cause,” which usually means there is
fear of domestic violence.
For more information about child support
hearings, please see the online video at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G_
5uOvMCj4
What You Need to Know
About the Court Hearing
• When a petition for paternity or child
support is filed, you will receive a
summons, either by mail or in person.
It will include the date, time, and
location of the hearing as well
a Financial Disclosure Afdavit for you
to ll out, and a list of documents
you should bring to the hearing.
• For useful information on the court
process and guidance on how to
complete the forms, see the website
of Legal Information for Today:
www.liftonline.org.
• OCSE’s Cash Assistance Agreement
Pilot (CAAP) enables cash assis-
tance families in all five boroughs
to establish paternity, child support
orders, and medical support orders
at OCSE’s Customer Service Walk-in
Center. Agreements are signed and
forwarded to the Family Court for
approval, often without parents
having to appear in court.
• You will
not
be asked about your im-
migration status in court or at any other
time during the child support process.
• Bring as much information as you
can about your income and expenses.
A Support Magistrate will listen to
testimony from both parents, review
the information presented and use
the New York State Child Support
Guidelines to calculate the amount
of the child support order.
• Family Court is separate from Criminal
Court and information is not shared.
• It is not necessary to have a lawyer
in Family Court but you may hire one
if you wish. If the custodial parent
and/or child are receiving cash
assistance, a lawyer will be there to
represent the Department of Social
Services. That’s because when cash
assistance is involved, the petition
requesting child support services is
filed by the Department of Social
Services, not the custodial parent.
Why You Should Show up
at the Hearing
• You are required to be present at
the hearing. If you are unable to be
there, contact the court and ask that
the date be changed.
• If you do not provide sufcient nan-
cial information or fail to show up, the
Support Magistrate can still order you
to pay child support by issuing a de-
fault order. Since a default order is not
based on your exact income, it may be
more than you can afford to pay.
• Once a default order is issued, you
can le a petition in court to have it
lowered. Until then, the amount of
child support you owe will increase
if it is not paid and the order may
become eligible for strong enforce-
ment actions.
• If you think that you are not the
father, go to the hearing and ask
for a DNA test.
Change of Circumstances |
Unexpected change in noncustodial
parent’s financial situation due to
injury, illness, or sudden loss of
employment which affects their ability
to pay their court-ordered child
support; grounds for ling a downward
modication in court.
Change of Payee | Allows for
private child support payments to be
sent to OCSE for processing, record
keeping, distribution, and enforcement.
Child Support Standards Act
(CSSA) | Legislation passed in 1989
to make child support orders fair and
consistent throughout New York State
by standardizing the formula for calcu-
lating basic child support orders.
COLA
(Cost of Living Adjustment) |
Increase to a child support order,
without a court hearing. COLA is based
on changes in the Consumer Price
Index for Urban Areas (CPI-U), which
keeps track of day-to-day living expenses
like food, clothing, housing, etc.
Concurrent Jurisdiction | An order
which allows more than one court to
make decisions about and modify a
child support order. This may happen
with New York State Supreme Court
and Family Court.
Consumer Credit Protection Act
(CCPA) | Federal law that limits the
amount that may be withheld from
earnings; it takes into consideration:
net income after mandatory taxes are
taken out, the amount of arrears
owed, and whether an additional
family is being financially supported.
Court Order | Legally binding
document issued by a court of law. A
court order related to child support will
include how often, how much, how
long and what kind of support the
noncustodial parent must pay and
whether an employer must withhold
support from their wages.
CPI-U (Consumer Price Index for
Urban Areas) | Tracks the prices
of items like food, clothing and
housing on an annual basis. Cost of
Living Adjustments (COLA) are based
upon the yearly changes in the CPI-U.
Custodial Parent (CP) | Parent,
relative, or guardian who lives with
and is the primary caretaker of the
child or children.
Custody | Legal determination that
establishes with whom the child shall
live: the mother, father, or other adult.
D
Decree | Judicial decision of a court.
Default Order | Child support order
issued when the noncustodial parent
fails to provide sufficient information
or fails to appear in court, and proof of
summons service has been provided.
Delinquency | An amount of money
due on a child support case but not
paid.
Dependent | A child who is under
the care of someone else. Most
children who are eligible for child
support are dependents.
Direct Pay Order | Child support
order is payable directly from the
noncustodial parent to the custodial
parent.
Disbursement | The paying out of
collected child support funds to custo-
dial parents or to the Department of
Social Services if the client is receiving
cash assistance.
Dismissal without Prejudice |
Petition is dismissed now but may be
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