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Oregon's Division of Child Support Explanation of Services

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Accounting Top of Page

For information on your account, please refer to the online Case Information or use the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Phone System.

See also: Child Support Payment Center.

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Disbursement Top of Page

The Child Support Disbursement Center was created to provide customers with the information needed to receive child support payments. The primary payment method to any individual entitled to receive child support is by Direct Deposit to a checking or savings bank account or through electronic deposits made to a U.S. Bank® ReliaCard® Visa® prepaid debit card.

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Locating the Parent Top of Page

The Child Support Program employs Locate Specialists that are dedicated to finding the location of non-custodial parents whose wherabouts are unknown. They have many tools and may even help locate a non-custodial parent living in another state. It is very important that you give as much information as you can to the Child Support Program. Information such as the parent's Social Security Number, date of birth or age, last-known address or location, and employer are all helpful in locating the noncustodial parent.

The Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) is one tool that is available to assist in locating an absent parent in certain circumstances.

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Establishing Paternity Top of Page

This means we can help establish the legal father of a child. Sometimes the alleged parent admits paternity right away. If either the mother or the alleged father denies a certain man is the father, genetic parentage tests can be ordered. Often the alleged parent admits paternity when the parentage tests show he could be the father. Occasionally, the case must be settled in court. We can also assist a man who wants to be declared the legal father of the child but needs help establishing paternity.

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Establishing a Support Order Top of Page

If there is no order for payment of child support and medical insurance, we will try to obtain one. Using information we obtain along with what you provide, we use a formula called the child support guidelines to determine the child support amount. We then notify both the custodial and noncustodial parent. If the noncustodial parent ignores the notice (defaults), we will establish an order to pay the amount we asked for in the notice. If either parent responds to the "notice" but doesn't agree with the amount, a hearing will be held. The child support amount will be determined at the hearing. If either party disagrees, they may appeal to circuit court.

The Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement provides additional information and resources.


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Out-of-State Orders Top of Page

Even if you live in Oregon and the other parent lives in another state, we can work with the other state to help establish paternity or get support. It is important to tell the child support worker if you have a support order entered in another state so the worker can determine whether to enforce that order or establish a new order.

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Modifying a Support Order Top of Page

You may ask the Child Support Program (CSP) to review the child support and/or medical child support terms of your support order. The CSP will begin the review only if:

  1. It has been at least 35 months since the date the support order was entered, reviewed or last modified; or
  2. You can show proof there has been a substantial change of circumstances. This could mean a change in custody, the needs of the child(ren), or the number of children covered by the support order. It could also mean a significant change in a parent’s income, or a change in medical child support.

For more information, go to Request for Modification.

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Enforcing Support Top of Page

The Child Support Program uses many tools to enforce child support and medical insurance:

  • We send monthly billing statements to the noncustodial parent showing the current amount due and any past due amounts.

  • Income Withholding

    • This is a legal action by which money is taken directly from the income of the person who owes support.

    • Since October 1989, income withholding is required for all new or modified support orders even if there is no past due support.

    • We are also able to collect from unemployment compensation, workers' compensation, and other types of income.

  • We can collect federal and state tax refunds to pay past due support. We can also collect from other kinds of federal payments.

  • If the person owns property in Oregon, we can place a lien against the property. This means the property cannot be sold with a clear title until the support has been paid.

  • Sometimes bank accounts or other sources of funds can be attached to pay child support by issuing a "garnishment." If the parent's income is already being withheld for payment of child support, usually we will not attach a bank account. We garnish lottery winnings, and we can attach insurance settlements or inheritances if we know about these funds ahead of time.

  • Recent laws allow the suspension of drivers' licenses and occupational licenses for failure to make and keep a payment agreement if the parent owes at least $2,500 in back support and we are unable to collect using other methods.

  • The names of persons who owe a certain amount of support are turned over to credit reporting agencies. Doing this sometimes causes the parent to pay the amount to avoid damaging his or her credit record.

  • A court may punish a person for past failure to pay support or force a parent to pay in the future by its contempt powers. Sometimes, the judge will impose a jail sentence to punish the parent or to force payment.

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