Information about Minimum Support Orders
For Recipients of Public Assistance
© 1997 by Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc.
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I am receiving public assistance and cannot afford to pay any child support. Can I be required to pay child support?

Yes. A Hearing Examiner for the Family court can require that you pay child support.

How much could the Hearing Examiner order me to pay?

Generally speaking the Hearing Examiner is required by law to require non-custodial parents to pay some child support, even if the parent is on public assistance. The least the Hearing Examiner can order is $25 per month.

If I am receiving public assistance, what will happen if I don't pay?

You may be told either orally or in writing that you have to pay. You may receive a letter from the Department of Social Services that threatens to deduct the amount of child support you were to pay from your public assistance benefits.

Can the Department of Social Services deduct the amount of support I am supposed to pay from my public assistance grant?

No, this is against the law.

Can I be taken back to court if I don't pay?

Yes. However, this is not likely to happen if your child(ren) are receiving public assistance.

Will I have to go to jail if I am taken back to court?

If you are receiving public assistance it is very unlikely that you will go to jail for not paying a minimum child support order. Judges occasionally do sentence people who violate child support orders to serve time in jail. Usually these cases involve individuals who can pay, have not paid child support over a long time, and owe thousands of dollars.

Will the money I owe continue to accumulate while I am receiving public assistance?

Yes. The amount you owe is called an arrearage. Arrearages can continue to accumulate up to $500.

How can these arrearages affect me?

When you become employed, the Support Collection Unit of DSS, any attorney, or the Court may issue an income deduction order to regularly take an amount directly from your wages until the arrearages are paid. As a result it may be in your interest to voluntarily make payments on the arrearages as soon you are able to. An `income deduction order' also can be used against other sources of income including Unemployment Insurance and Social Security Benefits. However, it cannot be used against Supplemental Security Income (S.S.I.) benefits. You also may be petitioned back into court if you do not pay the arrearages after you stop receiving public assistance.

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