How To Collect Tennessee Child Support

This page provides a general guideline for collecting Tennessee child support payments. Unpaid child support is considered one of the largest debts in the United States. Though children may receive financial support through programs paid for by tax payers, such as medical care, it is the parents responsbility to financially support their children no matter what the case maybe, such as divorce. A child requires a lot of financial support for things like schooling, a place to live, food, clothes medical costs and other needs.

This is why collecting Tennessee child support payments are very important. When filing for Tennessee child support a court may garnish wages from the parent's pay check so that they can't give a reason for missing a payment. The problem is some parent's will attempt to skip paying by quitting their job or move from job to job to avoid a garnishment, making it very hard to track them down. Even unemployment payments can be used for paying back child support. In some cases it is possible to have property seized, especially if it's for reasons to collect back child support payments that were not made.

If a person owns a business with either a business license or professional license, then they risk their license being revoked for non-payment. If the license holder wishes to to continue earning from their business then they need to catch up with the their Tennessee child support payments. So if their license was revoked and they get caught up with their payments, then they can get their license returned. To insure the best route in collecting your child support seek assistance by contacting the Tennessee child support agency. They will provide help in locating the other parent, provide free attorney advisers, and they will be able to file information through the district attorney's office.

When a parent ends up not paying for child support the Tennessee Child Support Division will assist in collecting and filing the proper paperwork to ensure you collect child support payments. If the parent is out of state, then your local district attorney's office will go ahead and file the proper paperwork with the court. At this point your states court will contract out to the state the other parent is in and begin the process of collecting Tennessee child support payments.

The problem is this does not always work out, so it is suggested that you do your due diligence in obtaining the location of the other parent as well as the place of their employment, the sooner they can be found the sooner you can start collecting your child support payments. Beforing collecting child support you need to first file through your Tennessee child support office.

Below is a list of ways the Office Of Child Support Enforcement, OCSE, can collect and enforce child support payments:


Prior to collecting child support in Tennessee, there are a few steps that must be taken first.

Establish Paternity
If you were not married when your child was born then the first step is to legally determine the father. If a man is not certain they are the father then the Tennessee child support agency can setup a genetics test. This test is very simple and highly accurate. The mother and father can request a blood test if they are contesting paternity.

Establish a Tennessee Child Support Order
The state guideline is used to calculate how much a parent should contribute to financially support his or her child. To find out how to calculate child support payments you would need to contact the Tennessee child support office, they can determine the amount as well as request medical support for your child.

Enforce the Tennessee Child Support Order
The most successful way to collect child support is by direct withholding from the obligated parent's paycheck. Most child support orders require the employer to withhold the money that is ordered for child support, and send it to the state child support office. There, they can tell you about this process.