To get an order for support, establish parentage or enforce a child support order, the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) must know where the Parent Paying Support (PPS) lives or works.

If the PPS cannot be found locally, their social security number will be checked against the records of other state agencies including the Department of Health Services, Department of Motor Vehicles, Employment Development Department, Franchise

It may take several months to get child support if you do not know where the other parent lives or if the address is out of state. There is no guarantee the other parent will be found. The more information you provide to the Department of Child Support Services, the higher the chance for success in locating the PPS. The Department of Child Support Services will make every effort to locate the PPS.

If the Person Paying Support (PPS) is located and there is no court order, we will file a case with the court to obtain a court order for parentage (legal parent-child relationship), child support and medical support. This court order is called a Judgment.

We will serve the PPS with child support papers that contain a Summons, Complaint and Proposed Judgment (S&C). The S&C will include a proposed child support amount based on guidelines required by law. The guidelines use a standard formula for determining the child support amount, although the judicial officer may change the amount under limited circumstances.

A child support order is established based on both parents' ability to pay support, the amount of time each parent spends with the child, and the financial needs of the child. The Department of Child Support Services and the court will follow the child support guidelines established by state law in Family Code § 4055. This state law provides a standard formula for determining child support, although the court may change the amount under specific circumstances.

California developed a Guideline Calculator, which can be used to estimate the amount of child support that might be ordered. Information placed into this formula includes, but is not limited to: the earnings and income of each parent; the amount of time each parent takes care of the child (“timeshare”); certain expenses; and the number of other minor children that the parent is required by law to support.

Judicial officers have the final authority to determine the amount of a child support order. The Guideline Calculator provides only an estimate and is not a guarantee of the amount of child support that will be ordered. Other factors may impact the amount of a child support order.

If the Person Paying Support (PPS) is located and there is no court order, we will file a case with the court to obtain a court order for parentage (legal parent-child relationship), child support and medical support. The papers filed with the court are called a Summons and Complaint and Proposed Judgment (S&C). These papers are very important. They tell the PPS that a lawsuit has been filed and how much support we are asking the court to order.

We will serve the PPS with child support papers that contain a Summons, Complaint and Proposed Judgment (S&C). The S&C will include a proposed child support amount based on guidelines required by law. The guidelines use a standard formula for determining the child support amount, although the judicial officer may change the amount under limited circumstances.

Usually a process server will provide the PPS with copies of the S&C. This is called service of process. The papers tell the PPS about the case against him or her and give the PPS an opportunity to participate in the decision-making process. When the PPS is served with the papers, the clock begins and legal deadlines are set.

If you disagree with the Summons and Complaint you can file an answer (sub drop down to Summons and Complaint)

The Summons & Complaint and Proposed Judgment (S&C) packet includes a blank Answer form. It is important to read the papers carefully. The Person Paying Support (PPS) has an opportunity to tell the court that he or she agrees or disagrees with what we are requesting in the S&C. This is done by completing the Answer and filing it with the court clerk.

Deadlines to file: A PPS who receives the lawsuit papers in person (personal service) has 30 days to file an Answer with the court. If the process server missed the PPS and left the papers with someone at the PPS’s home or work and mailed a copy, the PPS has 40 days from the date the papers were mailed to file an Answer with the court clerk.

If you are the PPS, after you complete your Answer, make a copy for yourself and a copy for our office. Do NOT send us the original Answer form. FILE YOUR ORIGINAL ANSWER form at:

Superior Court of California, Stanislaus County
P O Box 1098
800 11th Street
Modesto CA 95353-1098

If you are a PPS and would like help understanding the papers or filling out the Answer form, you can hire an attorney or contact the Family Law Facilitator at (209) 548-6237. For more information on the Family Law Facilitator go to: https://www.stanct.org/self-help

A support order may be obtained in the following ways:

• Stipulation - a written voluntary agreement between two parties where no court hearing is required. A Stipulation includes the parties’ agreement, both parties’ signatures, and the signature of a Court Commissioner/Judge. Once signed by a Court Commissioner/Judge, a Stipulation (also known as a Stipulation and Order) is filed with the court and becomes a court order.
  • The Stipulation can be used to:
    • Get a new order
    • Change existing orders to:
      • Increase or decrease child support
      • Add medical support to an existing order
      • Set the amount of past due support owed
      • Increase or decrease the payment plan for past due support
      • Stop support when parents are together
• Default Judgment - In general, if the PPS did not file an Answer to the S&C within 30 days, and a stipulation has not been reached, the judicial officer may enter a Judgment by default. This means the judicial officer may enter a final Judgment based on the terms of the Proposed Judgment, without a court hearing and without any input from the PPS.
• Court Hearing - If the PPS files an Answer with the court clerk, the case will be scheduled for a court hearing. A PPS may request Genetic Testing to determine if he is the biological father of the child and may ask the court to decide the amount of child support. If the PPS does not attend the hearing, the court may make an order without him or her.

