How do I get child or spousal support? How do I modify or end a support order?
What is included in a child support order?
I am not receiving court ordered child support. How do I enforce that order? What help can I get to enforce that order?
I have lost my job and cannot pay the full amount of child support. How do I get the support order reduced?
My child will turn 21 soon. How do I stop child support payments?
How do I get support or alimony after a divorce?
Answer
The Family Court Act, Article 4 Support Proceedings governs support proceedings.
The CourtHelp website Child Support explains the process of filing for child support. There are free DIY programs you can use to file for a child support order and to enforce an order the court has already granted if the other parent isn't following it. There is also a DIY program you can use to ask the court to change a child support order because of a "change in circumstances." You can also file a petition using this program before your child turns 21 to make sure that child support payments are ended timely.
A "change in circumstances" can include: the child emancipating by getting married, joining the military, or moving out and becoming self-supporting; or if the noncustodial parent gets custody. A change in the needs of the child or the noncustodial parent's income can also support a request to modify the order.
Child support will stop once the child reaches the age of twenty-one. You don't have to file a petition to change your support order to end payments because your child is turning 21, but you can if you want to. Child support arrears will continue to be collected after the child reaches the age of twenty-one.
The Court Help Spousal Support explains the difference between spousal support and maintenance. Spousal Support applies when spouses are currently married. Spousal Support requests are filed in the same petition as a child support petition in Family Court.
If the spouses are divorced, the financial support one ex-spouse gets from the other ex-spouse is called maintenance. Maintenance is decided in Supreme Court during a divorce case.
You can find more resources on child support in New York here:
- Family Legal Care's child support guides page
- NY Rural Law Center's child support guides page
- NY Courts child support resources page
- NY Courts divorce resources page
- Tools to help you work out child support and maintenance payments
- NYC child support resources for noncustodial parents
- NYC child support handbooks for custodial parents and noncustodial parents