The Department of Revenue/Child Support Enforcement Division (DOR/CSED)files a case at court. DOR can file the following kinds of cases to get a child support order:
- Complaint to Establish Paternity (if the parents were not married; may be filed on behalf of either the mother or the father)
- Complaint for Support
- Complaint for Modification
After DOR/CSED has filed a case on behalf of one parent, it arranges to have the Complaint "served" on the other parent. By serving the other parent, the DOR shows the court that the other parent has been notified of the case and that the court now has the authority to make a child support order. Depending on the type of case, the person making service, usually a deputy sheriff, either hands the court papers personally to the other parent or mails the papers to the other parent and also leaves them at his or her home.
After the other parent has been served, DOR sets up a court date to ask the judge to issue an order for support. The custodial parent and the non-custodial parent both get letters telling them to go to court on the day the judge will hear the case.