Collecting owed Child Support is not only a right but of the utmost importance to Single Parents and their children. Children deserve to have the financial support of both biological parents. The issue of collecting support is dear to the heart of many who are dealing with irresponsible exes and absent deadbeat dads.
If you are receiving benefits from any state assistance program like food stamps or medicaid you should be eligible for free child support help. They will send out the paperwork and do the paternity testing in your county of residence. Paternity must first be established before a Child Support Order can be created and enforced.
Sometimes it is necessary to hire an attorney to straighten out any discrepancies in amounts owed, arrearages (back support), or if your child support order is not accurate compared to what your ex is earning per month. It is well worth a few hundred dollars for an attorney to get the child support order corrected. Often these deadbeats will report they earn alot less than they do, or just hop from job to job trying to avoid paying.
Resources For Collecting Child Support:
Every state has Child Support laws in place, so become familiar with the specific support laws for the state or country where you live. Child Support Enforcement is often necessary to collect owed Child Support from deadbeats. Your state's Child Support laws can be found by clicking the following link:
United States Child Support Laws
There is also a resource called Support Kids available to Parents who've had no success in collecting their owed Child Support. Support Kids charge a fee for their services but only if you receive the support owed to you and your children.
Support Kids
Most of the time Child Support Enforcement involves garnishing the wages of the non-custodial parent's paychecks. For the ones that run like cowards to avoid all responsibility, sherriffs can hunt them down with warrants for felony non-support.
They can be held in jail and put on probation to make sure the children are getting the financial support they need. Laws are now being made to take Drivers Lisences and garnish income tax returns for those owing back child support. Here is the
Handbook on Child Support Enforcement.
There is a nifty little site I ran across called Wanted Posters for Single Parents. You can upload pictures, names and information about deadbeat and non-paying parents to their "wall of shame" so these deadbeats will be exposed to the public eye. This is a wonderful resource for people trying to locate deadbeats and for those possibly in relationship with a person on the run and not paying child support.
