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How
is the amount of child support calculated?
I
Want to Hire An Attorney to Help Me Enforce Child Support, But I Don't
Have the Money. What Do I Do?
Who
is entitled to child support?
How
Long Do I Have to Enforce the Child Support Order? How long may I receive
child support?
Can
I Collect Interest on Unpaid Support?
Is
There Anything I Can Do to Enforce My Child Support If My Former Spouse
Moves Out of State?
My
Ex-spouse Is Going Bankrupt and Owes Me $5,000 in Back Support. Am I Out
of Luck?
My
Former Spouse Has Stopped Paying Support? I Don't Want to Hurt His Feelings
By Going to Court. Am I Making a Mistake?
How
Long Does It Usually Take to Enforce an Order of Support From a Nonpaying
Parent?
How
can the amount of child support be modified?
If
I remarry, must I still pay child support? If I remarry, may I still receive
child support?
In
a joint custody situation, may either parent receive child support?
Can
the court order health insurance coverage?
Do
I Have to pay child support to my first family?
The
other parent is in jail. Can I get support?
Q. Who is entitled to child
support?
A. A parent who is living with the children but
apart from the other parent is entitled to child support from the non-custodial
parent for the children.
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Q. How is the amount of child
support calculated?
A. All states have adopted Child Support Guidelines.. These guidelines are
used by the courts to determine how much child support the non-custodial
parent should pay to the parent who has sole custody and also how much
child support should be paid in a joint custody agreement. To calculate
your child support obligations go the Child Support Calculator Page and select
the Calculator for your state.
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Q. I Want to Hire An
Attorney to Help Me Enforce Child Support, But I Don't Have the Money.
What Do I Do?
A. Many states now require a court to order the
nonpaying parent to pay the attorneys fees and costs incurred in child
support enforcement actions. Thus, ask the attorney you plan to hire whether
he or she will defer the fee and obtain it from the nonpaying parent. Some
attorneys will do this or permit you to make monthly payments while pursuing
the nonpaying parent. Others will require up-front payment in full and
will reimburse you if the fees are subsequently paid by the nonpaying parent
pursuant to court order.
If you are representing yourself, you can apply
to the child support enforcement agency in your county for assistance in
establishing and collecting child support. By applying for assistance and
paying a $20.00 fee the child support agency will represent you as the
custodial parent in a child support proceeding, irrespective of your income.
Most states recognizes mandatory income withholding
in every child support and alimony order. The law's procedures are triggered
by non-payments amounting to more than thirty (30) days of support. The
law provides that the supporting parent's employer can withhold from his
or her paycheck a court-ordered amount and forward it to the support recipient.
The law is intended to assist an individual, who
wishes to pursue support enforcement as a pro se litigant (representing
yourself).
As soon as payments are in arrears for 30 days, the recipient can file
in court for the withholding of the other parent's wages.
A person who refused to pay child support, after
being ordered by a court, also is liable to be held in contempt and could
have bank accounts attached, income tax refunds withheld, and lose there
driver's license.
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Q. How Long Do I Have
to Enforce the Child Support Order? How long may I receive child support?
A. Usually you can enforce a child support order
for up to 10 years. Parents are obligated to pay child support until a
child reaches the age of 18. In some circumstances, a parent may be obligated
to support a disabled adult child.
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Q. Can I Collect Interest
on Unpaid Support?
A. Yes, at the legal rate set by the state.
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Q. Is There Anything
I Can Do to Enforce My Child Support If My Former Spouse Moves Out of State?
A. In addition to the remedies mentioned above,
the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act (URESA), which has been
passed by most states, permits
you to complain to your local district attorney about unpaid support or
the local child support agency. The office will then contact the district
attorney in the locale where the nonpaying child supporter lives. That
office, in turn, will bring an action to enforce the order on your behalf.
You can also register the child support order with the court in the state
where the child support payor lives and then apply directly to that state
for enforcement of the order.
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Q. My Ex-spouse Is Going Bankrupt
and Owes Me $5,000 in Back Support. Am I Out of Luck?
A. For the time being maybe, but not for the long
run. Child support orders are not dischargeable in bankruptcy. (In fact,
if your ex gets out from under the crush of debts, he or she may be more
likely to pay you. At the very least, you won't be competing with a hoard
of other creditors for the few dollars that may be available.)
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Q. My Former Spouse Has Stopped
Paying Support? I Don't Want to Hurt His Feelings By Going to Court. Am
I Making a Mistake?
A. Enforcement of child support orders are best
done early rather than late. If there is good cause to reduce payments,
an agreement can be made. However, if the parent is merely making excuses,
taking immediate and tough action to enforce the court order will be most
likely to convince the nonpaying parent that failure to pay will have serious
consequences. Moreover, if the amount owed (arrears ) gets too high,
the non-paying parent may never have the ability to pay it all back.
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Q. How Long Does It Usually
Take to Enforce an Order of Support From a Nonpaying Parent?
A. Parents who refuse to pay child support are
merely the tip of the iceberg of a growing problem in the United States
of family discord and breakdown. It can take from 60 days to one year to
enforce a court order for support, depending on whether the spouse can
be located.
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Q. How can the amount of
child support be modified?
A. If there is a change in circumstances amounting
to an increase or decrease in a parent's income, or in the expense of raising
the children, the court may modify the child support obligation. If, according
the Guidelines, the child support would change by at least 25% the Court
will generally modify the amount of child support.
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Q. If I remarry, must I still
pay child support? If I remarry, may I still receive child support?
A. If a parent remarries, and even if that parent
has more children, he or she still pay must pay child support to the children
of the first marriage. If a person is receiving child support and remarries,
he or she is still entitled to receive child support unless his or her
new spouse adopts the child.
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Q. In a joint custody situation,
may either parent still receive child support?
A. Yes. The amount of child support will depend
upon the amount of time each parent spends with the child as well as the
parents' incomes and the expense of raising the child.
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Q. Can the court order health
insurance coverage?
A. The court has the authority to require either
parent to name a child in the parent's health insurance coverage if the
parent can obtain heath insurance coverage through an employer or any form
of group health insurance, and the child can be included at a reasonable
cost to the parent in that health insurance coverage.
An order requiring health insurance coverage for
a child may be issued on a separate from or in conjunction with an earnings
withholding order.
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Q. Do I Have to pay child
support to my the children of my prior marriage?
A: Even though the other parent has a second family,
it does not mean that his or her responsibility to the first family goes
away. However, the amount of the support order can be affected because
he/she has the responsibility for supporting another child(ren). You must
file a request to change your child support and notify the other party
before you will be given an opportunity to provide additional information.
Only then may your support be changed. Generally, under the law the answer
is NO. Your child support is currently only affected by previous orders
of child support, not additional children.
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Q. The other parent is in
jail. Can I get support?
A: Unless he/she has assets, like property or
income from an outside source or from a work- release program, it is unlikely
that support can be collected until he/she gets out of jail and receives
income or acquires property.
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