child support judgment searches placed on private certified search companies, proceeds can be distributed without delay and with comprehensive limitation of liability for the party ordering the search.
Requirement for Warrant of Satisfaction: Historically there has been a low percentage of warrants of satisfactions filed when child support judgment have been satisfied. The new statute requires that no distribution of proceeds can occur until a warrant of satisfaction is received from the child support judgment obligee.
Effective Date: The legislation was signed into law by Governor Whitman on August 14th and is effective immediately.

Order Forms:

You can use the following forms to place your Child Support Order or obtain a Status Report. To view or print you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have this application installed, please download a free copy now.

You may also order Child Support Judgment Searches quickly and easily on-line, by using Charles Jones Inc's CJXpress TM order system. If you do not already have an on-line account with Charles Jones Inc., please contact our Customer Service Department at info@charlesjones.com or call 800.792.8888. It takes just minutes to set up your on-line account. Your search results can be delivered via mail, fax, e-mail or web -- often within 30 minutes or less!

To view our list of forms, please click here.