How will I know if legal action has been started to order me to pay support?

Do I have to pay child support if I am getting public assistance?

If I am disabled and my children get Social Security do I have to pay child support?

If I leave the state, can Oregon still order me to pay child support?

If I leave Oregon after support is ordered, do I still have to pay?

Can Oregon make me pay child support that was ordered in another state?

Do I have to support my stepchildren?

Can I stop paying child support if I'm not working?

Can I stop paying child support if the other parent won't let me visit my child?

You might be served with court papers that ask for a child support order in a divorce or custody case started by the other parent, or in a paternity or support case that is filed by the District Attorney (DA) or the Department of Justice (DOJ). If you are served with court papers, you must respond in the time given, or the amount of child support stated in the papers will probably be the amount in the support order that is signed by the judge. You may contact a legal aid program or a private attorney if you need legal help.

You might also be sent agency papers asking for child support. These might be labeled as a "Notice and Finding of Financial Responsibility" (or NFFR). This paper will be mailed to you by the Department of Justice (DOJ) or the District Attorney (DA) and will say how much child support the state thinks you should pay. Once you get the NFFR, you have a right to a conference or a meeting with the DOJ or the DA to try to reach an agreement about the amount of support you should pay.

If you received a NFFR and are not able to reach an agreement about the amount of support, you have the right to have an agency hearing. You can represent yourself or bring a lawyer to the hearing. You must ask for the hearing within 20 days after you get the NFFR, even if you have had a conference or a meeting. (If paternity is involved, you have 30 days to ask for a hearing.) If you do not ask for a hearing in those 20 days and do not reach an agreement, you will probably be responsible for the child support asked for in the NFFR. If you disagree with the child support order after the hearing, you have the right to have a court hearing. The hearing decision will explain your appeal rights to you.

The parent who has the children must be told about any agreements you reach with the DOJ or the DA and has the right to ask for a hearing on the amount of child support.

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If you are getting TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families), General Assistance, SSI, or OSIP, or similar benefits from another state or tribe, it is assumed that you are unable to pay child support. If you are getting any of these types of public assistance, it must be proved that you can still afford to pay child support before you can be ordered to pay. If you already have been ordered to pay child support and you then begin getting any of these types of public assistance, you can get an order that stops your child support obligation for the time that you get public assistance or until it is proved that you can pay support. The Department of Justice (DOJ) or the District Attorney (DA) will do this for you for free.

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Yes. You are responsible for paying child support if a child support order says so, even if your children also get Social Security benefits because of your disability. But Social Security benefits that your children receive must be considered in setting the amount of support you must pay, and benefits directly sent to the children must be taken into account when calculating the amount of child support owed.

A law passed in 1999 allows a retroactive (back) award of Social Security benefits to reduce child support arrearages (past child support owed) in some cases. A court or agency can give this credit. You should contact an attorney, the DA or the DOJ about changing your support order when you become disabled. Contact them about this credit as soon as possible after the Social Security Administration awards the back benefits.

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Child support can be ordered in Oregon if you and your spouse lived in Oregon for six months (not necessarily together) and the legal action begins within one year of the date you left the state. (This rule may be true for unmarried parents, too.) Also, if you had sexual relations in Oregon resulting in the child's birth, Oregon can order you to pay support for that child even if you don't live in Oregon now and were only visiting before.

There are other situations where non-Oregon parents can be ordered by an Oregon court to pay support. And a court or agency in the state where you have moved can also order you to pay support for your child in Oregon.

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Yes. Any state where you live can use the Oregon order to make you pay child support.

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Yes.

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Yes. If you marry someone who has custody of children, you must support them. This responsibility stops when the couple gets divorced or when the child is no longer living with your spouse.

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It is almost always a bad idea to stop paying child support. If you are out of work and have only a small amount of money, you can ask to reduce the amount of your child support. When you go to a hearing to get the amount of support lowered, you want to be able to say that you have been doing everything you can to keep up with your support payments. Paying even a small amount helps prove you are trying.

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Not on your own. You can ask a judge to end the child support order until you get your parenting time. But judges do not like to stop child support payments and they will allow support to be stopped only if there is proof that you have had very serious problems getting visits.

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If welfare is paying to support my children, why do I have to pay child support?

If welfare is paying to support my children, should I wait for the state to contact me?

If the parent with custody is no longer getting welfare, do I still have to pay the support that was ordered by the Department of Justice (DOJ)?

If Welfare is Paying to Support My Children

The child support goes to the state to reimburse it for the welfare paid to support the children.

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The sooner the state starts a support case, the more likely it is that a fair order will be issued. If the state can't find you or the support case is otherwise delayed, the state may end up using old information that shows a higher (or lower) income than what you currently have. Avoiding the state when your children receive welfare won't help you avoid paying support for that period anyway. When the state support agency does contact you, you will usually have to pay "past" support that could have been ordered if the case had started earlier. You will then have current and past support to pay.

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Yes. The DOJ child support order is the same as a court order. The ordered support must be paid even after the parent with custody stops receiving welfare. After the welfare is stopped, all of the monthly child support payment goes to the parent with custody for the support of the children, and not to the state.

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