by Mercedes Lipscomb

Created on: July 07, 2010

Family Court and child support can be a pretty sticky issue for some. When parents can not work things out between themselves, family court is an option. Depending on the issues at hand, family court can help resolve visitation, custody , child support and violation issues. For the purposes of this article we will focus on child support and other useful information.

Under New York State law, both parents are responsible providing support for a child that is under 21 years of age. The law applies to both parents, married or not. The first step in establishing a child support order is to determine the amount of child and medical support to be paid. This will be determined by your States guidelines.The guidelines are based on an income-share formula, in which the incomes of both parents are considered. The guidelines also take expenses into account, such as child care, medical insurance, and any factor the court deems best for the child. If parents can not agree on an amount they are willing to share, the court will then issue a child support order. This order will issue how much will be paid, how often and will include medical expenses.

After the court order is issued payments will be calculated from the day the petitioning parent submitted his/her petition seeking support. Payment is expected to commence. Sometimes one parent may default on the court order for one reason or another. This is when the situation tends to turn ugly.
If this has happened to you do the following:

1. File a "violation" of the support order

2. Contact the Support hot-line and they will take your information and pass your case onto an investigator. This process can take awhile so feel free to call back and check the status. Meanwhile, the investigator will place a "hit" on the non custodial parent's social and garnish wages accordingly.

3. If you are the custodial parent and the non custodial parent moves to another state- don't feel that there is nothing that can be done. You then go to the court where your support petition originated and file a violation of child support order. The delinquent parent will be advised. You must show up for your date. If the noncustodial parent resides in another state, they may grant that parent an appearance by phone. The court will the give you two options, they will either hold a hearing to determine if the non custodial parent is willfully violating his/her support obligation and if so, they will recommend that he/she spend time in jail. Another option will be to file a Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA.) which was created to facilitate child support collection across state lines. This is a Federal Law and applies across the United States.

Ultimately, you will see results. It is a lengthy process but don't get discouraged. You owe it to your child just as the dead beat parent does!

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