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How to Collect Your Child Support

You pat yourself on the back as you leave the courthouse. You've got your divorce decree. You've got your freedom. You've got your child support - or do you?

After the warm glow of your new status fades away, you may feel yourself getting hot when you realize that you are not receiving the child support that the court ordered. To your shock, you may also discover that getting your divorce was the easy part; the tough part is collecting the child support.

Courts can and do enforce child support orders, but they don't do it quickly, cheaply or automatically. To collect child support in court, you will probably have to (1) hire a lawyer; (2) prepare and file a motion for contempt of court; (3) set up a court hearing; (4) legally serve the delinquent parent; (5) reply to any defenses raised by the other side; (6) appear at the court hearing; and (7) win.

That's still not the end of it. If your ex still doesn't pay, you may have to return to court again to file a garnishment against your ex's bank account or wages. All of these additional collection procedures can add up to lengthy delays, unanticipated costs, and attorney fees. There ought to be a better way.

Luckily, there is. State law recognizes that for most people, the ordinary collection process in court is too time consuming and expensive. To address this problem, the state and federal governments have developed a program that collects child support faster, less formal - and free.

The Division of Child Support Enforcement Office (DCS) is the state agency that is assigned this responsibility. Their offices collect millions of dollars in child support each year. DCS determines the amount of unpaid back support, and the current amount due. DCS then sends a demand for payment to the delinquent parent, who is allowed to respond. After both parties have submitted their paperwork, DCS makes a final decision, setting the amount of unpaid arrears, and requiring monthly amount for current support.

If non-payment continues after this final decision, DCS can issue administrative orders that immediately garnish wages, bank accounts, and tax returns. You don't have to hire an attorney, and don't have to go to court.

For any period of time, when the custodial parent is on public assistance, the money collected is kept by the state. When the custodial parent is not on public assistance, the state collects child support and passes the full amount collected on to the custodial parent. There are no fees or costs assessed for this service.

Many people ask how the state can legally spend tax dollars to collect child support for private citizens. This issue was actually presented to the State Supreme Court years ago, with yours truly arguing on behalf of DCS.

The delinquent father argued that support collection for a working mom was an illegal gift of public funds. The Supreme Court disagreed. The Court held that child support collection by the state is legal because it furthers several important public purposes: (1) ensuring that children are properly educated to become productive; (2) keeping custodial parents and their children off public assistance; (3) eliminating social dependency; (4) reducing the backlog of court cases; (5) making support collection more efficient; and (6) discouraging non-support.

Anyone who is owed child support or needs to have paternity established can apply to DCS for assistance. This is true even when there is no current court order, the non-paying parent lives out of state, the identity or location of the father is uncertain, the child was born out of wedlock, or an existing support order needs to be modified.

Here are the phone numbers for local DCS offices:

Seattle: (206) 341-7000
Tacoma: (253) 627-1545

Good luck!