How do i start the child support process

How A Child Support Case Works

Either parent can open a child support case, as can a child’s legal guardian. Having an order from a judge for child support to be paid does not automatically open a child support case.

To open a case in California, fill out the online application or visit your local child support agency – agency locations can be found here.

After an application is submitted, the applicant will be contacted by their local office to assist with the process of obtaining a child support order with the court.

There are many benefits to opening a child support case:

If you do not yet have an order, we provide assistance to both parents through all steps of the process.
In certain situations, we can help you avoid court completely.
Once you have an order, we keep official records, protecting both the payer and the recipient.
We can assist recipients with enforcement of the order.
We can help payers avoid or resolve negative enforcement actions if you are unable to pay.

See our instructional video below, “How To Open A Child Support Case” for more details on this process.

More Important Information

For information about changes in family status please see: FamiliesChange.ca.gov

Before a child support order can be made, both parents of the child need to be located. There is no guarantee they will be found, but the more information we have, such as the parent’s date of birth and Social Security Number, the easier it will be.

Watch our “Locating a Parent” Quick Tip video below for more detailed information about this step.

After the case is opened, the parent being asked to pay child support will be given a Summons and Complaint packet. This is legal notification that you have been named in a child support case.

You only have 30 days to respond, or a “default” child support order may be ordered by the judge without your financial situation being considered.

See our instructional video below, “I Received a Summons and Complaint – What Do I Do?” for more information about this very important package of documents.

If you have been served with a Summons and Complaint, and you do not believe you are legally responsible for the child or children you are being asked to pay child support for, you have the right to request proof and we will assist you free of charge. This is either DNA testing to determine parentage (which is more than 99% accurate), or proof that the parents were legally married at the time of the child’s birth.

If you do not request proof, you can still be assigned legal parentage without your consent.

If you would like to avoid going to court, some local agencies offer “Family Meetings” that allow both individuals to meet with a child support caseworker, either together or separately. If both parents can agree on an amount, their signed document becomes the “Stipulated Agreement,” which is filed with the court.

This option may not be offered in all child support offices.

For more on the benefits of this, see our “Family Meetings” instructional video below.

If there is no Stipulated Agreement, a court date will be set. The judge will review the financial and other relevant information from both parties and decide on an appropriate amount of child support to be ordered.

If either parent can get medical insurance, the court will consider that cost in deciding the amount of child support ordered.

Below, our instructional video “How Does the Court Determine a Child Support Amount” includes more information on this decision, which becomes the official child support order.

After a child support order is set, payments are scheduled to begin. There are many options for payment but if the parent ordered to pay is employed, their employer will be required to make those payments by withholding the funds from their paycheck. This is mandated under Federal law for child support orders and does not imply a failure to pay.

All payments are recorded and this can provide security for the parent paying support in case there is any disagreement.

A child support order is a legal court order. Parents who refuse to pay or delay paying their child support face enforcement actions that can include:

Suspension of their driver’s license or passport
Revocation of professional and occupational licenses
Bank and property liens
Interception of tax refunds
Interception of lottery winnings

Also, by California state law, unpaid court orders get charged 10% interest.

As a last resort, civil contempt charges may also be filed. If you have trouble paying your child support, talk to your local agency right away. There are programs available to help parents who are trying in good faith to pay their support.

For more on the consequences of unpaid child support, see our instructional video, “My Driver’s License has been suspended due to child support. How can I get a release?”

If either parent or guardian has a change in circumstances after a child support order is set, which could be losing a job, changing jobs, or a change in custody or visitation, the order may qualify for modification.

Your local agency or the Family Law Facilitator at your county courthouse can assist with this.

There are many reasons why a child support case can be closed. The usual one is that the youngest child reaches the age of 18, is no longer a full-time high school student, and no past-due balances are owed. At that time both parents are notified by the child support agency, and the case stays open for 60 days after this notification.

