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Will I receive the entire amount of support paid?
Q) Will I receive the entire amount of support paid?
A) If you have not received cash assistance, you will receive the total child support payment (less any fees the state may collect). If you are receiving cash assistance, check with your state child support agency. Some states will pass some or all of the child support payments through to you. Others will use the entire amount to repay the money provided to your family. If you are not receiving cash assistance now but did in the past, and if amounts are still owed to the state, any support collected beyond the amount ordered for current support and for arrearages owed to you may be used to reduce the arrearages owed to the state.
Your child support payments can be changed only by a court’s modification order. The modification process can increase or decrease payments. The ways you can lower child support payments will vary by circumstance. You will need to convince a court that the financial situation of one or both of the parents has changed substantially generally. To lower your payments, you will need to file a motion in court to modify your child support payments. Most courts have pre-printed “fill in the blank” motion forms You will need to file this motion in the court that issued the initial child support order.