What is a pass-through payment?

On Behalf of | Oct 22, 2021 | child support | 0 comments

Child support has a lot of related terminology and processes that can be confusing if you are new to the overall system. One such thing you may hear about is pass-through payments.

According to the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, pass-through payments apply when the parent receiving child support also receives Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

The money you may get

If you are the parent receiving support and your get TANF, then your support would go to the state to pay for those benefits. In some cases, though, the Division of Child Support will pay you a portion of the child support paid in your case.

If you have two or more children, your pass-through payment will be up to $100 per month. If you have only one child, then you can get a pass-through payment of up to $50. It depends on your case and the amount of support the other parent pays.

When you get it

The tricky part of pass-through payments is they only payout when the other parent pays. If the other parent fails to pay support, then you will not get it. The DCS also pays once a month, so if you get support more often, you will not get it until all payments come in for the month. Furthermore, if payments are late, then payment to you is late.

Not everyone can get pass-through payments. You will need to talk to your caseworker to see if you qualify for these payments and to find out how much you will get.