I’m currently filing for child support in Florida with an attorney and would love to hear about others’ experiences.
Did having an attorney make the process easier? Also, has anyone requested temporary child support while their case was ongoing?
Would appreciate any insight on what to expect!

Just wondering if anyone here has recently gone through a child support modification with Oregon DOJ and could share their experience.

My husband requested a modification because two of his three kids are now adults and no longer qualify for support. Unfortunately, Oregon considers his order a “class order,” so the monthly amount doesn’t automatically go down when the kids age out.

We submitted all the paperwork in September, and his case manager confirmed they have everything they need. But she also told us modifications are currently taking 6–9 months, possibly 4 if everything goes smoothly. Definitely not what we were hoping to hear.

One thing I’m trying to understand is how the effective date works. We were told the new amount would be effective the first of the month after both parties are legally served, even if the modification isn’t finalized until months later.

So I’m curious:

• At what point in the process did you receive your proposed modification?

• If your support was reduced, what happened to the extra money withheld between the effective date and when everything was finalized?

• Did they credit it toward arrears or future payments?

I’d especially love to hear from anyone who’s gone through this with Oregon DOJ, but I’m also interested in experiences from other states that handle modifications in a similar way.

I know every case is different. We’re just trying to get a better idea of what to expect, so any insight would be appreciated!

I have a question about Indiana Laws on failure to pay child support.

Background: Mother lost custody of all 3 of her kids in June of 2024. Two went to live with the grandmother and our son came to live with us. She filed in April of 2025 to get visitation after no contact for months. She was granted visitation, but was ordered to pay $84 a week in child support.

When this order was made she was working and did not have custody of her other two kids back. As soon as she was granted custody of them back, she quiet her job and has refused to work since December 2025.

She has only paid $60 in child support and now owes over $7000.

My husband doesn’t have the money to take her back to court. We are scared that we will end up paying her due to her refusing to work.

She openly brags about not having to work. She has a sugar daddy that gives her money. Our son (13) has read the texts between them when she has left her phone near him and stated she is sucking d*ck for cash. Her uncle is letting her use his land for the camper she lives in and is paying her phone and utilities.

She also already tried to have the support lowered when she got her two kids back and “lost” her job. Judge told her she needed to wait a year to change it. He also told her when she gets a job to inform us and they would garnish her wages.

I would also like to add she is currently on probation until February 2027. Apparently being employed is not apart of that agreement.

My questions are:

1. Is there a possibility that we might end up having to pay her if she refuses to work even though we have primary custody?

2. Will they change the support amount to nothing since she is refusing to work and using her kids as an excuse not to be employed?

3. Will she be held accountable for not wanting to pay?

My ex and I share 50/50 custody of one child together, a nine year old. Our initial child support order is from a little over three years ago, shortly after we separated. He pays me $450/month and he also pays for our child’s healthcare. At that time I was making $30k and he was making $60k annually. About a year ago I took a different position within the same company making more like $40k-$50k. Shortly after our support order he started his own business and I know that he is making at least $300k a year, though I don’t know how much is income to him vs money back into the business. I am paying my lawyer to help me with this as I suspect they will deem it a complex case because of his finances being a business owner and how he does his taxes. He also owns two rental homes. I am now remarried to a man that has no contact with his 11 year old child in another state. My ex is remarried to a woman who no longer works, has two children from a previous relationship, and they now have a one year old child together. What should I expect?

