The Insiders' Guide to Child Support: How the System Works

This comprehensive guide to child support fills a void for much-needed information about the government-operated “Title IV-D” child support program, which impacts over one in ten adults (28 million parents), and over one quarter of the nation’s children. In the U.S. 42% of children are born out of wedlock, and the vast majority of them are children in Title IV-D cases. One in two children will spend some of his or her minority years in a household without two parents. While there is a plethora of topical information on state, federal, and tribal child support program websites, until now, there has been no single, definitive, layperson’s guide to the government-run child support program. Any books that touch on this topic are written by matrimonial/divorce lawyers who look at a child support legal system from a 10,000-foot height leaving a $20,000 attorney bill. Few understand the nuances and complexities of the Title IV-D system. This system of 53,000 state and local workers throughout the country collected $28.5 billion in over 14 million cases in 2015. This book is designed to help mothers and fathers navigate through the national child support system, and understand their rights, responsibilities, and the laws regarding their cases. It will also serve as an excellent resource for child support professionals, family law attorneys, advocates, stakeholders, and public officials around the country who want to become more familiar with the system.Broken relationships, financial struggles, fights over kids – these are the back stories to the millions of families involved in the child support program. The big three issues in most peoples’ lives are at its heart: sex, money, and children. Child support is always in the news. Every day, tabloids and daytime talk shows feature paternity and child support issues – because it sells due to huge pent-up interest. Everyone knows someone with a case, and most have uninformed opinions and anecdotes about the handling or mishandling of their cases. It’s time to set the record straight.Filled with practical information, the authors address both common and unusual situations encountered by parents who are in the child support system, either voluntarily or involuntarily. It provides insights regarding paternity, child support orders, enforcement of child support orders, cases with parents in two different states or countries, and emphasizes how parents can help themselves and their children.The authors, Jeff Ball and Mary Ann Wellbank, are experts in the field of child support whose careers in the program have each spanned over 25 years. Throughout their careers, they have helped mothers and fathers understand their rights, responsibilities, and options with respect to the IV-D program, and have collaborated extensively with other stakeholders to improve outcomes for children.This is a must read for divorced, separated, and never married parents involved in the child support system.