Getting Child Support

Parents have a duty to support their children financially.  Children have the right to financial support from both of their parents.  It does not matter whether the parents are married to each other. The same rules about child support apply whether or not the parents are married or whether they have ever lived together as a family.

If a parent is not supporting his or her children as required by law, the other parent can go to court to get a child support order.

When a court makes a child support order, it orders the paying parent's employer to take the child support out of that parent's wages and send it to the Department of Revenue Child Support Enforcement Division.  Taking the child support out of the wages is called an "income assignment" or "wage assignment".

When the DOR gets the child support from the employer under the income assignment, it then sends it to the recipient parent.