III FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Support for Children on Public Assistance

Public assistance payments are not a replacement for child support. If you or your child are receiving public assistance and should be receiving child support, here is what you can do: contact the Office of the Child Support Enforcement Court Unit which is located within the Family Court in New York County. They will explain what you must do to assist them in getting a Child Support Order. They will file the petition with the court for an Order of Child Support.

In New York City, all cases of support involving persons receiving public assistance are heard in a special part of the court called the Child Support Enforcement Term or CSET, located in New York County.

Remember, you will not be in court alone. The Department of Social Services lawyers will be there with you.

Support for Spouse/Children not on Public Assistance

Child Support means exactly what it says . . . supporting the children. If the child's other parent is not taking responsibility for support, here is what you can do:

• File a Petition asking the court to enter an order of Child Support against the child's other parent.
• Arrange to deliver the Petition and a summons to the child's other parent, the Respondent. The summons tells him or her the day of the hearing. It is called serving the Respondent.
• Get prepared for court. If you don't have a lawyer and you cannot afford to hire one, the court may, if the circumstances require, assign one to you. However, it will be up to you to gather together all the paperwork. It's not hard, but may take some time.

You will need to prove your relationship and your child's relationship to the child's other parent. Bring these documents, if you have them, to the court:

• Proof of marriage, usually a marriage license
• Separation agreement
• Divorce Judgment
• Birth certificates of the children
• Adoption Papers

If you weren't married to the child's other parent at the time of your child's birth, you will need to establish paternity, unless the father signed an acknowledgment of paternity at the time of the child's birth. If no acknowledgment of paternity was signed, you must get an Order of Filiation from the court before you can seek an Order of Support.

You will need to bring to court paperwork stating how much money you earn and what your expenses are. These papers should include:

• Recent Tax Returns
• Complete Financial Disclosure
• Pay Stubs
• Rent Receipts
• Medical Bills
• Child Care Bills
• Educational Costs
• Food & Clothing Costs
• Costs of Supporting Other Children

Remember, the better prepared you are, the easier it will be to prove your case.

In cases of Spousal Support, a married person may petition the Family Court seeking Spousal Support from a current husband or wife. A person who is already divorced may come to Family Court to change a current support order.

What Happens in Court?

The hearing is held before a Hearing Examiner. The Hearing Examiner will listen to both sides of the case, taking testimony concerning income, expenses and the cost of supporting a child. Both sides can present evidence and witnesses. Both sides can cross-examine the witnesses.

It is the Hearing Examiner who will determine how much the child's other parent must pay in child support and will set a schedule for regular payments.

Child support payments can be paid directly to the Petitioner or they can be paid through the Support Collection Unit or SCU.

Both parties have the right to object to the decision of the Hearing Examiner by filing an objection within 30 days of the Hearing Examiner's decision.

After reviewing the objection, the Judge will leave the order as it is, change it, or send it back to the Hearing Examiner. If either party disagrees with the Judge's decision, the case may be appealed to a higher court.

If the child's other parent does not pay the amount of the order, you may file a Violation Petition in Family Court. This petition and a summons must be served on the child's other parent. A Hearing Examiner will hear the case to see if the order has been violated. If the Hearing Examiner finds a violation, he or she can order a lump sum payment towards the money owed or space-out the payments by adding the amount owed to the original order.

The child's other parent also runs the risk of having his or her driver's, professional or business licenses suspended. Also, if found to have willfully ignored the Order of Support, he or she may be jailed for up to six months for contempt of court.

Paternity

A Paternity Petition is filed to determine who is the legal father of a child born out of wedlock. A child's legal father

• Is the husband of the child's mother at the time of birth or
• Has signed an Acknowledgment of Paternity, or
• Has been named the father in an Order of Filiation

A wife's husband is presumed to be the legal father of the children born while the two are married, even if he is not the biological father. This status can be changed only by the courts.

If the parents were not married at the time of the birth, the biological father is not considered the child's legal parent unless he has signed an Acknowledgment of Paternity, or an Order of Filiation has been entered, declaring him to be the legal father.

An Order of Filiation names the legal father of the child. This order is often sought when the biological father denies being the father.

You can file for an Order of Filiation if :

• You are the child's mother
• You believe you are the father
• You are the child, or
• You are the child's guardian

If you are filing a Paternity Petition to obtain child support and the child is receiving public assistance, you should go to the office of the Child Support Enforcement Court Unit at the Family Court in New York County.

If you are filing to seek child support for a child not on public assistance you should go to the Support Collection Unit in the Family Court in the county where the child resides.

If you are bringing a paternity petition for some other reason, go to Family Court in the county where the child resides. If you believe you are the father and want to bring a paternity petition, you should go to the Family Court in the county in which you reside.

What Happens in Court?

After you have filed the Paternity petition, you will be required to arrange to serve the other party with a petition and summons.

If the alleged father denies paternity, the court will order blood or DNA tests for the alleged father, the mother, and the child.

When you return to court, the test results will be explained. Both sides may testify and present witnesses. The blood and DNA test results may be offered as evidence.

If there is sufficient proof, the court will enter an Order of Filiation declaring who is the father of the child.

If the case has not been proven, the petition will be dismissed.

Objections to Proposed Adjusted Orders

The Support Collection Unit regularly reviews Orders of Support to see if they should be changed. If you have received a proposed adjusted order and wish to file an objection to it, you must mail a copy of the objection to the Support Collection Unit and to the other party. You must then file the objection with the Clerk of the court along with affidavits stating that you have mailed copies of the objection to both the Support Collection Unit and the other party.

When the court receives a copy of your objection, it will schedule the case for a hearing before a Hearing Examiner. You will be notified of the date of the hearing by mail.

You should bring the following information with you to the Hearing:

• Proof of income
• Proof that circumstances have changed since the last order