How We Enforce The Order
Health Insurance
When a parent is ordered to pay child support, in most situations, there will also be a requirement to enroll the child(ren) in an employer sponsored health plan. If the employer is known, a National Medical Support Notice will be sent to the employer.
Paying The Monthly Obligation
As soon as a child support order is established we will set up accounts in our automated system. When that is done, a wage assignment is sent to the parent paying support’s employer to pay the ongoing support amount. This happens immediately and automatically in all cases to ensure the court ordered obligation is paid.
We can also collect from other monthly income sources such as worker’s compensation or social security benefits. If there is any past due balance we will also collect from unemployment or disability benefits. All accounts are submitted to credit reporting. If the account is being paid consistently it will be reported favorably to the agencies. If the account is delinquent, it will be reported as past due.
If Past Due Support Is Owed
Often parents miss payments over the life of the case. If this happens in your case, we have a variety of enforcement methods to attempt to collect the past due balance.
Tax Refunds – Income tax refunds from the federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or State of California can be intercepted to pay child support. Refer to the Financial Information tab for more information about tax refunds.
License Suspension – If a monthly payment is missed, our system will submit the parent paying support to all state licensing agencies. This includes both driver’s licenses and professional licenses. Once a license is submitted for suspension, the parent ordered to pay must contact our office to make payment arrangements for their license to be released.
Bank Levies – Parents ordered to pay with a past due balance are submitted to the Financial Institution Data Match (FIDM) program. If a parent who owes past due child support has a bank account, a garnishment will be sent to the bank holding the account.
Real Property Liens – A lien is automatically filed when the parent paying support’s parent’s address is known. Past due child support must be paid whenever the parent paying support buys or sells property.
Other Methods – We may use to enforce a child support order include:
- Contempt of Court
- Job Search Order
Other Debts of the Parent Paying Support
Court-ordered child support payments are a right of the child. Under state and federal law, the obligation to support the child is the most important obligation owed. Support payments should be taken care of before other bills are paid.
If The Parent Paying Support Lives Out of State
California can request help from other states and a number of other countries. Before making a request, we must have an exact address for the other parent and proof from the US Postal Service that the address is correct. The minimum time frame for out-of-state processing is 90 days. The other state or country may have to contact the parent personally.
