Eligibility for Child Support Services

Child Support services in Michigan are available to:

• Parents of minor children, when one parent does not live with the child
• Parents who pay court-ordered child support
• Persons who have physical custody of a minor child
• Persons who receive public assistance for a minor child living in their home. Except in certain specific cases, these individuals automatically receive child support services

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Available Child Support Services

The following child support services are available in Michigan:

• Assistance with application for child support services
• Locating Parents
• Establishing Paternity
• Establishing court orders for support
• Establishing court orders for custody and parenting time
• Collecting and processing child support payments
• Modifying support court orders
• Enforcing court orders for support

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Services That are Not Available

• Divorce assistance
• Spousal maintenance (alimony) order establishment
• Legal advice or counsel

Consult a private attorney or legal source to obtain these services.

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Locating Parents

Efforts to locate the absent parent can take place at any point in the child support process. The DHS support specialist, the office of the prosecuting attorney, and the Friend of the Court all have access to a full range of locate processes and databases, including but not limited to the following:

• Quarterly wage and unemployment compensation claims data
• State income tax records
• Public assistance and food stamp records
• Motor vehicle registration and driver license records
• Department of Natural Resources records
• Department of Corrections records
• State workers' compensation records
• Social Security disability and death records
• United States Postal Service
• Current and previous employers
• Law enforcement agencies, and parole and probation offices
• State licensing boards
• Military records
• Federal Case Registry, including National Directory of New Hires

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Establishing Paternity

Child support offices may assist either parent in establishing paternity for a child who does not have a legal father. Paternity must be established before the court can establish an obligation to pay child support. When a married couple has a child, the law automatically recognizes the husband as the child's legal father; therefore, paternity does not need to be determined. When an unmarried woman has a child, an official act is needed to establish the legal father of the child.

Paternity can be established in the following ways:

• If a child is born to an unmarried mother, she and the alleged father can sign an Affidavit of Parentage form to legally establish the father's legal rights (sometimes referred to as paternity acknowledgment), or
• The mother and the alleged father can ask the court to determine the legal father of the child. The prosecuting attorney's office in each county is responsible for filing and prosecuting actions to establish paternity.

Sometimes a parent may want proof that the man is the biological father of the child before he is named the legal father. In that case, either party may request genetic testing.

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Establishing Court Orders for Support, Custody and Parenting Time

The prosecuting attorney's office in each county is responsible for actions to establish support, custody, and parenting time orders. The Friend of the Court is responsible for investigating and making recommendations to the prosecuting attorney regarding these matters.

For support order establishment, parents must contact the Department of Human Services' support specialists who make a referral to the prosecuting attorney for support order establishment. In out of wedlock births, paternity must be established before support can be ordered.

Three types of support can be ordered:

• Child support
• Medical support
• Childcare support

For custody and parenting time order establishment, parents must contact the Friend of the Court who make a referral to the prosecuting attorney for custody and parenting time order establishment.

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Modifying Court Orders

The Friend of the Court will review child support orders once every 36 months. This review is automatic in public assistance cases, and upon written request in all other cases.

Either party can make a request for modification prior to the 36 month review cycle if there has been a substantial change in circumstance for either party.

When reviewing support, the Friend of the Court office may request information from the parents' employer, including address, social security number, date of birth, wages earned, and dependent health care coverage available as a benefit of employment

When directed by the judge, the Friend of the Court office will also conduct a financial investigation and make a written report and recommendation to the parties involved (or their attorneys) and the judge regarding child support.

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Collecting and Distributing Child Support Payments

The Michigan State Disbursement Unit (MiSDU) is the single statewide location for receipt and disbursement of child support.

Employers send income that is withheld from employees to the MiSDU as do individual payers who do not have an income withholding order.

In Michigan approximately 74% of child support is paid through income withholding.

Payments received at the MiSDU are allocated to cases as follows:

• First to cases owed current support. If there is more than one case owed current support, the payment is divided between those cases.
• Second to cases owed arrearages. If there is more than one case owed arrearages, the payment is divided between those cases.
• Third if no current support or arrearage is owed, the money is returned to the payer.

For additional information to to the MiSDU Web site.

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Current Support and Past Due Support (Arrears)

Support in Michigan is paid monthly and can be made and held by the MiSDU up to a month prior to the month it is due. Any support payment received is applied first to the support owed in the current month. If current support is paid for the month and an additional payment is made during the month that additional payment is held for up to a month prior to the next support due date. That held payment is released on the first day of the following month. Any payment that is received over one month before it is due is returned to the payer.

