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Child support helps children. - The Alabama Child Support Division is the state agency designed to collect and enforce child support. The agency does not automatically enforce child support obligations. In order to receive services, a parent (or caretaker) owed child support must apply for services or be receiving state assistance.
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Child-support obligations are created through court orders. It is important to understand that if there is not an order to collect child support from a parent, nothing is owed.
In divorces, a judge may order a child-support obligation in the divorce decree. There are always exceptions, so it is important to read a divorce decree or make sure that the attorney assisting with the divorce understands that child support is desired.
Once the judge signs the divorce decree, there is a court-ordered obligation, but the Alabama Child Support Division will not enforce (or actively try to collect) the child-support order until one of the parties applies for service. It is up to the parent who is ordered to pay the child support to make the payments. -
In regard to child support for unwed parents, there are a few steps that must happen before a child-support obligation can be collected.
In the state of Alabama, the noncustodial parent must be legally established as the parent of the child before an order to collect child support is obtained. If the parent who should pay child support is the mother of the child, then establishing paternity is not necessary. If the parent who should pay child support is the father, paternity needs to be established one of two ways.
• Through the signing of a paternity acknowledgement or affidavit, the father is voluntarily stating that he is, in fact, the legal father of the child. This form is available at the hospital at the time of birth of the child or at any of the Alabama Child Support Division offices located throughout the state.
• The second method is genetic testing. If the father is unsure that he is, in fact, the biological father of the child, genetic testing can be done to establish paternity by matching DNA of the child and alleged father.
Once paternity is established, there are two ways to obtain a child support order;
• Hire a private attorney. Once the obligation is determined, the parent seeking to open the child-support case and enforce the obligation can then apply to the Alabama Child Support Division for enforcement assistance.
• Apply to Alabama Child Support Division for enforcement and have the case referred to the attorney for that agency. The IV-D attorney (attorney working for the Child Support Division) will gather necessary information and work to establish a child-support obligation. It is important to note that the attorney works for the state agency and, therefore, only seeks child and medical support. Custody and visitation are not issues that the IV-D attorney will handle. - The only time that child support is automatically collected by the Alabama Child Support Division is if a caregiver or parent of the child is receiving T.A.N.F. (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), Medicaid or foster care for the child(ren). Whenever state assistance is received, a child-support case will automatically be opened at the state child-support collection agency. The money collected will be paid to the state of Alabama rather than the parent living with the child as a way of reimbursing the state for assisting with the care of the child.
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An IWO is an income withholding order. This is the order sent to the parent's employer stating the amount of child support to withhold from the wages earned. IWOs are also sometimes referred to as garnishments.
In Alabama, it is a law that child-support obligations are collected through IWOs if the noncustodial parent has an employer. -
If the Alabama Child Support Division is enforcing the case, there are other options they will explore to receive payments before presenting the case in court for contempt:
• Intercept state and federal income tax refunds
• Report to credit bureau
• Place a lien on real or personal property against the noncustodial parent
• Sanction vehicle, hunting, fishing and professional licenses
• Charge 12 percent interest on any unpaid child-support balance owed
• Contempt of court -
Since child-support obligations are ordered by a judge, child-support payments are legally required to be made. Failure to do so is considered contempt of court.
If the child support obligation is 30 days late or more, a case can me taken to court with a request made that the parent owing child support is found in contempt of court. With that judgment comes a potential fine and possible jail time.
Contempt of court can also be sought with the use of a private attorney.
