TN 14 (06-03)

A. POLICY

Legal process must be “served” (i.e., delivered in a manner prescribed by law) on the party named in the process. Proper service of a garnishment order on SSA is in a manner provided by the applicable State law on the manager (or designated representative) of any Social Security Field Office (FO) or on any Program Center (PC).

NOTE: To terminate garnishment withholding, a fax from the State Office of Child Support Enforcement is acceptable. If sent from any other entity, it must be delivered in the manner provided by the applicable State law as outlined above.

B. PROCEDURE

1. Improper Method of Service

If a garnishment order is delivered by a method not in accordance with the law of the state in which it is issued, return it to the court using the notice in NL 00703.726.

If the order is properly served but on an SSA component other than an FO or PC (e.g., a Regional GC), do not return the order. Send it to the nearest FO for processing.

2. Incorrect Party Named

If a garnishment order is served on SSA, but SSA is not expressly named as the “garnishee”, “employer”, “income payer”, etc., accept the order and process per GN 02410.210. However, if the order specifically names someone other than SSA (e.g., General Electric), return it to the issuing entity using the notice in NL 00703.726.

3. Service on A PC

If a garnishment order is served on a PC, see GN 02410.210.