Glossary

The following are some of the most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) from our clients. Before you contact our office, please refer to this list of FAQs as frequent phone calls and letters to our office that provide no new information can slow the child support process. Please click on the question to see the answer.

Opening a Case

• Who is eligible for your services?
• How do I apply for your services?
• What is the cost of your services?
• What sort of documentation or information will I need to open the case?
• How long will it take to open a case?
• Will you open a case for spousal support only?
• My child(ren) and I are receiving CalWORKs benefits, but I did not apply for your services. Why was a case opened?
• The non-custodial parent and I already have an agreement regarding child support. Why are you pursuing him/her?
• If I discontinue from welfare, will you close your case?
• How long before I start receiving child support payments?

Locate

• How do you locate the non-custodial parent?
• What information are you looking for?

Legal

• I just received a Summons and Complaint; what does this mean?
• I do not think I am the father of the child(ren) listed on the Complaint. What do I do?
• I disagree with the child support amount, or one of the terms set in the Proposed Judgment. What do I do?
• How did you arrive at this child support amount?
• I have been called to active duty. What do I do?

Enforcement

• A child support order exists and an account is open, so where is my money?
• How do I get the child support amount modified?
• Your county has started collecting from my job by Wage Assignment, and now FTB has served an earnings withholding order at 50% - can I get this reduced?
• I am paying for the same child(ren) in another county. I am already paying your office by Wage Assignment and the other county has served an FTB collection. I cannot afford both. What should I do?
• I just received a "Demand for Payment" letter from the Franchise Tax Board asking me to pay off my entire balance within ten days; will they take my car and/or house, etc, if I cannot pay my balance off?
• My bank account is frozen, how do I get it reinstated?
• I just got a notice that my license will be revoked. How do I stop the process?
• I just discontinued from CalWORKs, how do I get child support?
• I know a payment was recently mailed out to me, but I haven't received it yet. What is the procedure for tracking the checks?
• I am the custodial party. How do I close my case?
• You could qualify to have the amount of your child support debt lowered!

Employer

• What should we do if Franchise Tax Board and County Child Support are sending a garnishment order for the same case?
• If the employee is paid two times per month and the medical insurance premium cannot be covered with the first check only, how do we maintain the policy?
• Can we, as the employer, cover the employee and children through Medi-cal or Healthy Families?
• What is an acceptable amount for employee medical coverage?
• If support payments are being made voluntarily, must they still be set up and collected via DCSS?
• If the child has turned 18 can we, the employer, discontinue withholding?
• How should we, the employer, proceed on a garnishment where the social security number matches a current employee, but the name is different?
• What if I have withheld incorrectly all along?
• What if the employee isn’t guaranteed week to week employment?
• What do we do with the medical identification cards?

Accounting

• How is a payment distributed?
• How long before you stop and re-issue a check?

Out of State Cases

• Can you collect child support obligations when the non-custodial parent lives in another state?
• Can you collect child support obligations when the non-custodial parent lives in another country?
• Why does it take so long for my case to proceed?
• What is Registration of Foreign Order and why is it necessary?
• Why does my order have to be registered out of state?
• Why can't Sacramento County enforce my child support order?