In order to provide services, the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) must know where the non-custodial parent lives and/or works. OCSE will search for the non-custodial parent using our Child Support Management computer system (CSMS). CSMS continuously and automatically searches the database of various government agencies, both state and federal. You can help locate the non-custodial parent and speed up the child support process by providing OCSE with as much information as possible about the non-custodial parent, including as many of the following: full name, Social Security Number, current and former addresses, date of birth, and current and/or former employers.
Establishing paternity means obtaining a legal order identifying the father of the child. There are many reasons to establish paternity. Even if children don't know both of their parents, they know that everyone has a mother and a father. Establishing paternity can help provide your child with a sense of identity. Paternity should be established for your child immediately after the child is born. As time passes, the father may be harder to find or less likely to admit paternity.
Paternity must be established in order to:
- get a support order for your child
- get private health insurance for your child, if it is available to the father
- protect your child's rights to survivor's benefits, such as Veterans Benefits, Social Security benefits, Military Allowance, Workman's Compensation and inheritance
In addition, having paternity established may also:
- provide a legal record of identity of the child's parents
- allow the father's name to be entered on the birth certificate
- provide emotional benefits to the child by knowing the identity of both parents
Paternity can be established in two ways:
- A father can acknowledge paternity voluntarily if both parents sign an Acknowledgment of Paternity form which can be obtained at the hospital at the time the child is born, or at the Office of Child Support Enforcement. This is a document which legally establishes paternity without the need to go to court.
- A paternity petition filed with the Family Court asks the court to determine if a particular man is the child's father. If at the paternity hearing the alleged father continues to deny paternity, the hearing examiner will order genetic marker tests that will help determine paternity.
In New York State, both parents have a duty to support their child(ren) to age 21. This includes both financial and medical support for the child(ren).
In order to establish the support obligation, a support petition must be filed with family court. The support petition asks the court to make a decision regarding support for your child. The petition requests that the court applies the child support guidelines provided in New York State law to determine how much the non-custodial parent will have to pay.
The support petition also requests medical support be ordered if it is currently available or becomes available at any time in the future to the non-custodial parent. Medical support can mean medical, dental, optical, or prescription drug services or an insurance plan for the child. These benefits may be available through the non-custodial parent's employer. The court must order the non-custodial parent to take advantage of medical benefits for your child(ren).
To set the amount of the child support order, New York State uses the Child Support Standards Act (CSSA) guidelines. This amount is based on a percentage of the parent's income, plus an additional amount for:
- a share of child care expenses
- a share of future health care costs not covered by insurance
- a court-determined amount for present and future educational expenses.
The basic child support amount for:
- one child is17% of gross income
- two children is 25% of gross income
- three children is 29% of gross income
- four children is 31% of gross income
- five or more children is at least 35% of gross income
- plus a share of child care, medical, and educational expenses, divided between the parents according to how much each earns
Example:
Number of children |
CSSA% |
Yearly |
Yearly Support Amount |
1 |
17% |
$22,000 |
$3,740 |
2 |
25% |
$22,000 |
$5,500 |
3 |
29% |
$22,000 |
$6,380 |
4 |
31% |
$22,000 |
$6,820 |
5 |
35% |
$22,000 |
$7,700 |
After the support petition is filed, a summons is sent to the non-custodial parent requiring him/her to come to court for a support hearing. Both the custodial parent and the non-custodial parent are required by law to provide full and complete financial disclosure, so copies of most recently filed tax returns, including W-2's, and current and representative paystubs will be required to be provided at the hearing. At the support hearing, the hearing examiner or judge will review the petition and explain the non-custodial parent's rights.
If the non-custodial parent made a voluntary agreement to pay support, it will be reviewed. The court can issue a support order on that agreement. If there was no agreement and both parties have all of their financial information, the court will hear the case. If both parties are not prepared with all of their financial information, the court must issue an order of temporary support and reschedule the hearing.
Whenever the case is heard, both the custodial and non-custodial parent will testify regarding their own finances and availability of health care coverage for the child. Tax returns, pay stubs, child care bills, medical and educational expenses are examined by the court. Typically, the hearing examiner will reach a decision and issue a child support order calculated according to the CSSA and based on the testimony and documentation provided.
Non-custodial parents are ordered to pay support to the Support Collection Unit (SCU). The SCU is the collection and accounting unit of the OCSE.
When OCSE receives a copy of your support order from the court, a computerized account will be set up for you by the SCU. The SCU will send regular bills for child support to the non-custodial parent and receive payments made by the non-custodial parent or his/her employer.
