Your client or the obligor may have a settlement or be in negotiations to settle a personal injury claim. DCFS typically sends liens to attorneys whom the agency knows to be representing a child support obligor in a personal injury suit. The document is called a “Notice of Assignment of Lump Sum Payments,” and attorneys are required to comply with the assignment upon resolution of the claim. The law specifically allows DCFS to intercept lump sum payments to satisfy child support obligations.1
- 1State v. Heard, 2020-0708 (La. App. 1 Cir. 2/15/21), 322 So. 3d 283 (applying La. R.S. 46:236.3).