Enforcing child support across state borders
Here’s a recent question sent to our client care team…
My daughter has a New Jersey court order for alimony and child support effective May 2013 which has been paid sporadically. Earlier this year, her “ex” left New Jersey and we are pretty sure is now in California, probably in the LA area, employment is unknown. Is the New Jersey order enforceable in California and can your company be of any help?
Our Answer:
Thank you for the email and question. In order for a private child support agency to assist in a support case, there are a few criteria that need to be met:
* arrears at the time of application need to be $5000 or more
* lapse in support paid needs to be over 90 consecutive days
If your daughter’s case needs these guidelines, we can certainly try to help. Private agencies look for the “NCP” and, we also look for income and assets to collect from. Our success will depend on what the investigators can find to work with. The date of birth and social security number are key to our success in locating info. The NJ order is enforceable in CA due to a law called “UIFSA” which is the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. This federal law allows anyone to take a support order from one state and enforce it in another state.
If your daughter would prefer to just have the case prosecuted for non-payment, an interstate government “CSE” case would need to be opened between NJ and CA to have this done. We would not prosecute for non-payment. Rather, we find attachable income sources and assets to attach to in order to satisfy the child support obligation.
Thanks!