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Child Support |
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Phone Tree Instructions
Click Here To View Our Child Support Brochure
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Karen Arthur Child Support Director 120 W 7th Street One City Centre, Suite 210 Bloomington, IN 47404 (812)349-2669 |
| The Child Support Line: (812)349-2675 M-F, 8:00a.m. to 4:00p.m. Non-Custodial Parent Liaison: (812)349-7383 |
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Fax: |
(812)349-2045 |
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Hours: |
Monday-Friday 8:00-4:00 Closed all Federal Holidays |
Introduction
In 1975, Congress enacted legislation under the Social
Security Act (Title IV-D) to require the states to establish
programs to establish paternity and establish and collect
child support orders for both AFDC (Aid to Families with
Dependent Children) and non-AFDC cases. The State of Indiana
contracts with local county prosecutor’s offices to provide
these services. In addition to paternity duties and
establishing and enforcing child support, this office also
establishes orders for health insurance where appropriate
and regularly deals with other issues related to child
support such as modification of support, emancipation
questions, locating absent parents, review and adjustment of
support orders, support in foster care cases, collection of
medical reimbursement for parents and criminal felony
nonsupport cases.
Establishment and
Enforcement Tools
Delinquent child support may be enforced either through
civil administrative remedies, civil judicial remedies or,
last but not least, criminal charges for Nonsupport of a
Dependent Child.
Civil Administrative
Actions
Paternity can be established through a Paternity
Affidavit. Once certain time periods have passed, the
affidavit has the same effect as a judicial finding of
paternity and can be enforced as such. In a child support
action, pursuant to Indiana law, the Court is required to
issue an immediate Income Withholding Order to collect
child support. Therefore, every case must have an Income
Withholding Order to take the support out of the person’s
pay, unless the Court makes certain findings of fact,
including a finding that it is in the best interest of the
child for income withholding not to occur. Almost all
cases have income withholding and once child support has
been established, child support caseworkers directly issue
Income Withholding Orders to the employer of a payor,
without going through the Court System. Through the
Indiana State Child Support Computer Network, the child
support caseworkers automatically implement various
enforcement tools such as interception of tax refunds,
interception of lottery winnings, unemployment
withholding, and denial of passport applications,
implementation of automobile liens and reporting of
delinquencies to the credit bureau.
Paternity can also be established by the filing of a paternity action in Court. The parties are given the chance to have a DNA test and if paternity is established, the Court may order the payment of reimbursement for Past Public Assistance to the State of Indiana, establish a current child support order that is made retroactive to the date of the filing of the Petition for Paternity, establish a health insurance order and deal with such issues as custody, visitation, name change, etc. The State of Indiana is, of course, only involved in those issues related to child support.
In situations where paternity is not an issue, then child support may be established through the filing of a Petition for Support. If a child support order has already been issued, a Petition to Modify Support may be filed in order to change said support. In Indiana, support continues until the child reaches the age of 21 years. Prior to that time, the support can only be changed by court order upon application of either party.
Child Support may be enforced through the judicial remedy of Contempt of Court. If a delinquent payor is found to be in contempt for failure to pay support, the Court may order the person to serve time in the Monroe County Jail, require the person to do Road Crew, or use any other sanctions within the Court’s powers. In addition, if the delinquency meets certain criteria, the Court must suspend the driver’s license of the person. However, the license suspension may be placed on hold on condition that the person complies with the child support order in the future.
Criminal Nonsupport
of a Dependent Child
According to Indiana Code 35-46-1-5, it is a Class D
Felony if a person fails to support a dependent child. The
crime is elevated to a Class C felony if the support
delinquency is over $15,000. The child support division
files and prosecutes cases of Nonsupport of a Dependent
Child on a regular basis. The sentence in such cases
depends on the facts of that particular case; however,
defendants are normally placed on probation under detailed
terms, including, of course, the requirement that they pay
current support as well as an amount toward the support
arrearage. If a Defendant fails to abide by the terms of
probation, that defendant may serve time in the Monroe
County Jail or the Indiana Department of Corrections.
Application
for Services
TANF (Temporary Aid to Needy Families) recipients do not
need to file an application since part of the TANF
procedure is an assignment of support rights to the State
of Indiana. TANF cases are opened automatically through an
interface with the Office of Family and Children and
persons involved will be contacted. Recipients of Child
Medicaid or Hoosier Healthwise may be referred if they so
desire at the time of application for those benefits.
Other persons wishing to use the child support services
must fill out an application.
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