Child Support INDIANA CHILD SUPPORT OPERATIONS In Indiana, Child Support services are provided in each county by elected Prosecutors operating in cooperative agreement with the Child Support Bureau. For information on County office operations, visit the Association of Indiana Counties. You may also contact your local county child support office for hours of operation and services regarding your child support case. Title IV-D child support services include locating parents, establishing paternity, establishing and modifying child support and medical support orders, and enforcing the payment of child support through a variety of tools exclusively available through the Title IV-D program. More about Title IV-D child support services. Signing up for services is free. Enrollment form and instructions are available at. MAKING CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENTS See Make a Child Support Payment for a list of all available payment methods and instructions. For information on County office operations, visit the Association of Indiana Counties.
Contact a divorce or family lawyer to discuss this very important issue. It is in your best interest to fully understand your rights and obligations regarding child support since it is something that you will either be receiving or paying for many years.
A few states base their guidelines on the Melson formula. The Melson formula is an enhancement of the income shares model. It takes into account the needs of the parents to support themselves. A self-support reserve is taken out of each parent's income prior to the calculation of that share of the children's basic support. The Melson is more complex than the other approaches but, because it incorporates the parent's needs, parents generally perceive it to be the fairest approach. Although the state child support guidelines take into account the number of children, they also recognize that raising two children is not twice as expensive as raising one. Therefore, the guidelines reduce the support amount per child in larger families to best approximate the true needs. One major motivation for the creation of child support guidelines was to reduce poverty in single parent households. If this were their only use they might only apply to those with lower incomes. However, the guidelines in most states were designed to apply to most people.
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There are other factors taken into account as well, such as the custody arrangement for your child or children. These issues are complex so it is best to discuss the calculation of the guideline amount with a divorce or family attorney. The responsibility for child support extends until the child or children reach the age of majority. In DC, for purposes of child support, the age of majority is 21 years old. If you and your spouse work toward an out-of-court settlement, which is always best and less expensive than going to court, you may decide not to use the guideline figure and decide to use other methods for sharing the support responsibility for your children. If your agreement clearly spells out how you plan to share the support obligations for your children, the court will usually accept your agreement when you are divorced. However, the children's needs must be adequately and fairly met. If you decide to use the guideline amount, either one of your divorce attorneys can calculate the appropriate guideline figure and it can be written into your Separation and Property Settlement Agreement.
CHILD SUPPORT CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER (KIDSLINE) 1 (800) 840-8757 The Child Support Customer Service Center (KIDSLINE) is an informational call center for questions about child support cases. Automated phone service is available 24 hours, 7 days/week. Customer service hours: Monday - Friday, 7:00 am to 5:00 pm. Closed on State Holidays. Assistance is available in 170 different languages for live support calls. PARENTING TIME HELPLINE 1 (844) 836-0003 The Parenting Time HelpLine is an informational call center for questions about parenting time issues. Available Monday - Friday, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm ET. Accessible by email at.
Percentage of Income Model: Support is based on a percentage of the noncustodial parent's income, regardless of custodial parent's income (nine states, including Illinois, New York, and the District of Columbia). Melson Formula Model: A more complex version of the income shares model, which factors in each parent's self-support needs, the standard of living allowance, and other considerations (two states: Delaware and Hawaii). There's no evidence that any one model is superior to any other model in terms of increased compliance, consistency, and ease of administration. But there is some evidence concerning adequacy of awards. One study indicates that the income shares model produces the highest awards for low-income families, the Melson Formula model produces the highest award for middle-income families, and the percentage of income model produces the highest awards in upper-income families. Get Legal Help to Better Understand Child Support Guidelines Given the discretion that many judges have over child support orders and the various models that can be used, it may not always be easy to predict how much you could pay in child support.