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Puerto Rico State Profile |
Updated on 25 Sep 2007
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A. General/State-At-A-Glance |
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| A1. What is your State's program administration/operation type (State administered/State operated, State administered/County operated, or a combination)? |
State Administered/State Operated program. |
| A2. How many local IV-D offices are in your State (excluding agencies with cooperative agreements)? |
Ten (10) Regional Offices One hundred thirteen (113) Local Offices |
| A3. With what types of agencies do you have cooperative agreements? |
Department of Justice of Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Office of Courts Administration |
| A4. Does your state have statutes setting forth the attorney-client relationship between the state's attorney and the agency only? |
No |
| A4.1. If so, what is the statutory citation? |
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| A4.2. Did your state have the State's Bar Counsel issue an opinion setting for the attorney-client relationship? |
No |
| A4.3. If so, please explain. |
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B. UIFSA |
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| B1. What is the enactment date of your State's Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA)? |
12/20/1997 |
| B2. What is the effective date of your State's Act? |
12/20/1997 |
| B3. What is the statutory citation for your State's Act? |
Act Number 180 of December 20, 1997, known as Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, 8 L.P.R.A. Sections 541 et. seq.
For Additional Information - No Link Provided |
| B4. What version of UIFSA has your state implemented (i.e the 1996 or 2001 version)? |
1996 version |
| B4.1. If your state has implemented the 2001 version, when was it implemented? |
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| B5. Optional comments regarding your State's UIFSA Act. |
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C. Reciprocity |
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| C1. With what foreign countries does your State reciprocate? |
None |
| C1.1. Does your state exercise its option to receive FFP for enforcement of spousal-only orders for foreign reciprocating countries? |
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| C1.2. If yes, please explain. |
No |
| C2. Has your State established reciprocity with any tribal courts? |
No |
| C2.1. If yes, list the tribes and identify services provided, if less than full services. |
No |
D. Age of Majority |
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| D1. What is the age of majority in your State? |
21 years of age. Under special circumstances a minor is allowed to administered his own being and own goods, that is, to be treated as an adult, as when emancipated by marriage, by the court (when minor is an orphan or is self supported)or by affidavit suscribed by parents with "patria potestad". |
| D2. What is the statutory cite for the age of majority? |
Age of majority: Article 247 of the Civil Code, 31 L.P.R.A. section 971; Emancipation by marriage: Article 239 of the Civil Code, 31 L.P.R.A. section 931; Emancipation by parents: Article 233, 31 L.P.R.A. section 911; Emancipation by court: Articles 234 and 242 of the Civil Code, 31 L.P.R.A. 912 and 951.
For Additional Information - No Link Provided |
| D3. If not addressed in the order, at what age is child support automatically terminated as a matter of State law? Qualify, if necessary. |
21 |
| D4. Does the date of the order impact what law is applied? |
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| D4.1. If so, please explain. |
No |
| D5. Does child support end if the child leaves the household but does not emancipate? |
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| D5.1. Optional comments regarding emancipation. |
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| D6. Does your State allow support to be paid beyond the age of majority under any circumstances (e.g. the child is handicapped or in college)? |
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| D6.1. If so, please explain. |
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| D7. Does your state automatically reduce current support owed for remaining children after one of the children in an order reaches the age of majority or other wise emancipates? |
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| D7.1. If yes, please describe the procedure. |
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E. Statute of Limitations |
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| E1. What is your State's statute of limitations for collection of past due support? |
None, while minor has not attained majority; 5 years after minor attains majority, if obligor is disabled, when disability ceases. |
| E2. What is your State's statute of limitations for paternity establishment? |
Action for recognition of children can only be established during life of presumptive parents and 1 year beyond their death except in following instances: (1) if father or mother died during minority of child, in which case child may bring his action before first 4 years of his having attained his majority shall have elapsed; (2) if after death of father or mother there shall appear a written statement or document, of which no notice was previously had, wherein child is expressly recognized, in this case action shall be established within next 6 months after document has been discovered. Voluntary acknowledgements by ascendents and collaterals of putative parent. |
| E3. Is dormancy revival/renewal possible? |
No |
| E3.1. Please explain the circumstances when possible, and the length of time possible. |
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F. Support Details |
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| F1. What guideline type or method does your State use to calculate child support (e.g., Shared Income Model, Percentage of Income Model, Melson Formula)? |
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| F2. Does your State charge interest on missed arrears? |