Although some non-custodial parents make their own payments by mail, most of the child support collected by the SCU is collected by income execution. Income execution is the process by which the non-custodial parent's employer is required to deduct the support payments from the non-custodial parent's paycheck and send them to the SCU. Any support order issued after 11/1/90 requires immediate income execution unless both parties agree, in writing, to forego immediate income execution or the court orders otherwise due to good cause. However, income execution will be required if the non-custodial parent defaults on payments.
The SCU keeps a computerized account record of the payments made to your account. If the non-custodial parent stops paying, misses payments, or pays late, the system will automatically identify your case for enforcement action.
Once you apply for services your support order must be paid through the SCU, and you cannot accept direct payments from the non-custodial parent, nor can the two parties informally agree to change the amount of the support order. If you do receive a direct payment, forward the payment to the SCU for processing. This will ensure that the non-custodial parent receives credit for the payment.
The SCU operates a toll-free automated voice response system called the Child Support Information Line (CSIL) that provides payment and disbursement information. By calling the CSIL at 1-800-846-0773, custodial parents can get up-to-date information on support payments collected on his/her account. Please note that the CSIL requires the custodial parent to enter their Social Security Number (SSN) and their Personal Identification Number (PIN) as provided by the SCU.
Disbursement of Child Support:
- Payments made to the SCU are meant to support your child. If you are not receiving public assistance, the SCU will send the payments to you as promptly as they are received. If you are a public assistance customer, you will receive up to the first $50 of current support collected each month in addition to your public assistance grant.
- The SCU may collect child support payments owed by taking these amounts out of the non-custodial parent's federal or state income tax refunds. If money is received in this way, federal income tax refunds will first be used to pay back public assistance for support payments the non-custodial parent failed to make while you received public assistance. Any amount that remains will be sent to you or returned to the non-custodial parent if no further monies are owed to you.
- State tax refunds or other state payments will first be used to pay you any past due support you may be owed. Any amount that remains will then be used to pay back public assistance for support payments the non-custodial parent failed to make while you received public assistance, or returned to the non-custodial parent if no further monies are owed.
You may be asked to return all or part of the amount sent to you if the Internal Revenue Service later determines that it belongs to someone else who filed a joint tax return with the non-custodial parent. Because of the time allowed for filing an amended return, a request for repayment may be made for up to six years after you receive money.
Nationally, only about half of the custodial parents with support orders receive full payment. A non-custodial parent may pay the support order for a while and then stop. Sometimes, the non-custodial parent will make only partial payments, skip payments, or never pay at all. When an account is not paid on time and in full, that account is called delinquent. The OCSE program identifies delinquent accounts and takes all actions allowed by law to be sure that children get all the support ordered by the court. Enforcement of a delinquent account has two basic parts. The first is to make sure that support payments are made on time and in full. The second is to collect additional money to make up for those payments the non-custodial parent missed (arrears). Enforcement can also mean making sure that the non-custodial parent maintains health insurance coverage for the child as ordered by court.
There are two categories of enforcement action:
Administrative Enforcement
The following enforcement methods are initiated administratively by the OCSE
program. Some or all of these methods may be used, depending on the specifics of your
case and the information on your case record about the non-custodial parent. These
methods can be highly effective in collecting delinquent support:
- Income execution requires the non-custodial parent's employer to deduct child support payments from the non-custodial parent's paycheck and send them to the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE). Income execution can also be used to deduct support payments from unemployment insurance benefits (UIB) or other benefits the non-custodial parent receives. Income execution works best if the non-custodial parent receives a regular paycheck or unemployment insurance benefits. However, one out of five workers do not receive a regular paycheck. If the non-custodial parent is self-employed or earns money "off the books," income execution may not work, and enforcement action by the court may be necessary.
- Tax Refund Offset - Every year the OCSE program sends a list of delinquent accounts to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Eligibility for state tax refund offset is $50 in unpaid child support and for federal it is $150 for TANF cases and $500 for non-TANF cases. Non-custodial parents who are expecting federal or state tax refunds will not receive them if they do not pay their child support debts first. Instead, the refund money is sent to the OCSE program to pay the delinquent support.
- Medical Support - If the non-custodial parent was ordered to provide health insurance for the child and has not done so, the OCSE program will require the non-custodial parent's employer to notify as to whether health coverage is available, enroll the child in any family coverage which may be available to the non-custodial parent, deduct any employee paid health insurance premiums from their wages, and provide the custodial parent with documentation necessary to receive services.
- Credit reporting agency process - The OCSE program will report a non-custodial parent who owes $1,000 or more in unpaid child support to credit reporting agencies. If the non-custodial parent is reported to a credit-reporting agency as a delinquent payer, it may affect his/her personal credit rating. This forces the non-custodial parent who wants credit (e.g. mortgage, car loans, credit card) to pay child support first.
