Collecting Child Support and Support Enforcement in New York

Once paternity has been established and the court has issued the Child Support Order, all support payments must be sent to the Child Support Enforcement Unit's (CSEU) collection division - Child Collection Unit (SCU). This unit keeps track of all child support amounts, payments, and transfers to the custodial parent. An Income Execution order (IEX) is sent to the employer so that the support amount is withheld from the employee's pay. The employer also receives information on where the support payments are to be sent. If the employer is not known, the person paying support will be issued billing coupons which are payable to the SCU.

If child support payments fall in arrears, the SCU has several options at its disposal to collect these payments. Administrative enforcement can be collected, without going to court, as they can:

1 Deny you a passport

2 Intercept your unemployment insurance

3 Suspend your driver's license

4 Put a lien on your property

5 Take it from your tax return

6 Take if from lottery winnings

7 Garnishee your wages

8 Put you into collection

But, before any of these actions can be taken, a bill will be sent to the paternal parent explaining his obligations and what actions will be taken to collect the arrears. The person will be provided a date to make the payment by, as failure to comply will put them into a situation that could ruin their credit standing and credibility.

If none of the above actions result in payment, the SCU will file paperwork with the courts for a violation petition and the courts will be asked to enforce the order. Once this happens, the courts can handle it in any of the following methods:

1 Order the offender into a work program

2 Order mandatory money judgements

3 Suspension of licenses - professional, business, or occupational

4 Put the offender on probation

5 Issue jail sentences

It should be noted, paternity testing is very accurate, whether it is a home paternity kit or a court ordered clinic test; therefore, if you even suspect you might be the father, you may want to test at home and save everyone the hassle of court testing.

For additional information on Paternity Testing, please visit: Legal Paternity Testing