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| F2.1. If yes, please indicate the amount of interest charged and any related conditions. |
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| F3. Does your State charge interest on retroactive support? |
No |
| F3.1. If yes, please indicate the amount of interest charged and any related conditions. |
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| F4. Does your State charge interest on adjudicated arrears? |
Yes |
| F4.1. If yes, please indicate the amount of interest charged and any related conditions. |
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| F5. Will your State enforce a medical debt for 50% of the uninsured portion of a medical bill? |
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| F5.1. If so, under what circumstances? |
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| F6. Have you elected to recover costs or charge fees in your State Plan? |
Yes |
| F6.1. If yes, what costs are recovered from/fees charged to the obligee? |
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| F6.2. What costs are recovered from/fees charged to the obligor? |
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| F7. Does your State recover costs on behalf of the initiating State? |
Yes |
| F7.1. Optional comments regarding recovering of initiating State's fees. |
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| F8. Please provide a citation for your State's long-arm statute to establish and/or enforce child support. |
Act No. 180 of December 20, 1997, known as the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act.
For Additional Information - No Link Provided |
| F9. Does your State establish, enforce, or modify spousal maintenance orders? |
No |
| F9.1. If yes, under what circumstances? |
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| F10. Does your State require the initiating State to include information about the new spouse or partner upon a request for establishment or modification (See General Testimony, See AT 05-03)? |
Yes |
| F10.1. Optional comments regarding required information on spouse or partner. |
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G. Income Withholding |
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| G1. What term(s) does your State use to refer to income withholding (e.g., wage withholding)? |
Income withholding |
| G2. What specific source of income is not subject to withholding? |
For Additional Information - No Link Provided |
| G3. Does your State have any limits on income withholding in addition to the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) limits? |
Yes |
| G3.1. If yes, what are those limits? |
Single 50% Married 50% |
| G4. What is the allowable fee per pay period for processing income withholding payments? |
None. |
| G5. After receiving an income withholding order or notice, what is the date by which the employer is required to implement income withholding? |
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| G6. What is the date by which an employer must remit amounts withheld from an employee's pay? |
For the first withholding no later than seven (7) business days after the first date the amount would have been paid or credited to the employee. For future withholding within seven (7) business days of the employee's pay date. |
| G7. What are your State's procedures for sanctioning employers for not implementing income withholding? |
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| G8. What is the penalty to an employer for failure to remit payments withheld? |
After due notice and after judgment is pronounced for total amount not withheld and remitted by employer or disburser on request of creditor; [property of employer or disburser will be executed except if employer is the Commonwealth of P.R., any of its agencies or municipalities.] Additionally, penalty of up to $500. per violation is statutorily provided. |
| G9. Does your State allow direct income withholding of unemployment insurance benefits across State lines? |
Yes |
| G9.1. Optional comments regarding direct withholding of UI benefits across State lines. |
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| G10. Does your State allow direct income withholding of workers' compensation benefits across State lines? |
Yes |
| G10.1. Optional comments regarding direct withholding of WC benefits across State lines. |
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| G11. How does an obligor contest income withholding in your State? |
NCP has ten (10) days to contest entering of the order by the Administrator or Court. |
| G12. When the obligor has more than one claim for child support against his/her income, indicate your State's priority scheme for income withholding orders (e.g., employer should allocate available amount for withholding equally among all orders or prorate available amount across orders). |
Employers should report in a written form if they have received other orders of income withholding of the obligor. Entity, case number, amount to be withheld and name of the custodian should be informed. If more than one (1) Notification to Withhold to same obligor, employers should withhold and deposit in the Administration the total amount claimed to a maximum of 50% of the available income of the obligor after tax deductions, Social Security and other deductions required by law, as imposed by Section 303(b) of the Consumer Credit Protection Act, 15 U.S.C.A |
| G12.1. If an employer in your State receives more than one income withholding order for child support from other States, can the employer request your assistance? |
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| G12.2. If assistance is not available, explain how employers should proceed. Please provide a citation for the State law that governs how they should proceed. |
For Additional Information - No Link Provided |
| G13. Does your state require any mandatory deductions, such as union dues, medical insurance premiums, etc., to arrive at net pay from gross pay when calculating disposable income for child support purposes? |
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| G14. When does your state require the employer to send notice of an employee's termination? |
