9.10 Judgments

State Authority:

Wyoming Statutes

Wyo. Stat. § 1-16-103 - Penalty assessed on unpaid judgment by operation of law

Wyo. Stat. § 1-16-308 - Release of satisfied judgment; requirement

Wyo. Stat. § 1-16-309 - Release of satisfied judgment; liability for failure

Wyo. Stat. § 1-16-503 - Revivor of dormant judgments; limitations on time to revive 

Wyo. Stat. § 1-17-307 - When a judgment becomes dormant

Overview

Some child support enforcement remedies require judgments while others such as income withholding, dunning letter, or federal offset do not.  Therefore, it is imperative that a judgment for retroactive or past due support be obtained.    A judgment may be obtained from a District Court hearing or may arise from the operation of law.  A judgment by operation of law does not require a hearing and means “a periodic payment or installment of child support or maintenance which is unpaid on the date due.”

The child support judgment, whether judicial or by operation of law may become dormant if the last attempt to enforce the action was more than 5 years ago.  A dormant judgment is not subject to collection; however, a dormant judgment is revived (i.e. returned to status where it can be collected) as soon as the non-custodial parent is notified of any effort to collect the judgment.  Notice of any number of enforcement actions, such as income withholding, an action to revive or a civil contempt action, will revive a dormant judgment if provided within 21 years of the last action to enforce the judgment.

Policy

When the District Child Support Program (CSP) Office files an action to enforce or modify an order, and the non-custodial parent is in arrears, the District CSP Attorney will request a judgment on arrears. When an action to establish paternity and support or support only is filed, the District  CSP Attorney may request a judgment on retroactive support depending on the practice of the local District Court. If an initiating state requests a Wyoming CSP Office to establish paternity and support or support only, the Wyoming District CSP Office will seek a judgment on retroactive support as requested by the initiating state.

The District CSP Attorney will not negotiate or waive any assigned arrears owed to the State of Wyoming without the written permission of the IV-D Director.

When the CSP has obtained a child support judgment from the District Court, the District CSP Attorney will file a satisfaction of judgment within 15 days of the date the judgment is paid in full.

Cross Reference

None