The Department of Child Support Services will also ask the court to require the Parent Paying Support (PPS) to provide health insurance coverage, including vision and dental care, for the child. If it is available at a reasonable cost, the court will order the Parent Paying Support (PPS) to maintain health coverage for the child. In most cases, the cost is considered reasonable if the coverage is employment-related group health insurance or other group health insurance. If coverage is not available at a reasonable cost, the court's order for support will state that health insurance coverage will be obtained by the parent if and when it becomes available at a reasonable cost.

The Parent/Party Receiving Support (PRS) or the Parent Paying Support (PPS) can request that the current support order be reviewed for possible modification to change the amount of support ordered to be paid, or to provide health insurance for the children. The requesting party should complete and return an Income and Expense Declaration along with their written request.

Notice of Right to Request a Review of Support Order

The Parent/Party Receiving Support (PRS) and/or the Parent Paying Support (PPS) has the right to request that the Department of Child Support Services review the support order to determine if the amount of support should be changed based on state-wide criteria. The Department of Child Support Services is not required to review an order if:

• The order was reviewed for modification within the prior 12 months
• The order was established or adjusted within the prior 24 months or
• One of the parents cannot be located and there is no new information regarding his or her whereabouts

The Department of Child Support Services will review an order even if it was reviewed or adjusted recently if there has been a significant change in circumstance. In this instance, a significant change in circumstance is limited to either a parent becoming involuntarily unemployed, a parent becoming employed or a change in custody. Seasonal or intermittent employment that was considered by the court when establishing the support order does not qualify as a significant change in circumstance. Once the Department of Child Support Services has determined that an order will be reviewed, the review and modification process should be completed within 180 days.

The Department of Child Support Services must attempt to modify an order in any of the following circumstances:

• Application of the state's child support guidelines indicates that the amount of support ordered should be increased by at least $50.00 or 20%, whichever is greater.
• Application of the state's child support guidelines indicates that the amount of support should be decreased by at least $50.00 or 20%, whichever is greater, and the reason for the decrease is expected to last at least six months.
• There is no medical insurance provision in the order and medical insurance is available at reasonable cost to the non-custodial parent.

If the Department of Child Support Services is not required to modify the order, the Department of Child Support Services must provide to either the Parent/Party Receiving Support (PRS) and/or the Parent Paying Support (PPS), upon request, information on how they can get forms to request the court to increase or decrease the amount of the support order.

The Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) strives to make sure that child support payments are regularly made and in the correct amount and that health insurance, if ordered, is provided for the child. Enforcement measures will be taken when a Parent Paying Support (PPS) fails to make their ordered payments for child support.

In reviewing the file to determine the best method of enforcement, the Department of Child Support Services' first concern is establishing a regular payment plan for current support. Collection of arrearages (past-due support) is the secondary concern. The most common and effective method of enforcement is by mandatory wage withholding. If this method does prove ineffective for any case, then the Department of Child Support Services has alternative methods of enforcing a support order. The best method of enforcement is selected based on all the information in the case including the income of the Parent Paying Support (PPS), and what kind of assets they have.

A person who is on active duty in the military service of the United States has specific protections under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), formerly called the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act, that may impact child support. The primary purpose of the SCRA is to protect members of the military during the period of their military service.

Under the SCRA, certain civil legal actions cannot be taken against active duty military personnel, including:

• The service member may request a stay of all judicial and administrative civil proceedings if he or she is actively deployed on a military operation
• Generally the court must appoint an attorney to the service member before a default judgment can be entered
• The service member may request a stay of execution (the carrying out) of a judgment, attachment, or garnishment order under certain circumstances
• The service member may request a review and possible modification of his or her child support order prior to deployment
• The service member may request to lower the interest rate from 10% to 6% on past due support under certain conditions

For more information on how military service affects parents’ rights and responsibilities.

Cases in which one of the parties lives outside the State of California are assigned to our Intergovernmental Division. The Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) provides rules for the jurisdiction and modification of child support orders when the parties live in different states.

The United States has reciprocal agreements with many nations around the world. For those nations, there are procedures in place for establishing and enforcing a child support order.

A case opened or being enforced by The Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) can be closed for many reasons. When a case is closed it means that DCSS will no longer provide services for that case. The fact that a case is closed has no impact on the underlying orders for support. If a Person Paying Support (PPS) still has an order for support, he or she must continue to pay that support to the Person Receiving Support (PRS). If arrears (past- due support) are owed those arrears must be paid to the PRS.

A PRS who is not receiving aid ("welfare") can close his or her case at any time. If there are arrears owed to the State, DCSS will leave the case open and continue to enforce those arrears, but will stop enforcing current support and arrears owed to the PRS. A PRS who is receiving aid cannot close the case because all the support he or she is entitled to while on aid is assigned to the State. A PRS may be able to reopen the case.

To request that a case be closed (or reopened), please contact our office.