Section 17 Procedures for collection and disbursement of child support; informational materials; review; appeals - Massachusetts Statutes

Section 17. The department shall establish procedures for the prompt resolution of disputes concerning the collection and disbursement of child support and shall prepare informational materials for distribution to obligors and obligees describing such procedures and, where applicable, such procedures shall be consistent with section six of chapter one hundred and nineteen A. Such procedures shall include maintenance of an adequately staffed unit the principal duties of which shall be to respond to inquiries, with a widely publicized telephone line, to receive written requests from obligors and obligees for administrative review of the IV-D agency’s actions in collecting and disbursing child support and to refer such requests to the appropriate unit within the department for resolution. Upon receipt of the necessary information and documentation from the obligor and obligee requesting administrative review, the department shall conduct the review and render a written decision of its determination to the person requesting the review. Such determination shall also notify such person that he may, upon exhaustion of the procedures for administrative review provided herein and within 45 days of such determination, seek judicial review in the court where the order or judgment was issued or registered or, if there is no such order or judgment, by filing a request for judicial review in the probate court in the county wherein the appellant resides; provided, however, that a request for judicial review shall be accompanied by a copy of the agency’s determination. Upon receipt of the request for judicial review, the court shall notify the IV-D agency at least fourteen days prior to any hearing. Pursuant to relevant provisions of state and federal law, the court may review the determination made by the agency and may correct any mistakes of fact. Appeals from a decision of a court pursuant to this section may be made in the same manner as other judicial appeals.