Hello everyone, so I'm a completely blind single father and I got full custody of my now seven-year-old daughter back in 2024. The reason being that back in 2022, my child's mother who lives in Colorado was supposed to pick up our daughter on several occasions, and I would pack her things, tell my side of the family she was leaving they would say their goodbyes and then she wouldn't show up and text me a day or two later saying she couldn't make it.
I'm only explaining this so that there's context but in October she said she was coming to pick the child up and I told her no because there were too many times where she didn't show up or communicate properly. She showed up at my door anyway on October 1 with one of her relatives claiming she had an emergency order from Colorado, where she's from, to take my daughter. She was also trying to get me to sign a parenting agreement right then and there. I refused. She entered my home without permission as well and ultimately she left with my child against my wishes.
I got my daughter back in March 2023 then began the process of getting paper served and getting full custody which took over a year of court hearings via Zoom meetings. She didn't show up for most of the meetings so the judge ultimately sided in my favor, I was able to get full custody, and I drafted the terms of the arrangement which basically gives me full control over everything.
She was also placed on Child Support and I collected money from her via her taxes being garnished since she hasn't made monthly payments which total around $380 or so. I was OK with collecting at first because during the pandemic she claimed our daughter on her taxes and received about $5000 even though at the time of the filing, I was the one taking care of the child and she was with me, legally, at least from my understanding she shouldn't have even have done that.
Since 2024 I received a little over $8000 and Bacc payments after tax time but I don't have anything against her, the reason why I took full custody in the first place was because of how she handled taking the child back in 2022 and the fact that our daughter has ADHD that she wasn't taking into concern seriously enough. I started noticing some of these behavioral issues around the age of four and five, her mom didn't see any problems and I guess I should've mentioned this earlier but during the time that she took her in 2022 she was homeless and bouncing around between hotels and relatives. So she took her out of a stable home while she was also having behavioral issues that I started noticing and today, I have her on medication and doing therapy and she's doing really well in school, but obviously since she's a kid, she misses her mom and her little sister who is not my child.
I've tried to get Child Support adjusted for a lower amount, but my request was denied and her mother is now telling me that her license has been suspended and she's facing jail time. I told her that we could go in front of a judge and request a formal review and adjustment, but she said that that wouldn't work and I have the power to take her off of Child Support but I've been told that because of backpay, I can't simply just say I don't want to receive payments anymore and remove her.
My child's mother says I only put her on Child Support to hurt her, but the reason why we got here in the first place was because of how she was handling our child and the fact that she tried to get me to sign court papers that weren't even stamped by a judge. She took advantage of my blindness, and on multiple occasions, used my information and my daughter's information without my knowledge or consent.
I told her I would help her either get payments reduced or I would try to take her off, but it's up to her to work with me to do this but again she said I have the power to take her off of Child Support and I'm not sure that I do because I've been told that I don't before. For additional context, I only received disability in the amount of $993 a month, I receive food stamps myself, and my daughter also receives food stamps for a total of about $375 a month. My daughter also has health insurance through the state. I don't know if that makes a difference because at least for my understanding some of those things factor into why she has to be on Child Support.
I don't want my benefits to be negatively impacted by taking her off, but I also don't want her to continue having to pay a high amount and it financially crippling her, but she's not communicating with me clearly and then it turns into a emotional thing. I've told her that she's more than welcome to visit her daughter. Whenever she wants, I always let them have phone calls and FaceTime, I keep her updated with her school and medical situations so I'm not leaving her in the dark by any means. I just had to do what I did because things were unstable and she was also kind of using me for her own benefits.
So do I have the power to take her off of Child Support or how does this work since all this was done in Kansas and she lives in Colorado? Or am I making the right choice by keeping her on Child Support and offering help that she's refusing to take?
Sorry this was so long-winded but there's just a lot going on in this situation here and I'm trying to get a clear answer about this situation so that I can at least show her the facts. I know speaking to a lawyer would be the most logical next step, but I wanted to get some feedback from the community.

Hello everyone,

Looking for some guidance on my situation in NJ

Currently provide CS for 2 kids in college, one approaching 23 in 8 months, other age 18.

Are there guidelines in place on how soon I should I start the process to request support be modified / recalculated as support for older child will cease at age 23. Younger will still receive support as they are 18.

Additionally I am contributing to their college expenses and the other parent is not. Would this be taken into consideration regarding the amount of support for younger child? They are away at school / not living at home.

I'm the mom. I work full time and the dad doesn't work. Our daughter is 3yo. First off the state screwed me over in the first place. I got served that they were initiating the process and then nothing until I was getting garnished. So my hearing request was not honored like I was told it would be.

Secondly, I pay 600/mo in support plus 200 a month in arrears (they filed from when him and I broke up, not from when he actually became the custodial parent. We do roughly 50/50, but he'll often just ignore my messages and calls so I end up not seeing my daughter for months at a time so that's a secondary issue, but I had her full time for 8 of the 15 months of arrears they filed for until one day he just didn't show at drop off and the first blow up happened) I make 2400/mo. CS is a third of my gross income. I've been putting off adding my daughter to my health insurance because I can't afford it. For me alone it's 400/mo. For both of us it'll be over a grand. There's cheaper insurance but it doesn't cover jack and I NEED the coverage. I see specialists every month and am on expensive medications. I don't qualify for medicaid. My savings is gone. I'm barely scraping by as it is. I don't actually know what to do.

