Child support can be a stressful and contentious topic for parents. You might be recently separated and need money to support your child. Or you're trying to enforce a child support order against a parent who refuses to pay.
Do you disagree with the way that your co-parent is spending child support? Are their actions legal?
Do you have to pay support until they finish high school? What if the child is emancipated or self-supporting?
You can find answers to these difficult questions. FindLaw's Child Support Section has critical information on a ton of child support issues.
This section tells you how to receive child support and how to make child support payments. You will find information about how to modify child support payments, how to enforce child support, and how to calculate child support. In addition, there are links to state child support laws and guidelines, and helpful tips on hiring a private attorney to help you with your case.
Steps To Take Before Obtaining Child Support
Before applying for child support, be sure to follow these steps, if necessary:
- Locate the other parent if you don't know where they are.
- Establish legal fatherhood or paternity.
- Determine the appropriate amount for child support using your state's child support guidelines.
Obtaining Child Support via Agreement
You can make a child support agreement outside of a court setting. You can meet with your co-parent and decide on child support. However, any agreements parents make without the court aren't legally binding. This means that the paying parent isn't forced to pay. They are not penalized when they don't pay.
Obtaining Child Support via Court Order
You can make a child support agreement outside of court. But the family court is the only way to establish a legal obligation for the parent to pay. In other words, if you want the paying parent to face penalties if they don't pay, you have to get the court involved. You must pursue a child support order from the family court. The family law judge in your case will direct the parent to meet their obligated child support payments. Then the court punishes them if they don't.
The process varies by state and depends on your situation. For example, if you're getting a divorce, child support issues are part of that process. Or you can get help from a child support services agency.
Child Support Services
The federal government gives funds to each state for child support services. The federal government manages these programs. Every state must have a child support enforcement program that complies with federal regulations. The federal office of child support enforcement goes by the name of the Office of Child Support Enforcement. It does not provide support. Instead, it manages the child support agencies for the state, local, and tribe programs.
Local and state governments have child support agencies with assistance programs to help parents. The child support service agency serves many purposes.
Generally, the first step is to provide a caseworker. The caseworker guides the parent through the many resources provided by the agency. An agency caseworker might file for child support on behalf of a custodial parent and child who are TANF recipients. TANF stands for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Or the agency might hand out a referral for a private attorney.
After the parent files their child support case, the agencies help to enforce the order. Various services that they can help with include the following:
- Locating parents
- Establishing paternity
- Filing for court orders for child support
- Requesting court orders for medical support
- Collecting and paying child support
- Enforcing child support orders
- Enforcing alimony/spousal support orders
- Modifying child support order terms
Child Support Payments
If you have a child who lives primarily at another parent's home, whether by your own agreement or a custody order, you will most likely have to pay child support to that individual. In some cases, you can also pay support when there is split custody.
Put aside feelings about your fellow co-parent, and remember that the payments benefit your child. Ignoring an order to pay child support can lead to serious consequences. Knowing how much to pay and ensuring that it gets to the other parent on time is important.
Child Support Payments: Paying Parent
Your state's child support agency coordinates child support payments. A common payment method withholds the support amount from your paycheck and pays it to the state agency. The state agency distributes it to the custodial parent.
Child Support Payments: Receiving Parent
Your state's child support agency facilitates child support payments. There are a few ways to receive child support payments. This includes:
- Direct deposit
- Electronic payment card
- Check
Child Support Calculations
The state child support guidelines have rules to make child support calculations. The court follows the child support guidelines to get a child support amount. The amount of support can change if the factors change. The state guidelines are based on many factors, which may include:
- Parents' net income
- Parents' gross income
- The amount of time that the child spends with the parent (including custody arrangements)
- Income tax filing status of the parents
- Expenses, such as health care, and childcare
- The number of children supported
- Other child support obligations
- Spousal support/alimony
Deductions
There aren't many deductions allowed on child support worksheets. See the following deductions:
- Health insurance
- Mandatory pension contributions
- Mandatory union dues
- Medicare
- Property tax
- Social Security
Child Support Modification
Your financial situation may change over time. Problems arise when the amount of child support is too high relative to the paying parent's income. If you can't afford the child support amount, consider a modification. You can file a motion with the court. You can add updated information to the child support worksheet and resubmit it as proof of your current financial condition.
Either party may ask the court to modify the order due to a substantial change of circumstances. Examples may include:
- Increase or decrease in parents' income
- New or additional job
- Loss of job and inability to find work at the same wage
- Receiving public assistance
- Current incarceration
- Permanent disability
- Changes in family size (new children to support)
- Deployment to active military service
Child Support Enforcement
Unpaid child support is a problem for everyone involved. If you're a parent with a court order but aren't receiving payments, you can seek help from your local or state child support services agency.
Interstate Child Support Enforcement
People are moving more than ever. After getting a divorce, a parent might change location and take the child with them. But an out-of-state move doesn't change a child support obligation.
You can enforce a child support order on a non-custodial parent who resides in another state. But you must seek help from the other state's child support agency.
For example, you and your co-parent live in South Carolina. You get a child support order in South Carolina. Then they move to Texas. You may ask the child support agency in Texas to help enforce or modify the prior child support order.
What Happens if You Don't Pay Child Support?
As soon as a judge issues a court order for child support, it becomes a legal obligation. When you disobey a court order, including a child support obligation, you can be in "contempt of court." The court uses this as a method to enforce child support payment. The court also enforces other court orders, such as an order for child custody or spousal support.
Parents often use tactics to avoid paying child support. For example, they may remain unemployed or be paid under the table. However, this can hurt you in the long run. Depending on where you live, the courts have a number of tools at their disposal for enforcing child support orders. This includes the following:
- Garnishing your paycheck (wage withholding)
- Intercepting your tax refunds
- Revoking your driver's license
- Revoking your passport
- Seizing your property
- Criminal prosecution
When your assets are seized, the state could take away money from:
- Bank accounts
- Commissions
- Rental income
- Royalties
- Tax returns
Have Questions About Child Support? Get a Lawyer's Help
Child support represents an essential part of a child's life. However, dealing with it can be overwhelming for the parents. If you're having issues with receiving or paying child support, you should get legal help. Consider turning to an experienced local child support lawyer for legal advice and figuring out your best course of action.
