by Modern Impressionist

Created on: November 12, 2007   Last Updated: November 13, 2007

It seems as if there are more and more deadbeat dads in the world today. This demonstrates a lack of responsibility and selfishness on their part; and only hurts the children who are involved. If you are a single mother raising children, especially if you are not involved with anyone else, it is almost impossible to even make ends meet when you are not receiving the child support you are entitled to. It becomes a constant struggle to feed and clothe your family, and pay your bills. Single mothers are either forced to file for welfare benefits, or work multiple jobs for fear of losing everything.

As far as understanding how the child support system implemented by this country works, the most important thing to have is an actual Child Support Order from the Court.
This can initially be obtained either from a Restraining Order, Legal Separation Order, or Judgment of Divorce. This is the only way of both keeping track of payments made and due, and enforcing the order if the parent fails to pay. Even if the parties separate on good terms, this may not last; and it is not advisable to trust an ex spouse to keep up with their obligation and have them send it directly to you. It must go through the state in order to be properly enforced. When requesting an order from the court, the best way to have it written is that if the other party fails to make two payments in a row, the court will automatically issue a "bench warrant". This way action will be taken on your case without having to contact the local enforcement agency. It is also extremely important to follow up with them as much as possible. In many cases, agencies only do the minimum of what they are required to do; and do not go beyond that unless you ask and keep asking them to.

The Office of Child Enforcement in your area is regulated by the Department of Health and Human Services. There are many things that the agency is allowed to do by law; in order to try to collect your child support. These include automatic tax offset from federal tax refunds, wage withholding, liens, and credit reporting; to name a few. However, these methods may prove futile if the party works "under the table", or moves from state to state to avoid prosecution. The Federal Child Support Enforcement Office's web site can be viewed at: www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cse. In addition, periodically the agency will request information on the parent from the State Parent Locator Service. This information includes search results from the National

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>