Child Support

Children have a right to financial support from both parents. Under Pennsylvania law, parents generally have an obligation to support their children until the child turns 18 years old or graduates from high school, whichever occurs later. Support includes payments of money, but may also include health insurance and unreimbursed medical expenses.

Either parent may bring an action for child support by filing a complaint with the county domestic relations section (DRS). You can find your local domestic relations office on-line or by calling 1-877-727-7238. If the child lives with another person, such as a grandparent, adult sibling or foster parent through a Children and Youth Services action, the person or agency caring for the child can file for support against both parents.

A support complaint can be filed with the DRS in one of three places:

• The county where the parent who owes support lives or works,
• The county where the parent seeking support lives (if that county is the last place where the parents lived while they were married) or
• The county where the child lives.

Determining Paternity

If the child´s parents are not married, either parent may request a DNA test to establish paternity. In limited circumstances, paternity also can be challenged for a child born while the parents were married.

Protection From Abuse Order Cases

Child support can be ordered as part of the relief in a Protection From Abuse Order (PFA). However, if a person wants child support through a PFA to continue, that person must file a complaint with the DRS within two weeks of the date when the PFA was issued. If a support complaint is not filed, the support obligation in the PFA ends. (Note: the remainder of the PFA provisions remain in place). The DRS will enforce the PFA support provisions if a complaint is filed within the two-week time period.

Support Obligations

The child support obligation is based on the guidelines provided by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The DRS will calculate the amount of support based on each parent´s net income and assets. Income includes wages, bonuses, rents, pensions, lottery winnings and many other things, but not SSI (Supplemental Security Income) or public assistance. Parents can agree to a specific amount of support. The calculated amount or the agreed amount will be written up and made a court order when the support judge signs it.

Sometimes the support order does not strictly follow the guideline amount. This may happen if one or both parents have a low income, other children from a different relationship to support or if one parent has unusual recurring obligations to pay.

Quitting a job to avoid support obligations does not excuse a person from having to pay support. In this situation, the earning capacity of the person will be used to calculate the support order, based on the person´s previous employment record.

Appeals Process

If either parent believes that DRS made a mistake in calculating the amount of support, s/he is entitled to request a hearing seeking recalculation of the support obligation. In some counties, an attorney who acts as a hearing officer hears this appeal. In other counties, a judge hears this appeal.

Enforcement

The DRS and the Court of Common Pleas will enforce support obligations. Even a parent who moves to another state must continue to pay the support obligation. Failure to pay may result in a prison stay of up to six months.

Modification

Support orders may be modified for a good reason; either party may request modification simply by filing for a modification with the DRS. The support order will be recalculated based on the new information. The parent receiving support may decide to drop the support order, but she or he may refile at any time. A parent is not required to file for support.

Good Cause Waiver for Domestic Violence Victims

As part of welfare reform, in 1996, Congress passed a law requiring people who apply to receive welfare cash assistance and other benefits to cooperate with child support enforcement agencies. However, Congress recognized that domestic violence victims might be endangered if they were forced to cooperate in child support collection and enforcement efforts. For this reason, Congress included provisions for domestic violence victims that authorized the good cause waiver of cooperation in certain circumstances. Under the good cause opt-out provision, an abuse victim who is receiving welfare may qualify for the good cause waiver excusing the domestic violence victim from cooperating with child support collection efforts. If a domestic violence victim is afraid to apply for public benefits or to cooperate with collection efforts, the domestic violence victim should contact the local public assistance agency or welfare caseworker to discuss the Family Violence Option. Under the "good cause" opt-out provision, the abuse qualifies as "good cause" for failing to cooperate with enforcement of child support obligation against the other parent so that cash and other benefits can continue.

Confidentiality

The 1996 law also requires states to safeguard information about where victims of domestic violence and their children live, when revealing that information would harm the parent or the children. In Pennsylvania, an electronic flag called a Family Violence Indicator (FVI) would be entered in the person´s file in the computer system that tracks support orders (Pennsylvania Child Support Enforcement System or PACSES). Using an FVI is not limited to recipients of public assistance. An FVI may be entered to protect the information of any party to the support action, including the child, custodial parent, noncustodial parent, caretaker, and/or spouse if a PFA is in place or if there is a reason to believe that release of the information would cause physical or emotional harm to the parent or the child. When an FVI is placed in the PACSES file, the address, telephone number, employer´s name, address, telephone number and medical provider´s information is removed from communications sent to the parties. The federal Parent Locator database will also receive the request to protect the confidential information. Under certain circumstances, the information will be released to authorized persons, but procedural safeguards are in place to limit who can get the information and for what purpose.