Does child support get taken out of unemployment? California EDD question

Not automatically in the sense that it jumps over on its own, but child support can absolutely be taken from unemployment in California. EDD's own materials say child support can be withheld from benefits. The order has to go through the right channels though, usually Child Support Services.

Yeah that's basically what I'm trying to figure out - whether I need to do anything or whether my ex can just file something and it starts coming out without me knowing.

Okay so Child Support Services is the entity that actually sends the withholding notice to EDD? Not my ex directly or her attorney?

From what the agent explained about my own case, the withholding order came through Child Support Services, not from my ex's lawyer directly. The agency coordinates it.

The wait times to reach EDD by phone are brutal so that makes sense. I've been dealing with a pending week issue on my own claim and might look into that.

I am behind unfortunately, so enforcement is probably already in motion. That's what worries me.

Being behind doesn't automatically mean they've sent anything to EDD yet though. The timing matters. Have you checked with Child Support Services about where your case stands?

I haven't yet, I've been kind of avoiding it honestly. But I guess I need to just call them and find out what's already been filed.

So unemployment is treated like a paycheck for child support purposes? That's kind of wild but I guess it makes sense.

Pretty much, yeah. At least for enforcement purposes. The benefit is income and child support agencies treat it that way.

Does that mean the percentage they take is the same as it would be from a paycheck? Like is it capped at a certain amount?

Fair enough. I keep trying to get EDD to answer everything but some of this is really a Child Support Services question.

Exactly. EDD is just the one cutting the check - or the deduction, in this case. The actual amounts and rules around it are on the other side of this.

I did register in CalJOBS right after I applied, actually. Got the DE 8405 and did it within the first week. That part I handled.

Good, that's one less thing to stress about. Some people don't realize it's separate from just filing the claim.

CalJOBS registration tripped up a couple people I know who thought applying for unemployment was all they had to do. Important reminder for anyone reading.

Wait so I could actually request a modification to my order since my income dropped? I didn't know that was connected to the unemployment side at all.

You'd do the modification through Child Support Services, not through EDD. But EDD's own resources mention it as something to look into when your income changes. Definitely worth asking Child Support Services about.

This is actually the most useful thing in this thread. People always assume child support and unemployment are totally separate but there might be a path to getting the order adjusted.

That's exactly what I'm afraid of. How much notice did you get that it was happening?

Honestly none before the first deduction hit. I found out when I checked my payment in UI Online under Claim History and it was lower than the weekly benefit amount on my DE 429Z. Definitely contact Child Support Services before your payment posts if you can.

No heads up at all? That seems like something they should notify you about.

That's really a question for Child Support Services and potentially a family court, not EDD. EDD processes what the order says - adjusting the order itself is a separate legal process that happens on the child support side.

Okay so EDD has zero discretion on this, they just follow the order. Got it. That's frustrating but at least it's clear.

I wasn't worried about that specifically but good to know. My main concern is just making sure the actual amount landing in my account is what I'm planning around.

Someone told me once that unemployment shows on a credit report and I've been paranoid about it ever since. Thanks for clearing that up.

Pretty common misconception. UI benefits are taxable income federally but California doesn't tax them, and they go on your 1099G at the end of the year - but that's tax stuff, not credit reporting.

I did set up the 10 percent withholding, that part I knew about. Already got burned by a tax surprise one year.

Smart. It's easy to forget and then get hit with a bill in April.

The 1099G is in UI Online too if you go paperless - shows up under Payments by January 31st. Useful to know if you don't want to wait for the mail.

The base period looks at your first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you filed. Wages in that window is what EDD uses. A gap in employment matters insofar as your wages during those quarters might be lower, but EDD automatically checks the alternate base period (last four completed quarters) if the standard one doesn't give you enough wages for a valid claim.

So if my most recent quarter had my highest wages, that might actually be the one that gets used through the alternate base period?

Not exactly - the alternate base period is only used if the standard one doesn't make your claim valid at all. It doesn't get used just because it would give you a higher weekly amount. EDD decides which applies when they process the claim.

I definitely thought my employer could block my claim when I first filed. The DE 1101CZ notice goes to them but EDD makes the actual determination.

Exactly. Same logic applies here - the ex or their attorney or Child Support Services can send an earnings withholding order to EDD, but that's a court-ordered process, not them controlling your benefits.

That might be what's happening with mine. My order was set up through the court a couple years ago and I've been having wages withheld since then, so it's probably one of those automatic enforcement orders.

Then yeah, Child Support Services likely already has an order on file for EDD as an income source. That's the most common setup. Worth a call to them to confirm before your payment posts.

Worth noting there is a California Training Benefits option for people enrolled in EDD-approved training programs - that can potentially add weeks before hitting the 26-week limit. You'd request it before week 16 of your benefits. But it's not automatic and requires being in an approved program.

I had no idea about the training extension. I would have looked into that if I'd known.

I'm not at that point yet but good to file away. Hopefully I land something before I have to think about 26 weeks.

So the highest quarter isn't necessarily the one that gets used if it's outside the base period window? That's a bummer.

Right, and the alternate base period only kicks in if your standard base period wages aren't enough for a valid claim, not just to bump up your weekly amount. Learned that the hard way.

This is good to know for context. I want to make sure I understand my DE 429Z correctly too, especially with the child support uncertainty on top of it.

She's wrong on that one. Unemployment benefits are income and can absolutely be counted for child support purposes. Courts and Child Support Services treat UI benefits as income when calculating and enforcing support orders. This is well established in California.

Yeah I figured she might have had bad info. Good to know before I repeat it.

Any dispute about the amount being deducted would be handled through Child Support Services, since they're the ones who sent EDD the withholding order. EDD is following instructions from that order. If the amount is wrong, the error is probably on the order itself or how it was interpreted, not an EDD calculation mistake.

So call Child Support Services first, not EDD, if the numbers are off. Got it.

Exactly. EDD can confirm what amount they were ordered to withhold, but changing it requires going back to Child Support Services and potentially back to the court if the order itself needs to be corrected.

Mine have been processing okay so far but I'm bracing for a pending week if the child support order kicks in and EDD needs to verify amounts or something.

Hopefully they just process it cleanly once Child Support Services coordinates with EDD. The pending weeks are stressful but usually resolve without having to do anything.

I haven't gotten anything new from them, but I should probably be proactive and call rather than waiting to see what shows up in my account.

100 percent. Being proactive now saves a lot of confusion when payments start posting.

Calling Child Support Services directly and asking where your withholding order stands is probably the fastest way to know exactly what's going to come out of your EDD payments before it happens.

That's actually a helpful way to track it. I'll keep an eye on the Claim History payments versus the DE 429Z amount.

And if anything looks really off, that's when you call Child Support Services to verify what order they sent to EDD.

I haven't picked up anything yet but I'm open to it if something comes along. So the earnings reduce the weekly benefit and then child support potentially takes a cut of whatever's left?

The way it works is EDD calculates the partial benefit first based on your earnings for that week, and then whatever withholding order is in place applies to the adjusted payment amount. So yeah, both factors affect the actual deposit.

To be precise on the partial benefit formula - EDD doesn't count the first $25 or 25 percent of your gross weekly wages, whichever is more, and subtracts the rest from your weekly benefit amount. Full-time work knocks you out for that week entirely regardless of what you earn.