What ASUME can do to collect from you

It is the set of measures the Act places in the hands of the Court, the Administrator and the Administrative Judge so that support is actually paid: withholding at source, seizure of property, withholding of Commonwealth and federal tax refunds, bond, reporting to credit agencies, conditioning of licences and permits, passport cancellation, debt certifications that block inheritances and lottery prizes, fines and contempt.

These measures reach the person obliged to pay support, and some also reach third parties: the employer or any payer, who receives the withholding order; the notary and the Property Registrar, who may not act on a deceased payer’s property without a debt certification; and the Treasury Department, which withholds lottery prizes. The duty to report the economic situation and to notify any change falls on both parties, custodial and non-custodial, not only on the one who pays.

• On setting or modifying support, an order is immediately issued to the employer or payer to withhold or discount at source, regardless of whether arrears exist (Article 24(1)(a)).Verified against the official source
• Being current on support, or executing and complying with a payment plan, is a condition to obtain or keep licences, permits, endorsements and privileges, including the driver’s licence, the weapons carry licence and contracting or employment with the Commonwealth, municipal or federal government (Article 30(1)).Verified against the official source
• The duty to supply personal and economic information is continuous in nature: any change in circumstances must be notified immediately by motion to the Court and the Administrator (Article 23(a)).Verified against the official source
• To collect the first prizes of the traditional lottery or any electronic prize over $800, an ASUME certification issued less than seven business days earlier must be presented (Article 30-A(2)).Verified against the official source

• The personal and economic information sheet both parties file by motion, with income, employer, movable property individually worth more than $1,000 and immovable property with its registry inscription data (Article 23(a)).
• The ASUME debt certification that the administrator, executor or trustee of a deceased person must request before a court, a notary or the Property Registrar may act on their property (Article 30-A(1)).

1. 1

   Step 1: Wage withholding starts even if you are current

   It is the worst-understood point in the whole Act. Article 24(1)(a) provides that on setting or modifying support an order shall immediately be issued requiring the payer’s employer, or any person who is a payer in relation to them, to withhold or discount at source the amounts stated, “regardless of whether or not arrears exist in the payment of support”. It is not a sanction for non-compliance: it is the normal way of paying. The order is not issued separately from the one adjudicating support, unless the parties reach a written alternative agreement, or the court or the Administrator finds just cause not to notify it. In those exceptional cases the employer is not notified at that time, but the payer is warned that the order becomes enforceable as soon as they fall one month behind.

2. 2

   Step 2: The duty to report never ends

   Article 23(a) requires both the custodial and the non-custodial person to file by motion a personal and economic information sheet, and the list is long: names, residential, postal and e-mail addresses, telephones, ages, dates and places of birth and social security numbers of both and of the children; employer name, address, telephones, employer number and workplace; salary, wages and income and other sources; credits in their favour and who their debtors are; entities where they have assets deposited; movable property individually worth more than one thousand dollars, with its location and who holds it; and immovable property with its registry inscription data. Also whether they have applied for or receive economic assistance from the Department. And what most people overlook: all orders must state that this duty is continuous in nature, and that any change in circumstances must be notified immediately by motion. Wilful non-compliance constitutes a violation of the Act and can carry fines, penalties, interest, fees, expenses and costs, and additionally civil or criminal contempt from the Court.

3. 3

   Step 3: Credit reporting: one month behind and ten days to react

   Article 29 allows a consumer credit information agency to ask the Administrator to certify the arrears debt, and also allows the Administrator to report on their own, after notifying the payer. The trigger is owing more than one month. You are notified of the request or the intent to report, warned of the right to object, to present evidence to refute it or to satisfy the debt, and told you have ten days from the notification. The only defences are the inexactness of the amounts, the non-existence of the debt, and whether you are the debtor. After the ten days, the Administrator must report to the agencies, unless you pay the debt in full or adopt a payment plan and comply faithfully with it, with this warning: if you break the plan, the debt is reported with no further notification needed. Payers meeting the criteria are reported quarterly to every credit agency doing business in Puerto Rico, with at minimum name, social security number and amount owed.

4. 4

   Step 4: Licences, permits and public employment

   Article 30(1) has very wide reach. It establishes as a condition to obtain or keep a licence, permit, endorsement or occupational, professional, recreational, sporting or other privilege, that the obliged person be current or execute and comply with a payment plan, and that they have not failed to comply with orders, summonses, requirements, resolutions or judgments. The Act names examples: the motor vehicle driver’s licence, the occupational or professional licence, the target shooting licence, the licence to sell articles, the weapons carry licence, and contracting and employment with the Government of Puerto Rico, its agencies, public instrumentalities, municipalities or the Federal Government. Agencies had thirty days from approval to incorporate this into their regulations and establish denial or suspension as the sanction.