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| G15. How long should an employer retain the IWO after termination of an employee, in anticipation of reinstating the withholding should the employee be rehired? |
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| G16. Does the State charge any fee to the obligor that the employer is required to withhold and remit to the State? |
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| G17. Does your State offer an alternate web-based payment mechanism in addition to paper and EFT/EDI? |
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| G18. Can a direct income withholding be sent to any of the following in your State: employer, financial institution (explain what institutions), Bureau of Workers Compensation, or other income payer? |
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| G19. If there is insufficient income for an employer to withhold for both the total amount of child support and medical support, describe your State's prioritization between child support and medical support. |
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H. Paternity |
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| H1. When your State enters an order establishing paternity, are issues of custody and visitation also addressed? |
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| H1.1. If yes, please explain. |
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| H2. What is the percentage of probability for genetic testing that creates a rebuttable or conclusive presumption of paternity? |
Rebuttable presumption of paternity in cases in which the genetic test ordered by the Administrator or the Administrative Judge produces a probability of paternity of ninety-five (95) to ninety- seven point nine (97.9) percent. Paternity shall be conclusive in the cases in which the genetic test ordered by the Administrator or Administrative Judge produces a probability of paternity of ninety-eight (98) percent or more. |
| H3. Optional comments regarding paternity acknowledgment conclusive legislation. |
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| H4. What is the effective date of the State law that makes paternity acknowledgments conclusive? |
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| H4.1. Were acknowledgments prior to that effective date rebuttable? |
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| H4.2. Optional comments regarding paternity acknowledgments prior to that date. |
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| H5. Does marriage constitute a rebuttable presumption of paternity? |
Yes |
| H5.1. How is the presumption rebutted? |
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| H6. If the father's name is on the birth certificate and paternity has not been established by any other means does this mean that paternity is conclusively determined? |
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| H6.1. If not, briefly explain. |
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| H7. Does your State have any other paternity-related presumptions? |
No |
| H7.1. If yes, briefly explain. |
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| H8. Does your State have a putative fathers' registry? |
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| H8.1. If so, what is the name of that entity? |
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| H9. Are there any fees for requesting searches, paternity documents, and data from your State Bureau of Vital Statistics? |
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| H9.1. Please describe any circumstances under which these fees may be waived. |
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| H10. Is common law marriage recognized in your State? |
No |
| H10.1. If yes, briefly describe the standard that defines common law marriage. |
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| H10.2. When did your current common law standard go into effect? |
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| H10.3. If there was a common law standard in effect prior to your current standard, what was that standard and when did it go into effect? |
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| H11. When the custodial parent and/or other witnesses are not able to appear in person for paternity hearings, what methods of testimony are acceptable (e.g., written, videotape, teleconferencing) |
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| H12. Please give the cite for your State's long arm statute and list any special provisions. |
For Additional Information - No Link Provided |
| H13. Does your State recover genetic testing costs for other States? |
Yes |
| H13.1. If so, please explain. |
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| H14. Are there any other documents that are required to get the father's name on the birth certificate (e.g. is an acknowledgement of paternity needed)? |
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| H15. What is the effective date of the State law that makes a father's name on the birth certificate a conclusive determination of paternity? |
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| H16. If there is more than one child with the same custodial parent, and the same alleged father, should one set of documents be sent to your state (with a paternity affidavit for each child) or should a separate packet be sent for each child? |
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I. Support Order Establishment |
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| I1. Does your State use an administrative or a judicial process to establish a support obligation? |
Both |
| I1.1. If your State can establish under both, under what circumstances would the administrative process be used? |
Expedited Administrative Procedure in cases filed after July 1, 1995. |
| I1.2. Under what circumstances would the judicial process be used? |
Court hearing by Judge in cases filed before July 1, 1995. |
| I1.3. If your State uses an administrative process, provide the statutory citations for your State's administrative procedures. |
For Additional Information - No Link Provided |
| I2. In setting support under your State's guidelines, whose income is considered in addition to the NCP (e.g., new spouse's or child's) |
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| I3. What criteria for rebutting your presumptive guidelines have been established in your State? |
Mistakes of fact; that there is no debt, or that the amounts corresponding to the debt or to support payment are mistaken, or that the person is not the obligor. |
| I4. Will your State establish support orders for prior periods? |
No |
| I4.1. If so, for what prior periods (e.g., birth of the child, date of separation, prenatal expenses, 5 years retroactive)? |
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| I4.2. What information or documentation does your State require to proceed? |
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| I4.3. Will your State allow a petition for support when the only issue is retroactive support? |
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| I4.4. If there are limitations upon your State's ability to establish support for prior periods, please specify. |
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| I5. What actions can your State perform using the administrative process? Does your State use an administrative process for paternity, establishment, modification and the enforcement of child support? |
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| I6. What is your State's statutory authority for the administrative process? |
For Additional Information - No Link Provided |
| I7. Is there a local State law that allows the interstate administrative subpoena? |
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| I8. Does your State require that a custodial person (who is not one of the biological parents) to have legal custody of a child before establishing an order for support for that child when public assistance is being expended? |
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| I9. Does your State require that a custodial person (who is not one of the biological parents) to have legal custody of a child before establishing an order for support for that child when public assistance is/or is not being expended? |
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| I10. Does your State require that a custodial person (who is not one of the biological parents) to have legal custody of a child before enforcing an order for support that was issued as the biological parents as the parties for non public assistance cases? |
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| I11. When your state has issued an order that reserves support, and now child support should be ordered, should the other state request an establishment or a modification action? |
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J. Support Enforcement |
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| J1. Indicate whether your state has the following enforcement remedies available. Also indicate what procedures are available (i.e, judicial, administrative, or both? |
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| J1.1. Are your State income tax refund procedures judicial, administrative, or both? |
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| J2. Is the lien process in your State judicial, administrative or both? |
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| J2.1. What are the trigger criteria for filing a lien? |
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| J2.2. Where is your State liens filed? |
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| J2.3. Does your State charge a fee for filing a lien? |
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| J2.4. If so, please indicate the amount. |
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| J.3. Does your State enforce property seizure and sale? |
Yes |
| J3.1. Are the property seizure and sale procedures judicial, administrative, or both? |
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| J4. Are the MSFIDM Freeze and Seize procedures in your State judicial, administrative, or both? |
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| J4.1. When must a non-custodial parent (NCP) receive notice that a MSFIDM Freeze and Seize action is an enforcement remedy and may be used by the State to collect deliquent child support? |
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| J4.2. Does your State's income withholding definition include amounts in financial institutions? |
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| J4.3. Does a new notice have to be sent when intent to Freeze and Seize is sent? |
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| J4.3.1 If so, who notifies the NCP, the State or Financial Institution? |
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| J5. What are the time frames if a new notice of intent to Freeze and Seize must be sent? |
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| J5.1. What are the criteria that must be met to deem an obligor eligible for Freeze and Seize action in your state? |
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| J5.2. What is the minimum dollar amount that the obligor must be delinquent prior to becoming eligible for asset seizure? |
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| J5.3. Is there a specified amount of time for the obligor to be delinquent prior to proceeding with Freeze and Seize? |
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| J5.3. 1. If yes, please provide the time frame. |
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| J5.4. Are only a certain percentage of the obligor's financial assets eligible for Freeze and Seize? |
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| J5.4.1. If yes, please provide the percentage. |
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| J5.4.2 . Is the percentage different for joint accounts? |
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| J5.4.3. If yes, please provide the amount. |
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| J5.5. Does your state require that a minimum amount of money must be in a financial account for the funds to be eligible for Freeze and Seize action? If so please provide the amount. |
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| J5.6. Who is responsible for applying the minimum amount, your State or the Financial Institution? |
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| J5.7. How long does the obligor and/or account holders have to contact your State child support enforcement and/or court to challenge the Freeze and Seize action? |
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| J5.8. If State law and/or policy allows for a second contest to Freeze and Seize action, how long does the obligor and/or joint account holder have to contact your state child support agency or court to challenge the Freeze and Seize action? |
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| J5.9. On what basis can an obligor and/or other account holder challenge/contest a freeze and seize action? |
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| J5.10. Is your State's complaint review process judicial, administrative or both? |
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| J5.11. What are your State's penalties for incorrect seizures? |
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| J5.12. Is the second challenge administrative, judicial or both? |
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| J5.13. What are your State's appeal time frame, unique appeal requirements and recourse for non-debtor accounts? |
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| J5.14. Is the Freeze and Seize operation in your state centralized or automated? |
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| J5.15. Are there additional Freeze and Seize requirements or limitations not otherwise noted in this profile? |
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| J5.16. Has your state established a minimum benefit amount that must be met for a financial institution to proceed with the Freeze and Seize action? |
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| J5.16.1. If yes, what is the amount? |
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| J5.17. Does your state have procedures in place to liquidate non-liquid assets (e.g., stocks, bonds, etc)? |
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| J5.17.1 If yes, please provide the state authority and the procedures Financial Institutions should follow to liquidate non-liquid assets. |
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| J5.18. Does your state law/policy instruct the Financial Institution or state to hold the frozen assets during the challenge/appeal time frame and/or freeze period? |
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| J5.19. How long does the Financial Institution have to send the obligor's assets to your state child support enforcement agency? |
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| J5.19.1 . If yes, please define. |
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| J6. Does your state withhold state funds or benefits? |
Yes |
| J6.1. If yes, is the method of withholding state benefits judicial, administrative, or both? |
Department of Labor, Unemployment benefit Government and Private Retirement benefits |
| J7. Please describe any other administrative enforcement procedures your state may have. |
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| J8. Please describe any other judicial enforcement procedures your state may have. |
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| J9. If your state has established specific procedures for registering administrative liens, what are the procedures that another state must follow? |
For Additional Information - No Link Provided |
| J10. Which of our state's enforcement remedies are available without registration? |
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| J11. Describe your state's registration and enforcement procedures. |
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| J12. After registration, describe additional judicial procedures required, if any, to enforce a support order. |
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| J13. Has your state adopted the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (UEFJA)? |
Yes |
| J13.1. If yes, please provide the statutory citation. |
Act. No. 180 of December 20, 1997
For Additional Information - No Link Provided |
| J14. Does your state's law require financial institutions doing business in your state to accept Freeze and Seize actions directly from other states? |
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| J14.1. If no, describe the process for a Freeze and Seize action from another state's IV-D agency (e.g., Transmittal #3, Transmittal #1, and list additional documentation required). |
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| J15. Does your state use credit bureau reporting as an enforcement method? |
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| J16. Provide which credit bureaus your state report an obligor's child support information? |
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| J17. Is the method for credit bureau reporting judicial, administrative or both? |
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| J18. In an interstate case, does your state report an obligor's child support information to credit bureaus when it is the initiating state, the responding state, or both? |
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| J19. What are your state's criteria for reporting an obligor's child support information to credit bureaus? |
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K. Modification and Review/Adjustment |
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| K1. With what frequency are reviews conducted in IV-D cases (e.g., every year, every three years)? |
All support orders shall be reviewed and modified, if necessary, after three (3) years from the date in which the order was established or modified. |
| K2. On what basis are the reviews conducted (e.g., on request of the CP, NCP in non-TANF cases, automatically in TANF cases)? |
