When reviewing FIDM lists, you may see an FGN where the NCP is listed as an account holder, but there is a second person or entity also listed on the account. The NCP could be listed as either the primary or secondary account holder. This is not automatically a situation in which the levy should be pulled, but a good understand of how the matching process works and a factual review with the case and the account will be very helpful in making decisions.
FIDM Matching
Oklahoma law states that every Financial Institution in the state must match their accounts against noncustodial persons. Any time that an NCP is an authorized signer on a bank account, then it is possible for CSS to receive a data match record. For joint accounts with other individuals, that other person could be the NCP’s current spouse, one of their own parents, or even one of their children.
It is also possible that the “other” account holder is a legal entity (but not a person) such as a partnership, a cooperation on a Limited Liability Corporation (“LLC”). The report that CSS receives is because the individual NCP is being reported by the financial institution as having an individual right to full access to the funds in that account. Many financial institutions require small business entities to have both the business entity (like an LLI, partnership, or corporation) AND an individual owner be on accounts to protect the banks potential liability related to doing business with that entity. Sometimes it is the NCP themselves that set up the bank account as jointly held. In either scenario, that makes it legally a joint account, like having a joint account with an NCP’s child, mother, or spouse. The Business entity has a right to withdraw funds, but the individual also has an equal right to use 100% of the funds for their own individual benefit. While the NCP may think of this bank account as “the business, and not me individually” the financial institution would not report the account to CSS unless the individual was a joint account owner.
Factual investigation and Review
FIDM best practice is to levy the account, and if the second account holder is the true owner of any funds in the account, they can submit a request for review. The Notice of Levy and Right to Administrative Review includes language advising a non-obligated account holder to submit a request for review to the owning office within 15 days if the levy was manually issued or 25 days if it was issued through the automated process. The office should conduct the review as soon as possible, to facilitate releasing the funds if appropriate. If you are reviewing a case for a possible automated levy and come across a joint account, take note of who the other party is besides the NCP. If it is a CP or child on the case or any of the NCP cases, it may not be in the best interest of the family to issue the levy.
At that time CSS Attorneys and staff can perform the review; requesting documentation to confirm that the funds in question belong only to the joint account holder and are not in use by the NCP. Documents could include bank statements and cancelled checks for the last few (or several months) or other records related to expenditures from the account (like utility bills – did the account pay grandma’s electricity bill or the NCP’s?).It is always a good idea to request a copy of the account start up documents and signature card. (The NCP or joint account holder will probably have to get that from their bank.) Documents like pay stubs showing where deposits are coming from, and whose funds were being deposited (e.g. the NCP or joint account holder). After this review, CSS will then determine that all or part of the funds belong to the NCP or to the joint account holder. CSS staff issue the XXXX notifying the NCP and joint account holder of the CSS administrative decision and providing notice of the right to appeal that decision to an administrative hearing.
For an example of courts determining whether funds in a joint account belong to one party or both, see IN RE THE MARRIAGE OF COTTON, 2023 OK CIV APP 21, 530 P.3d 872. See also Joint Account Basics; Miles Pringle, Oklahoma Bar Journal — OBJ 89 pg. 32 (February 2018)
Types of funds that should be released in a levy review: 340:25-5-212
(A) Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or concurrent SSI and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits;
(B) State Supplemental Payments (SSP) for Aged, Blind and the Disabled;
(C) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits;
(D) child support payments, when the obligor is the custodial person of a minor child(ren) and is receiving the payments as required by a court order; or
(E) the property of the non-obligated account holder.
Each calendar quarter CSS may receive a FIDM match for the same account that has a joint owner. At the time of the first match and requested review, CSS should inform the non-obligated joint account holder that there could be ongoing levies of this same account so long as the NCP remains on the account.
PARTNERSHIPS AND CORPORATIONS, INCLUDING LLCS
When reviewing FIDM matching lists, you may come across a match where the NCP is listed as an account owner, but a potential business is listed as an account holder as well. An example can be as straightforward as “NCP: John Smith”, “other account holder: John Smith Lawncare LLC”. Remember that this financial institution report is telling CSS that this account has at least two account holders that have full access to the funds in that account, and one of those with full access is the NCP on the case.
When reviewing an account for FIDM of a joint account with a business entity, the same in-depth factual analysis of documents and information must be done as with an individual joint account holder. The determination that needs to be made is whether the NCP is using the joint account just like their own personal account, or is this account actually only use to conduct the separate business of that business entity. Keep in mind it is the documentation, and not just the verbal statements of the NCP that should guide CSS in determining whether the funds in joint account is the separate property of a non-obligated legal entity, or is it property subject to the FIDM levy of the NCP. A business entity, like an LLC is a great place to hide an individual’s income and assets, unless the FIDM match occurs, and the local office does the required investigation.
Automated FIDM levy issuance
When the individual NCP owes a child support debt we get a match, and that match is put through a robust analyzer to verify that cases where a levy would be appropriate are matched . Seeing a match that lists both NCP and a business entity is not an error and we do not want to automatically exclude accounts that are jointly owned by an NCP and the business entity. Partnerships, corporations, and LLCs are issued their own federal tax ID. That is not the tax ID that is being matched for child support cases – it is the SSN of the individual NCP that creates the FIDM match.