All records are maintained for at least four years and four months in accordance with federal law.

For more information about the Child Support Process, visit and follow our YouTube channel:

For more information on changing family status please see: FamiliesChange.ca.gov

How to Get Child Support

Publication Date: September 9, 2014

What are the steps to collect child support?

Typically it begins by identifying the father, often called establishing paternity. Once we know who the father is, a child support order is established and the child support agency can begin collecting and enforcing the child support order.

Establish Fatherhood

If you were not married when your child was born, the first step is to - legally determining the father of the child. Many men will voluntarily acknowledge paternity.

If a man is not certain that he is the father, the child support agency can arrange for genetic testing. These tests are simple to take and highly accurate. Either parent can request a blood test in contested paternity cases.
Establish a Child Support Order

All states have official child support guidelines. The guidelines are used to calculate how much a parent should contribute to financially support his or her child.

Your child support office will be able to tell you how support amounts are set in your state and can request medical support for your child.
Enforce the Child Support Order

The most successful way to collect child support is by direct withholding from the obligated parent's paycheck. Most child support orders require the employer to withhold the money that is ordered for child support, and send it to the state child support office. Your child support office can tell you about this procedure.

At any of these steps, the child support office may need to know where the noncustodial parent lives or where he or she works. When a parent's whereabouts are not known, it is usually possible for the child support office to find him or her with the help of state agencies, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles, or the Federal Parent Locator Service. Your caseworker can tell you what information is needed to find an absent parent or the employer.

There are several ways we collect and enforce child support:

Withhold income
Deny Passports
Intercept federal payments
Set liens on property
Withhold tax refunds
Report child support debts to credit bureaus
Suspend or revoke drivers, professional, occupational, and recreational licenses

How and where do I apply?

Contact your local child support office to apply for child support services. Your state may allow you to apply online.

Here are some things you might need to provide. Ask your local office for a complete list.

Information about the noncustodial parent
Birth certificates of children
If paternity is an issue, written statements (letters or notes) in which the alleged father has said or implied that he is the father of the child
Your child support order, divorce decree, or separation agreement if you have one
Records of any child support received in the past
Information about your income and assets
Information about expenses, such as your child’s health care, daycare, or special needs

See these resources for additional information:

Child Support Handbook: more information about finding the noncustodial parent, establishing a child support order, and collecting support
Glossary: defines a list of acronyms and other terms used by child support workers
3 Steps to Applying for Child Support (PDF): at-a-glance infographic about contacting your local office, gathering your information, and completing an application

What does the child support program do?

State and tribal child support programs locate noncustodial parents, establish paternity, establish and enforce support orders, modify orders when appropriate, collect and distribute child support payments, and refer parents to other services. While programs vary from state to state, their services are available to all parents who need them.

Our program’s mission is to increase parental support of children by:

Locating parents
Establishing legal fatherhood (paternity)
Establishing and enforcing fair support orders
Increasing health care coverage for children
Referring parents to employment services, helping to build healthy family relationships, supporting responsible fatherhood and helping to prevent and reduce family violence

See our fact sheet for more about our program. (PDF)

What are the roles of the state and federal child support programs?

State, tribal and local child support offices provide day to day operation of the program. They manage the child support caseload.

The federal role is to provide funding, issue policy, ensure that federal requirements are met, and interact with other federal agencies that help support the child support program.

The federal program does not process child support cases. Contact your state or local child support office for information about your case.

If alimony debts have accumulated...

Salnikova Veronika

Lawyer, partner of Yakovlev & Partners

June 16, 2021

Tips

How to collect them, what threatens the debtor parent and in what case will he be released from liability?

Through which court to collect alimony from a father with many children?

“In 2018, the Magistrate's Court ruled to collect alimony from her husband for the maintenance of two minor children. In 2020, we had twins. Currently, the marriage is not dissolved. Tell me where to apply (to the world or district court) and how to file an application to collect alimony for twins?

