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Missouri Child Support Enforcement Resource Center
- Withholding income (wages, Workers’ Compensation benefits, unemployment compensation benefits, etc.)
- Intercepting federal and state income tax refunds
- Ordering employers to enroll noncustodial parent’s children in health care plans
- Reporting noncustodial parents who owe past�due support to credit bureaus
- Filing liens on personal and/or real property
- Intercepting lottery winnings
- Suspending licenses (drivers, recreational, professional)
- Asking the prosecuting attorney to file civil contempt or criminal non�support charges
Who Can Enforce Court Ordered Child Support in Missouri
The official child support enforcement agency for the State of Missouri is the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) within the Department of Social Services. Missouri Child Support Enforcement (CSE) is required by federal law to provide child support enforcement services free of charge and is funded by the federal government and the State of Missouri.
| MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT CASELOAD STATISTICS1 | |
|---|---|
| Full Time Equiv. Staff | 1,041 |
| Total Caseload | 377,410 |
1 U.S. Office of Child Support Enforcement, Boxscores for FY 2005
Support Collectors Collects Back Child Support in Missouri
Has CSE been able to deliver the results you want? Are they giving you the personal attention you deserve? Support Collectors can do better. We’re able to give your case the most rapid, personal attention possible. Support Collectors has developed a proven system that teams attorneys, investigators and enforcement specialists to work your case from every possible angle. We work nationwide and our only business is collecting support. Our success rate is up to three times better than Missouri Child Support Enforcement and you don’t pay unless we collect support on your behalf.
Interest on Missed Child Support Payments
Missouri allows for interest to be added to past due child support payments and retroactive support at a rate of 1% per month simple interest once reduced to a lump-sum judgment. The obligee must compute and file with the circuit clerk to make interest collectible.
MO Statute of Limitations on Back Child Support Payments (Arrears)
Missouri’s statute of limitations on child support enforcement is 10 years from last payment on court record or other form of revival of order on court record.
MO Statute of Limitations on Determining Paternity
The statute of limitations for establishing paternity in Missouri is the child’s 18th birthday or 21st birthday if the child is bringing their own paternity action.
Age of Emancipation / Age of Majority in Missouri
With some exceptions, age of Majority in Missouri is generally 18. Child support terminates at age 18 or if in high school at 18, upon graduation from high school or age 21, whichever comes first. Enrollment in a GED program is also considered being enrolled in a “secondary school program of instruction,” and support would terminate upon completion of the program or age 21, whichever comes first.
Child support may be required after the age of majority if the child enrolls in college or vocational school by October 1 following high school graduation, support may continue until age 22 or when his/her education is completed if the child:
- Enrolls for and completes at least 12 hours of credit each semester;
- Achieves grades sufficient to re-enroll at the institution; and
- At the beginning of each semester, submits to each parent a transcript or similar official document provided by the college or vocational school which includes the courses the child is enrolled in and has completed for each term, the grades and credits received and the courses the child is enrolled in for the coming term.
A court may waive the October 1 deadline for enrollment. The twelve-hour requirement may also be waived if a child has a physical or learning disability or a diagnosed health problem that prevents him/her from taking 12 credit hours or a child is working at least 15 hours per week and taking as few as 9 credit hours per semester. The court may also extend the child support obligation past the age of 18 if the child is physically or mentally incapacitated from supporting himself/herself and insolvent and unmarried.
Missouri Child Support Guidelines for Determining Support Payments
The court determines the amount of child support payments in Missouri. The amount of payments is generally determined by taking into account the incomes of both parents and the total number of children. However, any number of other factors may be applied as well such as the children’s age, certain deductions allowed to each parent, etc.
Custody and Visitation Issues
Child support and visitation rights are separate issues. The court determines both and will usually order the non-custodial parent to pay support and the custodial parent to make the child available for visits.
The custodial parent has a duty to obey the court order for visitation, even if the non-custodial parent cannot or will not pay child support. The court can enforce its orders against either parent.
You Have Options
Any custodial parent not receiving public assistance may hire a private attorney or contract with a child support enforcement agency like Support Collectors and at the same time have a case open with the Missouri Child Support Enforcement. We can work harder to collect the child support you deserve.
Collecting support is all we do and we give you the personalized, dedicated attention that your case deserves. Call us at (888) 729-6661 or get started online right now! We don’t charge a cent until you get paid.