The Income Withholding Order: Support Taken From the Paycheck Automatically

The earnings assignment is the workhorse of child support collection — automatic, employer-enforced, and first in line ahead of every other garnishment.

What California Law Says

Family Code section 5230 requires an earnings assignment order with every support order; employers must begin withholding within 10 days of service and remit within set timelines, and support withholding takes priority over all other garnishments, reaching up to half or more of disposable earnings under federal limits.

How to Collect, Step by Step

1. Confirm an earnings assignment issued with your order; request one immediately if stayed or missing.
2. Serve it on the employer — DCSS handles service in agency cases; self-represented parents use the sheriff or mail rules.
3. Calendar the employer’s compliance timeline and follow up on missed remittances.
4. Move the assignment fast when the payor changes jobs — new employer, new service.
5. Report noncompliant employers: they become personally liable for amounts they failed to withhold.

Common Questions

The employer is ignoring the order. Who do I pursue?

The employer itself — willful failure to withhold makes the company liable for the missed amounts, a powerful lever that gets payroll departments moving.

My ex says garnishment embarrasses him and offers to pay directly. Should I release it?

Keep the assignment — direct payment promises are how arrears are born, and the statute makes withholding the default for exactly that reason.