How to Get Back Child Support

Many men and women are owed child support. Unfortunately, the parent who should be paying child support does not always comply. He may pay for a few months and then stop for a few months, or even years. You need to know how to get back child support so you can take care of your child properly. There are steps to take to get the back child support owed to you without having a lawyer involved. Use your county's free service instead.

Instructions

1. Keep a ledger for every month that you are entitled to child support. In the months that you did not receive a child-support payment, mark it down. The same goes for months when you did receive a payment. If you only receive a partial payment, enter that amount.

2. Contact a child-support agency in your community and apply to have them help you get the back child support. Tracking down a parent who does not want to be found is easier when you let the child agency find her. They have the resources needed to find people who do not want to be found. After they find the parent, it will be easier to serve her with court papers pertaining to the child support.

3. Sign an affidavit of the amount of child support you are owed. This will be done in front of the child-support agent. The help of the agency will make things move along faster.

4. Talk with a mediator to see if an agreement can be reached for payment of back child support. Once this step is completed, the judge will sign a court order, and the non-supporting parent will have to follow that order or be held in contempt of court and spend time in jail.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not wait years before you seek an order for payment of back child support. It is better to catch it early before the arrears add up. When you are granted a court order for back child support, the judge can assign a wage garnishment to the parent's income tax, all job-related income, lottery winnings and even property.

• The non-supporting parent who continually refuses to work or pay support can have his driver's license suspended until the arrears are paid in full.