Establishing a Support Order
What is Order Establishment?
After paternity is established, a petition will be filed with the
court requesting that child support be established. The non-custodial
parent will be served with the appropriate petition prior to the court
date. The amount of the child support order will be set according to
North Carolina's Child Support Guidelines, unless the judge
finds that it would not be appropriate to do so in your case.
What are Child Support Guidelines?
Guidelines use a formula to help determine the amount of child
support to be paid by the non-custodial parent. The North Carolina
Child Support Guidelines are based on the Income Shares model, which
was developed under the Child Support Guidelines Project funded by the
U.S. Office of Child Support Enforcement and administered by the
National Center for State Courts. The Income Shares model is based on
the concept that child support is a shared parental obligation and
that a child should receive the same proportion of parental income he
or she would have received if the parents lived together. These
guidelines are intended to provide adequate child support that is
equitable to all parties. The guidelines do not apply to stepparents.
The guidelines allow for a number of circumstances under which
deviation from the normal guideline is permitted. One or more of these
reasons could result in a different support amount than that usually
recommended. Reasons include:
- Number of nights spent with each parent
- Extraordinary medical costs
For more information, go to https://nddhacts01.dhhs.state.nc.us/home.jsp?TargetScreen=WorkSheet.jsp
What about medical coverage?
If the judge orders it, the non-custodial parent may be required to
cover the child(ren) under his or her group health insurance plan. Our
office will petition the court to order health insurance coverage if
it is currently available to the non-custodial parent or when it
becomes available to the non-custodial parent.
Click here to send new information about the non-custodial parent’s medical coverage to your caseworker.
How do I pay my child support order?
Federal law requires that money from your paycheck be deducted to
pay your child support--just like taxes. Child support is collected
and disbursed by a central collection unit. Money will be prorated based on
pay cycle and withheld from your wages unless you are self-employed.
If the non-custodial parent is self-employed or unemployed, they are responsible
for submitting their child support payment directly to the North Carolina Centralized
Collections Operations at PO Box 900006, Raleigh N.C. 27675-9006. Payment can be made
by check, money order, or automatic bank draft. To request an authorization form to
initiate automatic bank draft, or to ask any other question, call 1-800-992-9457
between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
It is the non-custodial parent's responsibility to pay the full
amount of the child support order on time, every time. If the
non-custodial parent fails to make a full payment, a record of the
missed payment will be kept. The obligation to pay child support does
not go away when you do not make a payment. By law, child support
obligations take priority over mortgage payments, car loans, credit
card debt, and other debt.
Information Required
To determine the amount of the child support order, the judge will
need to know the name and address of the current or most recent
employer of the non-custodial parent and his or her gross/net income.
Child support will be ordered even if one parent does not attend
the hearing. If the non-custodial parent does not attend the court
hearing or provide wage information, a default order can be entered.
The best way to ensure a fair child support order is for the
non-custodial parent to be present at the court hearing. If the
non-custodial parent is unemployed, the order will be set based on the
non-custodial parent's ability to earn.
Back
to Home Page
|