Alimony (funds for the maintenance of minor children) can be collected through the court in the order of writ or action proceedings. Writ proceedings are a simplified procedure for collecting alimony in the Magistrate's Court. When filing an application, the court issues a court order without summoning the plaintiff and the defendant. Claim proceedings are carried out in the district court with the summons of the parties.

As a general rule, if the parent-debtor already pays child support, then they should be collected on other children through the district court. The mother of twins needs to apply to the district court at her place of residence or the defendant.

You can file a claim with an attorney. In addition, sample applications are often placed in courts. You can use this sample, detailing your situation and attaching supporting documents.

(Answers to other questions of alimony recipients and their payers can be found in the articles "About child support - in detail", "About the payment of alimony - on real examples", "Cross-border alimony").

What threatens a parent for non-payment of alimony?

For late payment or non-payment of alimony in full, the debtor parent may be held liable - administrative (Article 5. 35.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation) or criminal (Article 157 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Bailiffs bring to administrative responsibility negligent parents. This is possible in the event of non-payment without good reason of funds for the maintenance of children according to a judicial act, a court order or an agreement on the payment of alimony. The court already attracts criminal liability for malicious evasion from the fulfillment of maintenance obligations of parents.

On April 27, 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation approved a resolution stating that “violation of a judicial act or agreement on the payment of alimony should be understood as non-payment of alimony in the amount, on time and in the manner established by this decision or agreement.” Partial payment of alimony cannot exclude the application of liability measures (read about this also in the news “The Plenum of the Supreme Court clarified the nuances of administrative responsibility for non-payment of alimony”) .

In which case will the debtor parent be released from liability despite the child support debt?

If the parent-debtor has good reasons for which he cannot pay child support in the prescribed amount, he has the right to go to court and ask to change the procedure for collection. In the presence of such reasons, the debtor may be released from liability.

Valid reasons may be recognized such circumstances in which non-payment of alimony occurred regardless of the will of their payer: his illness (incapacity for work), his military service on conscription, force majeure circumstances, the fault of other persons, for example, non-payment of wages by the employer, delay or incorrect transfer bank of funds to the recipient of alimony.

The list of reasons that may be recognized as valid for exemption from liability is not exhaustive. In all cases, the judge must assess whether specific circumstances can be attributed to the number of good reasons for non-payment of alimony.

How do bailiffs force persistent non-payers to fulfill maintenance obligations?

If the parent does not just evade the payment of alimony, but hides and prevents their collection, i.e. becomes a malicious defaulter, the bailiffs start the procedure for searching for the debtor. But they can do this only if there is a statement from the alimony claimant. During the search, bailiffs try to locate the debtor and his property in order to bring him to justice and force him to fulfill maintenance obligations. How do they do it?

Bailiffs are endowed with special powers. They have the right:

receive personal data from the internal affairs authorities, the tax authorities, the Pension Fund, registry offices, traffic police;
carry out verification of information through the customs authorities;
to check information about accounts, deposits, securities in banks;
to interview relatives, friends, colleagues - everyone who has information about the non-payer;
to carry out a visit to the location of the debtor's property for its examination and evaluation;
use information obtained through the involvement of a private detective bureau or from open sources, including those posted on personal pages on social networks.

When conducting search and search activities, the bailiff interacts with employees of other units of the FSSP, the traffic police, and the police to use the information they have. If the debtor is found outside the territory that belongs to the department that accepted the application of the alimony collector, the bailiff in charge of the case is obliged to transfer it to a colleague whose jurisdiction allows further search and search work to be continued.

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– When considering issues of partial mobilization, we rely on the Decree of the Head of State “On the announcement of partial mobilization”, which is based on the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws No. 61 “On Defense” and No. 31 “On mobilization preparation and mobilization of the Russian Federation” and No. 53-FZ "On military duty and military service". In these laws there is no prohibition not to take a summons at the place of work.