5. 5

   Step 5: The passport, when the debt exceeds $5,000

   Article 30(2) goes further. Where the Administration has made reasonable collection efforts under its regulation, the Administrator may notify the debtor of the intent to request from the corresponding agency or municipality the suspension of any permit, licence, endorsement or privilege; may ask the Federal Government to cancel similar rights; and where the support debt exceeds $5,000, or the amount the Federal Government sets in future, the cancellation of the passport by the US State Department, under the procedures and form issued by the US Secretary of Health and Human Services. You are warned of the right to object, but the only admissible defences are errors of fact: that there is no debt, that the amounts are wrong, or that you are not the debtor. You have ten days to object, and if you satisfy the debt in full or execute and comply with a payment plan within that term, the process stops.

6. 6

   Step 6: The lottery prize they will not pay you

   Article 30-A(2) is among the least known facts in this Act. The Treasury Department will not pay the first six prizes in ordinary traditional lottery draws, the first eight prizes of extraordinary traditional draws, nor any prize over $800.00 from the electronic lottery — the Act names Loto, PowerBall, Revancha, Pega 4, Pega 3, Pega 2, multiplicador and instant games — nor any prize from any other game it administers now or in future, until the person trying to collect presents an ASUME certification showing they have no case at the agency, or having one, that they are current on the running support. And there is a date detail that ruins the errand if overlooked: the certification must be less than seven business days old at the time of collection.

7. 7

   Step 7: The debt survives death and blocks the inheritance

   Article 30-A(1) imposes a duty on the administrator, executor or trustee of a deceased person, and on any sub-administrator, agent or person authorised to administer their property in Puerto Rico: to request a debt certification from the Administrator. And the block is threefold. No court will approve the division, distribution, sale, delivery, cession or mortgage foreclosure of the deceased’s property without the amount of support owed being deducted and deposited in the beneficiary’s name. No notary will authorise, issue or certify any document of division, distribution, sale, delivery, cession or mortgage of that property or any hereditary asset until the certification is obtained. And no Property Registrar will record any related notarial document, judgment or judicial act without that debt certification.

8. 8

   Step 8: Fines, offence and contempt

   Article 34 closes the section. Subsection (a) makes it a misdemeanour for any person to intentionally disclose, publish, abuse or instigate the use of any information obtained under this Act, and subjects to disciplinary action any employee or official who through carelessness, act or omission discloses confidential information. Subsection (b) makes any violation of the Act or its regulations for which no express penalty is provided a misdemeanour, and leaves the court authority to impose civil or criminal contempt for non-compliance with its orders or those of the Administrator or the Administrative Judge. Subsection (c) empowers the Administrator or the Administrative Judge to impose fines of up to five hundred dollars, plus compensations, interest, surcharges, expenses, costs, fees and penalties, and to request civil or criminal contempt from the court.

The measures are issued by the Court, the ASUME Administrator or the Administrative Judge, depending on the forum where the case sits. The withholding order goes to the employer or payer. The debt certification and the certification to collect prizes are issued by ASUME. Prize withholding is executed by the Treasury Department, and passport cancellation by the US State Department. The Act publishes no addresses, telephones, forms or portals, and we do not guess government internet addresses.

• Believing wage withholding only arrives if you fall behind: the order is issued when support is set, whether or not arrears exist.
• Thinking a verbal agreement with the other party avoids withholding: the exception requires a written agreement, or just cause found by the court or the Administrator.
• Trusting that if there was just cause there will be no withholding: you are warned the order executes as soon as you owe one month.
• Not reporting that you changed employer: the duty to report is continuous and wilful non-compliance can lead to fines and contempt.
• Ignoring the letter warning of credit reporting: you have ten days, and only three defences of fact count.
• Adopting a payment plan and then failing it: breaking it means the debt is reported to credit agencies with no further notification.
• Believing only the driver’s licence is at risk: the Act also names the weapons carry licence, occupational and professional licences, and contracting or employment with the Commonwealth, municipal or federal government.
• Going to collect a lottery prize with an old certification: it must be less than seven business days old.
• Assuming the debt dies with the payer: without a debt certification, neither the notary nor the Property Registrar may move their property.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Administración para el Sustento de Menores (ASUME)

  ASUME

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov