What Is an Income Withholding Order in Texas?

An income withholding order in Texas is a court order that tells an employer to take child support (and sometimes spousal maintenance) directly out of an employee’s paycheck and send it to the Texas State Disbursement Unit, which then forwards the money to the person owed support. Texas courts attach one of these orders to nearly every child support case under Chapter 158 of the Family Code, so for most paying parents, withholding is not a punishment or a last resort. It’s simply how support gets paid.

How the Order Gets Issued

Whenever a Texas court orders, modifies, or enforces periodic child support, it must also order that the support be withheld from the paying parent’s disposable earnings.¹ If the case is handled through the Office of the Attorney General’s Title IV-D program, the court has no power to suspend, delay, or stay delivery of the order to the employer.

Outside the Title IV-D context, there is some room to breathe. For good cause or by agreement of the parties, the court can hold the order back from the employer until the obligor falls more than 30 days behind, accumulates arrears equal to at least a month of support, or otherwise violates the support order.¹ The obligation to withhold still exists; the paperwork just sits on the shelf until one of those triggers fires.

Once the order is in the employer’s hands, payments flow through the State Disbursement Unit, which tracks each payment, timestamps it, and routes the funds to the recipient.²

What Income Can Be Withheld

Texas defines “earnings” broadly. The term reaches wages, salary, overtime, bonuses, severance, commissions, and independent contractor pay. It also covers pensions, annuities, workers’ compensation, disability and retirement payments, unemployment benefits, and interest income.³ A commissioned salesperson, a retiree drawing a pension, and a freelancer receiving 1099 payments can all be subject to a withholding order. When payments come irregularly, withholding happens each time a payment is made, and the entity cutting the check is responsible for the math and the remittance.

The actual withholding is calculated against “disposable earnings,” which is what’s left after legally required deductions like federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare. Voluntary deductions do not shrink the base. A 401(k) contribution or a health insurance premium comes out after the disposable-earnings figure is set, so those elections don’t reduce the amount available for child support.

How Much Comes Out

Federal law puts a ceiling on withholding through the Consumer Credit Protection Act. The cap depends on whether the employee supports another spouse or dependent child and on whether support is seriously overdue.⁴

50% of disposable earnings if the employee supports another spouse or dependent child.
60% of disposable earnings if the employee does not.
Add 5% to either figure (so 55% or 65%) if payments are more than 12 weeks overdue.⁵

If the court-ordered support exceeds the applicable cap, the employer withholds only up to the cap. The remainder doesn’t disappear. It builds as arrears, and the state can collect it later through other enforcement tools.

What the Employer Has to Do

Withholding has to start by the first pay period after the employer receives the order, and it continues as long as the employee works there.¹ Each pay date, the employer sends the withheld amount to the person or office named in the order, along with identifying information so the SDU can match the payment to the right case.

The employer should notify the employee and provide a copy of the order, but it has no authority to change the amount, negotiate different terms, or honor the employee’s objections. An employee who disputes the order has to take it back to court. On top of the support amount, Texas lets the employer deduct an administrative fee of up to $10 per month from the employee’s disposable earnings to cover processing.¹ The fee is optional.

Firing, disciplining, or refusing to hire someone because of a withholding order is prohibited.⁶ An employer who ignores the order or shortchanges the payments can be held liable for the full amount that should have been withheld, plus interest, attorney’s fees, and court costs.¹

Multiple Orders and Priority

If an employer receives orders for the same employee from more than one family, Texas requires even allocation: equal amounts toward each current-support obligation first, then equal amounts toward arrears, until every order is satisfied or the federal cap is reached.⁷ Child support withholding also outranks nearly every other garnishment that might land on an employee’s paycheck. The one exception is an IRS tax levy entered before the underlying child support order was established.⁸

Lump-Sum Payments

Bonuses and payouts in lieu of vacation or other leave trigger a separate rule. When an employee in an Attorney General child support case is due a lump-sum payment of $500 or more, the employer must notify the Office of the Attorney General before releasing it so the agency can decide whether some or all of it should go toward arrears.⁹ The employer waits until the earlier of the tenth day after notification or the date it receives authorization. If no response comes, the employer may release the funds on day 11. Regular earnings and severance pay are not lump sums for this purpose.

Spousal Maintenance Is Different

Income withholding is not automatic for spousal maintenance the way it is for child support. The court may order withholding from the paying spouse’s earnings, but is not required to. When both child support and spousal maintenance are owed to the same recipient, a single order can cover both, but the amounts must be stated separately and applied in a fixed order: current child support, then current spousal maintenance, then child support arrears, then spousal maintenance arrears.¹⁰

Changing the Amount

Neither the employee nor the employer can adjust withholding on their own. Either parent can petition the issuing court for a modification when there has been a material and substantial change in circumstances, such as a significant change in income, a job loss, or a change in the child’s needs. If the court grants it, a new order goes to the employer. Until that new order arrives, the existing one controls. A phone call, email, or letter from the employee doesn’t change anything.

When the Order Ends

Child support in Texas generally runs until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever is later. It can end sooner if the child marries, has the disabilities of minority removed by court order, or dies. For a child with a disability as defined by the Family Code, support can continue indefinitely.¹¹ Spousal maintenance ends on the date set in the order, or earlier if the receiving spouse remarries, begins cohabiting with a romantic partner, or either party dies.

Even when the underlying obligation reaches its end date, the employer should keep withholding until it receives formal written notice from the SDU or the court. Stopping too early creates liability for missed payments. If arrears remain at termination, withholding usually continues until the balance is cleared.

1
Justia Law. Texas Family Code Chapter 158 – Withholding From Earnings for Child Support
2
Texas Child Support Portal. FAQ – Texas Child Support Portal
3
Texas Payroll/Personnel Resource. Child Support Withholding and Fees
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment
5
Social Security Administration. How Garnishment Withholding Is Calculated
6
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 158.209 – Employer Penalty for Noncompliance With Order or Writ of Withholding
7
Texas Child Support Employer Website. Income Withholding Multiple Orders
8
Administration for Children and Families. Processing an Income Withholding Order or Notice
9
Texas Child Support Employer Website. Lump Sum Payments
10
Texas Public Law. Texas Family Code Section 8.101 – Income Withholding General Rule
11
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 154.001 – Support of Child