Q. How can I get help getting child support for my children?
A. Every state has a government agency that can help you obtain child support. The National Women's Law Center has a brochure in
English and
Spanish that you can download or
order, which explains the kinds of help state child support offices can provide. You also can get information, and link to your state's child support office, through the federal
Office of Child Support Enforcement.
Q. Aren't state child support offices only for people receiving public assistance?
A. No. State child support enforcement services must be made available to all persons with custody of children who apply for them, regardless of income and whether or not they ever received public assistance.
Q. My daughter was born five years ago. Her father, whom I never married, said I can't seek child support now. Is it too late?
A. No. You can seek to establish paternity and obtain support until your daughter turns 18. The state child support office can help you locate the father and obtain genetic tests if he denies paternity.
Q. Will I receive any of the child support collected for my child while I am receiving public assistance?
A. A little over half the states keep the child support payments they collect while you receive public assistance as reimbursement for public assistance costs. The other states pass through some of the child support they collect to families and disregard it in calculating the public assistance grant. Your state child support office can tell you the rules for your state, and should provide you with notice of how much child support has been collected for you each month.
Q. I'm leaving public assistance. Will I receive the child support collected for my child?
A. Once you leave public assistance, you are entitled to receive all of the current child support collected each month. You should make sure the child support office knows that you are no longer receiving public assistance so that your child support checks will go directly to you. If more than the current month's support is collected because the noncustodial parent owes back-due support, the rules are more complicated. In general, back-due support that is owed to you for the period before and after you received public assistance should be paid to you before the state claims back-due support for the period when you were receiving public assistance. However, there are a number of exceptions. You should contact the child support office to make sure the state is distributing past-due support correctly.
