TN Child Support Enforcment

 

In the United States the primary responsibility of enforcing child support rest on the separate states, although the federal government does provide financial support and various services concerning child support. States can turn to the Federal Parent Locator Service for help in locating parents across state lines, with access to data from the Social Security Administration, the IRS, and the Selective Service System, among various other sources.

 In Tennessee the Department of Human Services is responsible for administering the child support program.  These programs provide services that allow custodial parents to establish paternity of the child, establishing child support orders, and carrying out those child support orders. DHS also provides services to help locate absent parents, establish orders for medical support, and administer spousal support orders if child support is involved. There are numerous responsibilities and beneficial services that DHS provides for Tennessee families. The ability to enforce the court’s child support orders is a crucial component of the Tennessee Department of Human Services.

 The first step that needs to be taken in a child support case is to locate the alternate residential parent. The alternate residential parent as described by the DHS handbook is the parent that the child resides with less than 50% of the time. If the custodial parent has no information about the location of the alternate residential parent the state can use other sources to help in the location process. Various statewide resources like driver’s license records, motor vehicle registration records, and wage records are automatically by the Tennessee Child Support Enforcement System. DHS can locate absent military parents by contacting them through the appropriate branch of the military.

In the state of Tennessee until the child turns eighteen or if the child is 18 and still in high school then the order persists until the child’s graduation. If the alternate residential parent does not pay as ordered then DHS can assist in enforcing the order.  A variety of legal actions may be taken by the child support agency including:

1.       Issuing an income withholding order- if arrears are owed, payment to reduce the past due balance is included.

2.       Intercepting tax refunds- even if the parent are currently paying for arrears the tax refund can still be intercepted and used to pay the balance

3.       Placement of property liens

4.       Denial of obtaining a passport

5.       Seizure of bank accounts

6.       Revocation of licenses

7.       Reports made to credit bureaus

If the alternate residential parent is unemployed or receiving unemployment benefits child support must still be paid. The child support agency can withhold a portion of unemployment benefits to ensure that the order is being enforced. In the case of an interstate case, that being a case where the alternate residential parent resides in another state, the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act makes it easier to enforce established orders without having to go through multiple states court systems.

Unfortunately for many custodial parents proper enforcement of child support services can become an issue.  Studies have shown that less than half parents awarded child support ever sees payment in full. Many noncustodial parents try to shirk child support responsibilities any way possible. This not only affects the families but has an indirect impact on the society who must finance poverty programs to assist those in need. With ever growing percentages of single parent families present in the U.S. and budgetary problems the responsibility of enforcing child support for many agencies can be a daunting task.