can an adult collect back child support from an absent parent if so, how can I go about starting it?

Answer 1

Hi

I did the same thing a few years back, and I was successful. If you have the absent parent's social security number and the original court order for child support, you can get the state to try a search, but it will most likely be unsuccessful. The laws may differ based on the state, so you should check with your state to learn about the child support laws. If the state does find him, he/she can be arrested for not paying child support, and the absent parent will have to remain in jail until it is paid. The absent parent's wages, property, and assets can be seized and sold in order to pay the money. I'm from Louisiana and when I tried to get the state to find my father, I was told that they had closed the case because he couldn't be found. I think they were just too lazy to search for him though. You could also try child support collection agencies, which is what I did. I tried Support Collectors and they tracked my father down, and now he has to pay. However, they will have a 30% fee, which is taken from the child support. At the time, it was the lowest fee I could find for child support collection agencies. I had a few problems with them because they lied and told me that the money was automatically being taken from his check, and I learned otherwise when he missed a payment. If it's being taken out of his check, he/she should not miss any payments. The checks come in my mother's name, but I get the money. Here is the site if you're interested:

http://www.supportcollectors.com/

You could do a search on Google to find more collection agencies. I hope this helps you.

Answer 2

If the original order called for payments to be made to you specifically and the judgment somewhere along the line was registered then you might have a shot at collecting on the back child support.

However if you were the subject of the child support and the custodial parent was the payee under the order then you as the child do not have any standing under the order and therefore cannot collect back child support.

Answer 3

If you had a judgment ordering payments then go to the state to help with collection. They can garnish wages, seize assets, etc.

Answer 4

no, only the parent who spent money to support you and in my state you can only go back so far, not from birth. no, you can't.