Court orders often specify that monthly support is due on the first day of each month. Money usually will not be deposited in a creditor's account by that date.

There are many factors that affect when money is received by MEP and when it is paid out. These include the waiting period of up to 7 days required to clear debtor payments through MEP's trust account, the transfer time involved when funds are coming from another jurisdiction and the delays that arise from formal collection action:

• Although MEP is encouraging debtors with a wage support deduction notice to ensure that their payments are early rather than late, MEP cannot guarantee when these payments will be received. Employers must process their payroll and make the required deductions under a support deduction notice at that time. Payroll deductions may be made weeks after a support payment is due.
• Funds deducted by the federal government under a federal support deduction notice can take up to 12 weeks to reach MEP.
• Non-wage support deduction notices will collect money for MEP if and when the debtor deposits funds at that bank. The financial institution must monitor debtor accounts and remit any deposit funds that become available during the 12 years the support deduction notice remains in effect. If the account under support deduction notice is a joint one, MEP is subject to an additional 21-day period during which a joint holder of an account may file an objection to the percentage of money claimed by the support deduction notice.

Because support funds do not always arrive as specified in the court order, it is not advisable for creditors to view them as guaranteed funds.