Fighting it will make my support go up according to the state and I'm so close to thinking about permanent solutions for temporary problems because I can't see a way out of this.

If you have an ex-spouse whom you receive Child Support and Alimony from that is employed by Whole Foods Market and have had issues because Global has only been garnishing from your ex’s base pay, and not properly reporting lump sums to your state’s child support enforcement agency, please get in contact with me. I’m exploring taking legal action, and I have already been contacted by someone in my network who has experienced the same issue. My believe is if there’s 2 of us, there must be more too.

My child support has always deposited every 14 days at the same time since it started 4 months ago. So it should have deposited onto my way2go card last night around 9:18pm. I got the email from Pennsylvania child support saying my deposit of 353 was sent and the case site shows it deposited. However way2go said they haven't received anything. Everyone I've called just gives me the same bs answer of "it can take 2 days blah blah blah" never has before though so why now....

Anyone else??

Im confused on how to apply for child support. Please help. I dont know which forms exactly to use.

Form 8 and Form 13?

Hello everyone I don't know anything about child support neither does my coworker, a few years ago her and her partner separated they have a 7-year-old daughter, she's been hesitant on putting child support... Now that things are getting expensive and money is beginning to be tight she finally is convinced I'm putting child support on her ex partner. She doesn't know how child support works she doesn't know where to begin. She recently sent me this text and it looks like her ex partner is almost bullying or threatening her to not do it because it will go bad for her. Can you guys guide me and my coworker on how child support works and how to file in Los Angeles California. Her partner works for FedEx and taps out at $46 an hour but only gives her a couple hundred bucks or more once a month, she works at a hospital part-time graveyard. Thanks.

"""Lawyers are going to milk u for money. be wise in what u do. I'm really being nice, por los sentimientos de mi hija,

Tu madre me dijo que ya no me molestarias. Y lo estas haciendo.

Last month I gave u 650 I dont understand how much more u want

Ponte a trabajar y cobrale gasolina a tu prima.

Other people take advantage of u, and you don't see it.

I dont qualify for a buy out it was a saying"""

This is the last text message he sent to my coworker

The hearing is about an increase in child support amongst many other things but primary objective is for her to get more money. Luckily my income has only increased from the MSA number by about 3,000 a year. Has anyone ever attended a remote hearing? Not sure what to expect here and what kind of questions the judge will ask? How long is the hearing usually for? What should I expect from this? Does the judge typically stick to the MSA or reward the woman in the ordeal?

I’m going through a divorce with 2 young children. I have been paying all of the bills except for her car, car insurance, and groceries for her and the children. She has a job that is well above minimum wage. I am fighting for 50/50 custody because I truly want my children in my life, yet she wants me to only have standard visitation. She wants the house that is her family home and was awarded it without giving me half the equity because the gift of equity was from her father even though the gift letter was to both of us, fine. Judge also only giving me standard visitation and $1500 in child support. I have to continue to pay the mortgage and child support but only 50% mortgage if I move out until she refinances. My lawyer was really bad and did not want to fight for me. Even said “you have me over here making the Judge feel bad for her” when I asked him to question her on her infidelity. Has anyone seen this happen before? Is this normal? I plan to get a new lawyer and keep on fighting.

Edit: she works from home and I don’t. I am trying to obtain a wfh job to be able to stay home with the kids.

Hello! I’m actually the child (now an adult) in this equation so I’m not even sure if this is the right place to be asking this but figured I’d give it a shot anyway. 

Context: When I was around 8 I was the victim of parental kidnapping by my abusive bio-mother, and after a court case my (grand)mother had majority custody of me, with partial custody going to both my biological parents. I had never actually met my bio-father before this case and only met him when he and (grand)mother came to pick me up after bio-mother lost the case and then once more at a church fair thing. I don’t know him as he never made an effort to speak or connect with me aside from the 2 times I’ve met him despite him having court order visitation. He never wanted to use it. He was also ordered by the court to start sending his child support checks to my grandmother, but never did. He has about 4-5 other children too, at least 2 of which are currently still minors and live with him.

My question; How long after the age of 18 do I have to file for back pay on the support he owes or have I already passed that? I’m currently 25.

