The division of child support is an entity of the Department of Social and Health Services that assists families in enforcing child support orders and providing financial assistance. One of their responsibilities is to collect child support payments and distribute them. Furthermore, they establish paternity and enforce child support orders. They also collaborate with other states and maintain a record for the families to keep track of their payments.
The federal regulations mandate that all states have some system when dealing with child support among the states and internationally. Most states have a system in place to meet these requirements. For example, in New York, the child support services oversee the child support program and manage the state-to-state cases.
Moreover, the child support unit in New York City’s Family Courts modify and enforce existing child support orders. Petitions are filed in this court and reviewed to create a case file for the custodial or non-custodial parents. This allows a central system with the necessary resources to assist families seeking child support.
Depending on where the parent resides, the local county can provide more information on where to file to obtain, modify or enforce a support order. Sometimes, it may become challenging to start this process of seeking help. The first step is to contact your local county office and discover the tools they have to help you with your case.
How is Child Support Divided Across the States?
There are several ways in which child support is divided across the states. This helps parents navigate the different services and seek resources for their children. Each division in this field has a different responsibility and provides unique services. The challenge is to locate one that serves your purpose.
For instance, the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) is a federal government agency that manages the national support program. OCSE assists other child support agencies in the states. They create, maintain, and oversee programs per federal regulations while enforcing child support orders.
Keep in mind that OCSE does not provide services directly to families. They collaborate with state, tribal, and local child support agencies and others to encourage parental responsibility to ensure that children receive financial, emotional, and medical support from both parents, even when they reside in separate households.
Generally, child support agencies provide these types of services to families:
- Find the non-custodial parents;
- Assist in the process of establishing paternity;
- Establish and enforce child support orders;
- Change order when necessary; and
- Gather and distribute child support payments.
How Does Child Support Function in the States?
In New York, the Child Support Services (CSS) manages and maintains the local child support program through social services districts. Similarly to the federal program mentioned earlier, they assist custodial and non-custodial parents regarding obtaining and receiving child support. Furthermore, they assist with establishing paternity, enforce child support orders and collect payments when needed.
Additionally, they divided those responsibilities into other programs to handle each aspect while prioritizing the child’s best interests. First is the Voluntary Acknowledgement of Parentage program that helps unmarried parents, married or unmarried parents of a child conceived through assisted reproductive technology, establish legal paternity for their child.
Second is the Access and Visitation program, which has services like counseling, mediation, parent education, development of parenting plans, and visitation enforcement through supervised visitation, monitored visitation, monitored child exchange, or neutral site child exchange. This program is a tool for the parents to seek any of the abovementioned services. They allow parents seeking child support to have more resources to overcome the issues that may arise.
Lastly is the Non-custodial Parent Employment Programs managed by local partners to assist NCPs in increasing their employment opportunities through training and education. This is crucial for many families to ensure they meet their financial responsibility of paying the child support payments. Failure of these payments can result in drastic legal consequences. These programs are created to meet child support obligations better and navigate the child support system.
Why is it Important to Establish Paternity in Child Support Cases?
The establishment of paternity is a must in child support cases. The requirement is that before a child support order can be issued for a child born to unmarried parents, legal parentage must be determined. However, if a child is born during a marriage, the married parents are presumed to be the child’s legal parents. The parent’s financially responsible must be identified to seek child support. Without this, there is no legal justification for demanding child support.
Furthermore, determining the parentage identifies the child’s legal parent. Both parents can accomplish this through a document named Acknowledgement of Parentage or by filing a court petition seeking the establishment of parentage and obtaining an Order of Filiation. But, in cases where parentage has not been determined, the Family Court can mandate genetic (DNA) testing of the parents and child. Legal parentage provides rights and benefits to the parents and the children. These rights and benefits include:
- The right to seek a court order for visitation or custody;
- Contribute to the legal decisions regarding the child.
- Data on family medical history;
- Child support from both parents and medical support;
- The child’s memory of their parent;
- The health or life insurance from either parent; and
- Any benefits including but not limited to Social Security or veteran’s benefits, military allowances, and inheritances.
The local law departments assist in-state and out-of-state custodial parents in establishing an order of support from non-custodial parents. The New York Child Support Standards Act (CSSA) developed a formula that the court applies in most child support cases. But cases will depend on where they are sent. For instance, if they are sent out of state, then those state rules would apply to the order.
Additionally, a custodial parent can file a petition with their local child support agency. These agencies can assist in providing more services that have been mentioned earlier. The different entities collectively work towards figuring out your needs for child support. Many issues can arise regarding support orders. Therefore, contact with them can make this process smoother for you.
If, for some reason, the case is going to be filed in another state and you want the law department to assist you, then you need to complete the child support enrollment and send it to the Office of Child Support Services.
When Do I Need to Contact a Lawyer?
The division of child support services is seen across all the different states. Each state has developed a program for families to navigate the resources and seek the services they need regardless of child support. It is necessary to have these divisions to ensure that one program prioritizes one aspect and collaborates with the sister agencies to conserve time and resources.
If you need further assistance, do not hesitate to contact your local child support lawyer in your area to help you with your case as needed. Remember that child support payments are legal obligations and must be paid accordingly. Your attorney can advise you of your next steps and options. If there are changes to child support laws, your lawyer can also keep you updated so your rights are protected.