Support becomes overdue (Arrears) if it is not paid in the month it is due.

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Surcharge on Arrears

A surcharge is the percentage added to past due child support balances twice a year. The surcharge amount becomes a part of the total amount of support owed. The surcharge is a variable rate tied to 5-year United States Treasury Notes, plus 1%. Surcharge assessed under this variable rate will not compound.

NEW: Before 2010, surcharge was added to all cases with past due support owed. The law changed to stop surcharge during 2010. Beginning in 2011, a judge may order surcharge to be added to a case that has past due child support owed. If surcharge is ordered by the judge, it will be added to the case every January and July.

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Enforcing Payment of Arrears

When a parent does not meet their child support obligation, the Friend of the Court office works to enforce the support order. Federal and State laws provide a variety of enforcement measures to encourage or force compliance with the support order. Parents who are in arrears on child support may be subject to the use of one or more of the following enforcement methods.

• Income Withholding of Arrears
• Consumer (Credit Bureau) reporting
• Driver license suspension
• Occupational license suspension
• Passport Denial
• Tax Refund Intercept
• Leins against real or personal property
• Contempt of court (show cause) hearing
• Felony Prosecution
• Periodic or lump sum payments from Unemployment Insurance, worker's compensation, or lottery winnings

For additional information see enforcement of support.

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Enforcing Medical Support

How medical care for a child is to be provided must be a part of every support order. Medical support is a form of child support often provided as health care insurance under a parent's policy together with cash payments for uninsured expenses. Enforcement of medical support is done through the National Medical Support Notice for employer provided insurance or through any of the enforcement methods listed above if cash payments are required.

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Payment Plan for Overdue Support (arrears & surcharge)

Pursuant to Michigan law (MCL 552.605e), a payer may file a motion with the circuit court for a payment plan to pay arrearages and to discharge or abate arrearages. The law, which permits this is targeted to individuals who do not have the ability now or in the foreseeable future to pay the total arrearage. The law specifically prescribes the circumstances under which a payment plan can be approved. The Office of Child Support must receive a copy of the motion 56 days prior to the hearing date and may provide comments to the court on the arrears payment plan request. If the plan is granted and, if during the payment plan, the payer's circumstances change and he or she now has the ability to pay all or more of the arrears, the payment plan may be modified or terminated. The discharge or abatement of arrears occurs upon completion of the plan, based on the payer's compliance with the plan. The payer has the responsibility to file a motion initiating the arrears payment plan. The payer also has the responsibility to request a hearing with the court upon completion of the plan to determine arrears payment plan compliance status and any abatement or discharge of the remaining arrears. The payer is still responsible to pay any current support obligations during the arrears payment plan.

The payer may also petition the court to allow the deferment of future surcharges and request a potential permanent waiver of those deferred future surcharges (MCL 552.602, 603d).

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Interstate Support

All State child support enforcement agencies must adopt the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) of 1996. Michigan adopted the law in 1996 (MCL 552.1101-552.1901). UIFSA is a comprehensive act providing a framework for Title IV-D approved services between states. This includes interstate paternity and support establishment, support enforcement, and modification of child support obligations. UIFSA also includes Long Arm Jurisdiction, which allows a state to claim personal jurisdiction over a nonresident to the fullest extent allowed by law. UIFSA jurisdiction does not include custody or parenting time. That must be handled within each state system.

An interstate case occurs when one of the parties in a support case moves out of state and any of the parties requests assistance from the Title IV-D child support agency in another state. The interstate case results when two or more Title IV-D agencies in different states are coordinating Title IV-D services. It is not an interstate case when one party moves out of state, and all of the Title IV-D services can still be provided, through an administrative process, by the state, which issued the original court order.

Interstate Central Registry - All states have an Interstate Central Registry unit that receives requests for interstate child support services from other states. In Michigan that unit is located in the Office of Child Support. This unit receives, disseminates and has oversight responsibility for processing incoming interstate child support cases, including UIFSA petitions. The files are referred to the appropriate local Friend of the Court and Prosecuting Attorney's offices for services.

The Child Support Enforcement Network (CSENET) is a nationwide computer database that can be accessed by any state to send and/or receive information from other states. This is a fast and convenient method of giving and obtaining data by eliminating the need for paper and mail services.

CSENET has seven functions, which can be accessed. They include quick locate, case summary information, establishment, paternity, enforcement, tax offset collection and miscellaneous. To become a part of CSENET each state must enter into agreement with every other state for each function. Michigan has reached agreement with many states and is working to have agreements with all states as soon as possible.

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