- Lottery Prize intercept - If a non-custodial parent owes at least $50 in unpaid child support and wins $600 or more in the lottery, the amount owed will be deducted from the prize money and sent to the OCSE program to pay off the child support debt.
- Property execution is a method that allows the SCU to take a non-custodial parent's liquid assets, such as a bank account, to pay delinquent support. The SCU can require the bank to freeze the account so that the non-custodial parent cannot withdraw any money. The bank would then be required to transfer the amount of delinquent support from the non-custodial parent's account to the SCU to pay the child support debt.
- Driver's license suspension - A respondent's New York State issued driver's license can be suspended if they owe an amount equal to or greater than four months of their current obligation amount. The suspension will not be lifted until such time as the non-custodial parent pays all that is owed or enters into a payment arrangement with the SCU.
- Referral to New York State
Department of Taxation and Finance - A respondent who owes at least four month's
obligation or $500 and is not paying by income execution, may be referred to the New York
State Department of Taxation and Finance (DTF) for further enforcement. Based on the
referral, DTF may file tax warrants and seize and sell property (e.g. cars, houses,
businesses, etc.).
- Personal Injury Claim - The Personal Injury Claim (PIC) process provides the Support Collection Unit (SCU) with access to insurance claim information and allows child support to use personal injury settlement funds to satisfy child support arrears. The term "personal injury" in the PIC process is used to describe both workers' compensation and personal injury claims. PIC is an automated process. When a non-custodial parent is identified in our computer system as having filed a workers' compensation insurance claim, it indicates to the SCU that the respondent's source of income is no longer wages from an employer, but instead is money disbursed through the employer's workers' compensation insurance carrier. A workers' compensation claim is enforced by using the income execution process. Personal injury claims are enforced by the SCU through the lien process. The enforcement process begins when the non-custodial parent's account is four months past due in payment.
Court Enforcement
When income execution and/or administrative mechanisms are not successful, court
intervention for support enforcement is required. Court enforcement requires the filing of
a violation petition with family court. A violation petition asks the court to take action
against the non-custodial parent who has not paid court-ordered child support. The
non-custodial parent will get a summons to appear in court on a specific day for a
violation hearing. At the violation hearing the court will listen to testimony,
examine SCU payment records, and make a decision. Outcomes of the hearing may include:
- A money judgment represents a decision by the court that the non-custodial parent is behind in child support payments in a specified amount. This is a mandatory provision.
- Lien - The money judgment is recorded with the county clerk who creates a lien on the non-custodial parent's property. The lien requires the debt to be paid before the property can be sold or transferred.
- Cash Deposit requires the non-custodial parent to deposit money (up to three years' worth of child support) with the SCU. Payments can be taken out of this deposit if the non-custodial parent fails to pay support on time in the future.
- Professional, business, or occupational license suspension - The court has the authority to order a hearing for the suspension of the non-custodial parent's state issued professional, business, or occupational license if support arrears are equivalent to or greater than the amount of current support for four months.
- Jail - The non-custodial parent may be committed to jail for up to six months. If the non-custodial parent did not appear in court for the hearing, the court can issue a default order and grant any of the enforcement remedies discussed above. The court may also issue an arrest order for the non-custodial parent.
Changes to the Child Support Order:
After a while, the amount of child support ordered by the court may no longer meet the needs of your child or may be less than the non-custodial parent is currently paying. If your situation changes, the OCSE program can file a modification petition with the court to ask for more support.
Reasons for filing a modification include:
- an increase in the non-custodial parent's income
- a decrease in the custodial parent's income
- an increase in the needs of the child due to special circumstances or the additional activities of a growing child
- an increase in the cost of living as it pertains to the child
- changes between the current and former lifestyles of the child
- health insurance that was not included in the original order is now available to the non-custodial parent
If you wish to file a modification petition, you should be prepared to present documentation that will substantiate your reason for filing the petition. A hearing will be held and the court will decide whether or not the amount of your support order should be changed.
If your child's non-custodial parent lives outside of New York State, you can still work with the Westchester County Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) program to establish paternity and/or get a support order. Cases where the parties live in different states are called interstate cases.
Every state has its own OCSE program. Most services described here are available in every state. Federal laws require that these programs help out-of-state custodial parents get child support from residents of other states. Although interstate cases often take longer to be resolved, help is available from OCSE programs throughout the country.
Most of the activities described herein can be performed for you by an OCSE worker. However, a lawyer may be desirable for activities such as the preparation of depositions, subpoenas, objections, and appeals. Certain court activities such as the examination of witnesses and the introduction of evidence may also require a lawyer. If you do not have a private attorney, you may retain the services of an Assistant County Attorney for child support services at a cost of $107.00 per hour. Payment for the services provided by the Assistant County Attorney will be deducted from your child support payments at the rate of 25% of the child support received.