I’m asking this question now (though I have tried to look into this issue before) as I’d like to begin the process for Adult Adoption but I’m not sure if that would get my bio-father off the hook for the owed support. If it does, I’d like to wait on the adoption because frankly, I could really use the money right now. I have some health issues (mainly dental) that the (roughly) 25k he owes would make a massive difference on in terms of not going into debt. I don’t even want it as lump sum, I’d be more than willing to work out a payment plan with him and then just let the courts deal with enforcment if he tried to duck and dodge again. We’re in Louisiana (me in Avoyelles parish, him in Rapides, and the court case itself took place in Vernon if that info is needed.) and I can’t seem to find a clear answer anywhere, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!! 

I'm the non-custodial paying child support. So my divorce was final in February and until then I had been making direct payments monthly to her and continued those direct payments for another month until garnishment started. Now I'm stuck with 2 problems. One, even though I have sent in along with my ex sending in the forms showing direct payment, both showing identical information, after half a year later those haven't been credited. Second, my first 5 weekly garnishments all show voluntary even though they were all taken out under the same court order. TOTAL: over 3500 not credited properly to my account. I have called OAG and local office every 3 weeks for months to try to get this resolved and same answer every time, give it another month. Meanwhile they increased my garnishment to cover the supposed arrearage, reported me to the credit bureau, add on interest, and send me threatening letters. Incidentally, my ex and I would have both preferred to continue to handle it privately between us but evidently in TX that is not allowed, so we get to rely on incompetent state bureaucrats instead. Any ideas?

I filed for child support late last year and after three continuances finally got a temporary order in August. Went back in October for the official support hearing and the judge ordered the exact same amount. Yet here I am still waiting on 2 Orders After Hearing and haven’t received a single payment! Even the judge acknowledged the 6–8 week backlog and basically laughed it off like hehe oops, I know we’re backlogged, sorry lol

I’m self-represented and have called and emailed countless times. I either get ignored or told to be patient or wait another 20 days. Meanwhile, I have our son 85% of the time because of the other parent’s work schedule. He makes 6 times my income and hasn’t contributed financially toward our son in almost a year.

I’ve continued working and covering our son’s expenses on my own but I’ve had to rely on credit and take on debt after the separation just to keep up. I can’t keep doing that indefinitely while waiting for court orders that should have been completed months ago.

Has anyone dealt with this? Were you able to get DCSS to enforce payments BEFORE income withholding started or while waiting for the official written orders? If so, HOW? Because I’m going in circles over here! 😭

Hi, I’m the custodial mom of a ten year old boy. We only have about 10 years left of CS.

Had a child with a man after not knowing him very well. He became somewhat involved with my son and they have a great relationship. But noncustodial got married to another woman a year after my son was born. They bought a house and then divorced. The house is his now.

He then had another child with a woman, not his ex wife, and wants us to move in together into his house.

He said Platonic marriage may be on the cards. He pays me child support, a pretty substantial amount and pays the other mother a substantial amount as well.

I know this is a financial move on his part but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to raise our son in the same home instead of doing this coparenting thing. I would get out of my apartment and move into a nice home. My son has no relationship with his half-brother and my son’s father, the noncustodial parent, does not have a relationship with his other child. My job doesn’t pay that well and it has been really difficult to raise the child on my own although there is so much love for the boy between the us for him.

This would mean we would go to family court and ask for the termination of the child support order.

Thoughts?

He LOVES our son and our son loves him. Financially it’s in his best interest to be nice to us.

Three children. Court order (22nd judicial circuit). No wage assignment, no FSD involvement. Decree explicitly stated the support amount for three, two, and one child and does not contain any extras related to emancipation or termination of support. Very boilerplate. When my two oldest reached their triggering events, neither of us disagreed and payment amounts were stepped down according to the decree.

My youngest, a full time college student, turns 21 soon, at which time child support will terminate entirely. There will have been no overpayments or underpayments, and neither party will contest. I understand that this requires filing of sworn statements, and the Court provides boilerplate forms, CS95 for me and CS96 for her. But it is slightly confusing, as these forms specify one child.

Shortly after my youngest turns 21, should we submit three of each form, one for each child? Or should we just submit one for the youngest?

So I opened child support case in Arapahoe about 3 weeks ago they sent me few days ago the parentage affidavit to be signed and ask for birth certificate and marriage certificate. They say they will notify the father. My question is what if he ignored them what will be the next step???