Child support is money paid to the custodial parent by the non-custodial parent. The money helps pay for the costs of raising the child, including such things as housing, utilities, school fees, extracurricular activities and more. In North Dakota, a case is opened with the Child Support Enforcement program when one parent or the other applies for services or there is a referral from the foster care program, public assistance program or another state.
The CSE program offers several services to parents. These include:
— Paternity: If the parents of the child were not married when the child was born and the father has not been legally named, the program can help establish paternity. It can be established through the court and the use of genetic testing or through a voluntary paternity acknowledgment process.
— Child and medical support: If there is not a current court order established for medical support or child support, the CSE program will work to get such orders in place.
— Enforcement: Services are provided to the custodial parent to enforce a court order for child support.
— Review and adjustment: The CSE program will review court orders periodically to see if an adjustment in child support is warranted.
Information about your child support case is available on the internet. You can also access online services, update information and more.
Child support is calculated based upon the paying parent’s income and how many children he or she is paying support on. Interest is charged on child support that is in arrears. State law sets the interest rate and it could change each year. In some situations, the interest can be waived or suspended.
These are a just a few of the highlights of the CSE program. If you are not receiving child support as the court ordered or you need to request a modification of the amount of child support, you can get more information from an attorney.
Source: nd.gov, “Child Support Enforcement program,” accessed Nov. 11, 2016
