Ybarra v. Ybarra (Nebraska 2020)

State and federal law control the amount of money that can be withheld for child support. The father, who owed child support arrears and interest, requested a modification of the amount of money being withheld from his social security. He also requested that the interest be removed. He argued that the amount withheld placed him below the subsistence levels in the child support guidelines. The trial court denied his requests. The father appealed. The appellate court upheld the decision. It found the child support guidelines didn’t apply to this situation. The guidelines apply to the establishment of an order. The federal statute set the withholding limitation, and the amount being withheld didn’t violate that limit. The appellate court found that the trial court properly denied the request to reduce the interest, as well. Interest on child support is a matter of right, so a trial court has no discretion to reduce it.