Services
The Rowan County Office of Child Support Enforcement (CSE) works to ensure that both parents are responsible for the financial support of their children to the best of their abilities.
The following services are available:
The noncustodial parent must be located by obtaining a residential address or employment address before any actions to establish paternity, establish support, or enforce a child support order can take place.
Legal responsibility must exist before a father can be required to provide financial support for a child. If responsibility has not been determined, paternity must first be established. Under North Carolina law, paternity can be established at any time prior to a child's eighteenth (18th) birthday.
A "support order" is a judgment, decree, or order (whether temporary, final, or subject to modification) that is issued by a court or an administrative agency. It establishes the legal obligation for support or maintenance of a child up to the age of majority under the law of the issuing state.
The Child Support Office is not authorized to establish spousal support orders. However, spousal support can be collected in conjunction with the collection of child support for a responsible parent's child.
Federal and state laws require that all child support payments be processed at a central location. Noncustodial parents and/or their employers can send child support payments to North Carolina Child Support Centralized Collections (NCCSCC – PO Box 900006, Raleigh, NC 27675-0577), which processes and sends these payments to the appropriate custodial parents/payees.
Establishing an order does not guarantee the noncustodial parent (NCP) will pay support as ordered. There may be times when the parent makes partial payments, skips payments or never makes a payment. Child Support Enforcement identifies these cases and uses several enforcement tools: income withholding through employer; monthly billing to NCP who does not pay through income withholding; unemployment compensation; worker's compensation; Social Security benefits; liens on insurance settlements and civil lawsuit proceeds; veteran's disability; court action; state and federal tax intercept; and passport revocation.
The following services are available:
LOCATING A NON-CUSTODIAL PARENT
The noncustodial parent must be located by obtaining a residential address or employment address before any actions to establish paternity, establish support, or enforce a child support order can take place.
ESTABLISHMENT OF PATERNITY
Legal responsibility must exist before a father can be required to provide financial support for a child. If responsibility has not been determined, paternity must first be established. Under North Carolina law, paternity can be established at any time prior to a child's eighteenth (18th) birthday.
ESTABLISHMENT OF SUPPORT OBLIGATION (CHILD & MEDICAL)
A "support order" is a judgment, decree, or order (whether temporary, final, or subject to modification) that is issued by a court or an administrative agency. It establishes the legal obligation for support or maintenance of a child up to the age of majority under the law of the issuing state.
The Child Support Office is not authorized to establish spousal support orders. However, spousal support can be collected in conjunction with the collection of child support for a responsible parent's child.
COLLECTION OF SUPPORT PAYMENTS
Federal and state laws require that all child support payments be processed at a central location. Noncustodial parents and/or their employers can send child support payments to North Carolina Child Support Centralized Collections (NCCSCC – PO Box 900006, Raleigh, NC 27675-0577), which processes and sends these payments to the appropriate custodial parents/payees.
ENFORCEMENT OF SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS
Establishing an order does not guarantee the noncustodial parent (NCP) will pay support as ordered. There may be times when the parent makes partial payments, skips payments or never makes a payment. Child Support Enforcement identifies these cases and uses several enforcement tools: income withholding through employer; monthly billing to NCP who does not pay through income withholding; unemployment compensation; worker's compensation; Social Security benefits; liens on insurance settlements and civil lawsuit proceeds; veteran's disability; court action; state and federal tax intercept; and passport revocation.