Collecting child support arrearages after child turns 18

My former spouse never paid child support on our child. We separated while I was pregnant and divorced when she was 6 months old. She is now 18 and a freshman in college. I could really use some of that support to help offset the costs of her education.

I didn't know where he was for a long time. I have recently learned what state he is living in, that he is working although I don't know where, and that he is getting married.

He owes me over $100,000 in support (plus interest which I don't care if I get or not). Our divorce and child support order was in the State of California which does not have a statute of limitations on child support arrears.

But, I don't know how to go about collecting it. What could hiring a lawyer provide for me in this situation? Would they collect the money or just file a judgement? If a judgement is filed, how would I collect it?

Note, he is now living in another state which has a 10 year statute of limitations on child support collection.

If I were in your situation, I would start by contacting the CS agency in the state where your order originates from. They may be able to help in collection without having to hire an attorney.

I don't think that new state's SOL matters. If your order is out of CA, it should be enforcible in that new state.

There are child support collection agencies out there. Google it and several should pop up.

Obviously, they take a cut of whatever they collect and you will have to get a release from the Child Support Enforcement Agency if you registered your order with them. As long as you never collected welfare, that should not be too hard since yours is now an "arrears only" case.

My question is now the child is over 18 is would the arrearage go to the 18 yaer old or the cp.

It belongs to the custodial parent. That parent had to take up the slack when the NCP did not pay.

Thank you all for your responses. State of CA said they will not attempt a collection since I did not filed for non-payment prior to her turning 18 - even though she just turned 18 and is a full time student. I have made an appointment with both a Child Support Collection Agency and an attorney.

The collection agency gets 35% plus a $500 application fee. That's pretty hefty. But, if they are successful, that's more than what I've gotten in the past and it's less work for me.

The only thing that concerns me is that you sign a Power of Attorney along with your contract. It stipulates that, if there are negotiations, they have the power to negotiate on your behalf. Theoretically that means they could negotiate for significantly less than I'm willing to settle for.

I'm not willing to negotiate anything more than waiving the interest -- which is significant on this amount and duration of debt. I will definitely need clarification on that.

Thanks again. Happy holidays!

well it is my understanding that the money that is owed should go to the 18 year old and not the cp since she is now over the age of 18 since the child support is soppose to go to the child

Child support is for the support and care of the child as theoretically and minor is not able to provide for themselves. The parents are supposed to provide for them. When one parent does not pay their child support then the other parent singly bears the responsibility of housing, feeding, clothing, and providing for the child. As it takes 2 to create a child it is not fair that only one parent be responsible for providing for the child, hence the reasoning that child support goes to the parent not directly to the child.

yet the child is no longer a child so the money should go to the child who is now 18

now the child is now on her own why cant she get the full amount in arraeres as payment to her college fund and living expenses

But the money was supposed to be paid while the child was still a minor. So should the parent who supported the child on their own while the child was still a minor just be out of luck? I don't think so. Let's look at this another way. You have a hypothetical situation where your 17 year old child is very sick, $200,000 worth of medical expenses are racked up. Now your court order says the parents are supposed to split medical expenses 50/50 because both parents are responsible for the medical care of the child. So the custodial parent pays their half but the noncustodial parents doesn't and the bill collectors are hounding the custodial parent for their money and the custodial parent is having to do without some things so they can pay. The child is now 18. Should the child get the $100,000 and the custodial parent just be left holding the bag? No I don't think so. It's no different for putting a roof over the child's head, paying for houshold utilities, buying food to feed the child, etc, etc, etc.

that's not the way it works.

If the NCP doesn't pay support then the CP has to pay 100% of all of child's expenses. Meaning the support is still owed to the CP even after the child is 18 because the NCP must repay the CP for their share of all expenses incurred while they were responsible for the minor child's support.

Bottom line...support is payable to the CP, not the child.

The money goes to the CP for the benefit of the child. NEVER to the child directly.

Because the money isn;t owed to the child. The money is owed to the CP you had to spend their own money when the NCP shold have been helping with expenses.

You are completely wrong on this one.

The money will go to the CP. Had a relative who owed back CS for 10 yrs. The kids where over 18 when the mom sued him flat out. She received the money and she paid off her house with it. The kids didn't even ask for it, they knew she deserved it for raising them with no help.