Wage Assignments for Bonuses & Severance
Quick answer
Child support can be withheld from bonuses, commissions, and severance — not just base wages — when the income withholding order includes the right percentage language aimed at those irregular payments.
Regular paychecks are easy to withhold from. Bonuses, commissions, and severance are where money slips through — unless the order is written to catch them.
The language that matters
The order should include a clause mandating a specific percentage of withholding from bonuses, commissions, and severance — not just base wages.
Timing
Employers act on explicit instructions. For irregular compensation, it's often cleaner to issue a separate Income Withholding Order aimed at those payment types.
Verify it worked
When a special check issues, obtain the pay advice and cross-reference the amount against the State Disbursement Unit (SDU) postings so nothing is quietly under-withheld.
Since 1997, the Dallas child support attorney team at Sinkin Law Firm has recovered unpaid support for parents statewide.
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