In most cases, unless child support has been ordered by the family law court system, you cannot get child support all the way back to your child’s birth. To obtain a child support order that will require your child’s other biological parent to pay child support, you must go through the family court system and obtain a child support order.
You can file a Petition for Support through the Domestic Relations Section office in your local court jurisdiction.
However, if you and your child’s other biological parent have separated but your divorce case has not made it through the family law court system, the child support could be ordered retroactive from the time of your separation. Similarly, if you and your child’s other parent never lived together, your child’s other parent could be ordered to pay retroactive child support from the time of your child’s birth. In some cases, it is possible for the court to require the other parent to help pay for expenses not covered by insurance incurred during the pregnancy, the birth, and just after the birth, relating to the baby.
Child support that is unpaid but has been ordered is one of this nation’s largest debts. It is estimated that 30 million U.S. children are owed more than $40 billion in child support, according to the Association for the Enforcement of Child Support.
When The Paying Parent Falls Behind in Child Support
If the non-custodial parent has fallen behind in payments, you must wait 30 days before you can take enforcement action in Pennsylvania. Ultimately, if the parent who is in child support arrears fails to respond to enforcement compliance, their wages could be withheld. If, however, all options so far have not resulted in the parent who owes support being in compliance, that person could potentially be found in contempt of a court order and jailed.
Questions about Child Support and Enforcement? Skilled Jenkintown Child Support and Divorce Attorney
To find out more about your rights regarding child support, custody, paternity, divorce, or any other family law matter, please schedule a confidential consultation with family law attorney Joanne Kleiner, in Jenkintown, PA. Reach us at 215-886-1266 or you can fill out our intake form and we will contact you.
Keeping you focused on the big picture and the issues that matter most…Joanne E. Kleiner & Associates. We serve clients throughout Montgomery, Bucks, Philadelphia counties, and the surrounding areas.