Child Support & Stimulus

Updated: January 8, 2021

New Guidelines for Second Stimulus Payment

Congress has passed an emergency economic relief package that includes language protecting child support offsets and bank garnishment.

The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 provides a second round of Economic Impact Payments in the amount of $600.

The first stimulus payment issued under the CARES Act provided $1200 cash payments. Under federal law, those payments were subject to federal offset for people who owed past-due support.

However, unlike the first stimulus payment, Congress has exempted the second payment from the federal tax offset program for past-due child support.

The $600 payment will not be intercepted for people who owe past-due child support.