Notwithstanding any law or provision to the contrary, the requirement of significant or unexpected change in the circumstances of any of the parties shall be complied with, if the application of the Mandatory Guidelines for the establishment and Modification Support Payments in Puerto Rico results in an amount different from that of the support payments currently ordered. The need to provide health care for the minor in an order shall also be a criteria to modify support payments. |
| K3. Briefly describe your State's modification procedure. |
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| K4. What are your criteria for modification (e.g., $50 or 20% from present order)? |
Application of Guidelines results in a 25% upward or downward modification of previous established amount. |
| K5. Which of the following criteria for demonstrating a change in circumstances apply, if any? |
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| K5.1. The earnings of the obligor have substantially increased or decreased. |
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| K5.2. The earnings of the obligee have substantially increased or decreased. |
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| K5.3. The needs of a party or the child(ren) have substantially increased or decreased. |
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| K5.4. The cost of living as measured by the Federal Bureau of Vital Statistics has changed. |
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| K5.5. The child(ren) have extraordinary medical expenses not covered by insurance. |
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| K5.6. There has been a substantial change in child care expenses. |
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| K5.7. What other criteria does your state use for demonstrating a change in circumstances or comments regarding change of circumstances? |
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| K6. Does your State have cost of living adjustments (COLAs)? |
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| K6.1. If so, what index does your State use? |
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| K7. How does your state credit SSA disability to current and past due support? |
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| K8. Does your state abate support? For example, when the child is not living with the custodial parent for more than 30 days and there has not been a change in custody, or when the noncustodial parent is in prison, etc. |
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| K8.1. If so, please explain the situation? |
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| K8.2. What is the statutory cite for your abatement law? |
For Additional Information - No Link Provided |
| K8.3. What documents are required for each type of referral other than UIFSA referrals? For example, pay records and certifications for TANF, etc. |
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| K8.4. Please provide information to obtain copies of paternity acknowledgements/affidavits and birth records, including where to make requests and the cost of processing the requests. |
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| K9. What information is required to register an out-of-state order for enforcement/modification? |
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L. Lump Sum Payments |
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| L1. Does your state define a lump sum payment? |
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| L1.1 If yes, please provide your state's definition. (Be specific, i.e., severance pay, incentives, relocation lump sum payments, ect)? |
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| L1.2 Provide the statutory citation. |
For Additional Information - No Link Provided |
| L2. Does your state law require employers to report lump sum payments? |
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| L2.1 If yes, please provide the statutory citation or rule requiring employers to report this information. |
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| L3. Are employers required to report lump sums for all income withholding orders (including cases with no arrears)? |
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| L3.1 If yes, what is the threshold amount at which a lump sum payment must be reported? |
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| L4. How are employers instructed to report a pending lump sum? |
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| L5. Provide the timeframe within which the child support enforcement agency must respond to the employer with instructions for attaching the lump sum. |
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| L6. How long must the employer hold the lump sum before releasing the payment to the custodial parent? |
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| L7. Does your state use the income withholding order to attach the lump sum payment? |
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| L7.1 If yes, is it noted on the original order or is it sent specifically to cover the lump sum? |
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| L8. Does your state use the lien/levy process to attach the lump sum payment? |
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| L8.1 If yes, what is the name of the document your state uses to attach lump sum payment? |
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| L9. What other documents does your state use to attach lump sum payments? |
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| L10. Does your state require the consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) limits to be applied to lump sum payments? |
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| L10.1 If yes, what are those limits? |
For Additional Information - No Link Provided |
| L10.2 If no, what percentage is the employer required to withhold? |
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| L11 If an employer pays the lump sum in addition to regular wages, in a single payment, would the CCPA limits apply? |
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| L11.1 If yes, would the employer only withhold for that period's obligation? |
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