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.
You have several options for opening a child support case. You may submit your request to open a case online. This process is easy, secure, and of no cost to you. You may also request a hardcopy enrollment package by telephone by contacting our Customer Service Center at (866) 901-3212 or by visiting our office. Our office is located at 3701 Power Inn Road, Sacramento, CA 95826.
You can return the completed forms in person or mail them to our office. Our hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.. Our mailing address is Sacramento County DCSS, P.O. Box 269112, Sacramento, CA 95826.
Please note: Once your enrollment forms are submitted and received by the child support office, they may provide additional forms and information that are needed to move forward in processing your request for child support services.
If you are receiving CalWORKS benefits, a case will be opened by referral from the Department of Human Assistance and this packet will automatically be mailed to you at that time.
You have several options for opening a child support case. You may submit your request to open a case online. This process is easy, secure, and of no cost to you. You may also request a hardcopy enrollment package by telephone by contacting our Customer Service Center at (866) 901-3212 or by visiting our office. Our office is located at 3701 Power Inn Road, Sacramento, CA 95826.
You can return the completed forms in person or mail them to our office. Our hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.. Our mailing address is Sacramento County DCSS, P.O. Box 269112, Sacramento, CA 95826.
Our services are free.
The most important piece of information is the non-custodial parent's Social Security number; it is key to accessing locate sources.
Also important is information regarding the non-custodial parent's employment, home and work addresses, date of birth, any prior court order information and, if you're not receiving CalWORKs, a copy of your pay stub. The more information you supply in your application, the quicker we will be able to help.
Within twenty days of receipt of a completed application or welfare referral we will open a case, we will start verifying information received, such as addresses and employment information, and mail a case opening letter to the custodial and non-custodial parent.
If you are receiving CalWORKs benefits, State and Federal law require recipients to participate in the child support program. The Department of Human Assistance must send the Department of Child Support Services a referral to open a case to establish paternity and child support for the child (ren) receiving the benefits.
When you are approved for these benefits, your rights to child support are assigned to the county for the time period you are on aid. The Department of Child Support Services is required to establish paternity, child support, and medical insurance court orders and obtain payments for these orders.
Child support collected for the periods you are receiving aid will be forwarded to the Department of Human Assistance.
This office must legally establish paternity and a court order for child support in a court order for children receiving CalWORKS or MediCal benefits.
An agreement, even a notarized agreement, is not an enforceable court order, which is what we are required to obtain.
We will continue to collect child support on your behalf unless you request in writing that we close the non-welfare portion of your case.
Even if we do close your non-welfare portion of the case, we will continue to pursue for the child support owed for the time period you were receiving CalWORKs benefits.
It varies from case to case depending on the information provided and the cooperation from the non-custodial parent.
This office has several resources to locate the paying parent (non-custodial party). We use the following locate sources to find addresses and employment information:
We are looking for the paying parent’s (non-custodial parent's):
No. Our office does not represent either party or the child(ren) in the action.
You are being sued. You have 30 days to file an answer in order to be heard by the court. The lawsuit alleges that you are the parent of each child named in the complaint.
The lawsuit proposes that you be required to provide child support and medical support for the child(ren).
If you fail to file an answer, the proposed judgment attached to the complaint will become a final order.
Yes. You may enter into a stipulation (agreement) by contacting our office. The stipulation must be approved by the court to become a judgment or order.
If you come to our office in person to review whether a stipulation is appropriate, please bring photo identification and recent pay stubs.
The court will enter a default judgment based on the requests in the complaint. The proposed judgment attached to the complaint will become the order of the court.
If you do not believe you are the father of a child listed on the complaint, you should file an answer. Once your answer is filed, a court date will be set. The court may order genetic testing. If you fail to file an answer, the court will find that you are the father.
You should file an answer to be heard by the court.
You may also provide our office current income information to see whether a stipulation can be reached.
The child support amount is based upon the income and custody/visitation information we received before filing the Summons and Complaint. Income information is obtained from Employment Development Department, employer verifications, and other sources.
We also try to contact both parties to obtain information prior to filing the Summons and Complaint. The income and timeshare information is input into the guideline calculator and the presumptively correct amount of child support is determined.
Active-duty members of the military are entitled to certain protections pursuant to the Service members Civil Relief Act (SCRA), including appointment of an attorney to protect their rights under the SCRA.
The attorney does not represent the service member for the merits of the case.
The California State Disbursement Unit (SDU) will mail you a payment within two days from the day we the SDU receives the payment. In order to collect a child support obligation, we need to know where the paying parent (non-custodial parent) is working.
We will then serve an income withholding order so that the child support obligation is automatically deducted from his or her wages.
If you know where the non-custodial parent is working, please inform us via mail, e-mail or phone at (866) 901-3212, and we will serve an income withholding order.
We will review your court order for modification only if the following circumstances exist:
If you believe your case meets these requirements and would like to start the review process, please telephone, e-mail, fax, or drop-by our office to submit your request and start the modification review process. Warning! This review may result in either an increase or decrease in your child support amount depending on the circumstances of both parents.
Once you have returned the application for review, the process will not be terminated regardless of whether your child support court order will be increased or decreased. In other words, as non-custodial parent, you may expect your obligation to decrease but when the guidelines are calculated and it is actually increased, we will proceed with the increase. Once processed, our Legal Unit will send you a court date via mail & your presence at the court hearing will be important.
You may call into our public service center phone # (866) 901-3212 - 5 days prior to any court date & ask to talk to the Court Unit with any concerns/questions you may have.
You may also seek a modification on your own behalf pursuant to California Family Code Section 3651.
Yes, if appropriate. We will confirm that your employer is deducting the child support from your paycheck according to the court order on your case(s) and sending payments to the State Distribution Unit. The FTB 50% deduction can then be reviewed for possible reduction or withdrawal.
Note: If you have multiple cases in this county or cases in more than one county, the transaction may be more complex. Please advise how many biological children you are currently paying for, their ages, where you pay, and monthly child support when you contact our office at (866) 901-3212.
Typically, child support cases involving the same child(ren) and the same court order number are now being handled by 1 California County.
If you find you are paying more than your court ordered child support obligation for the same children, please call us at (866) 901-3212 & we will review your cases(s) for any appropriate needed action.
Please be advised that only the county who submitted you to Franchise Tax Board Collection is eligible to withdraw your case.
Franchise Tax Board locates wages, bank accounts and many other assets for seizure and payment of any court ordered child support obligations.
Please contact the California Department of Child Support Services at 1-866-904-7674 to discuss your situation with the representative.
Franchise Tax Board locates wages, bank accounts and many other assets for seizure and payment of any court ordered child support obligations.
Please contact the California Department of Child Support Services at 1-866-904-7674 to discuss your situation with the representative.
Driver’s licenses and occupational licenses are automatically subject to submission for suspension if a non-custodial parent’s payment does not fully meet the monthly obligation for child support and/or arrears payments .
Please verify which county has the hold on your license. This information is noted on the letter from the licensing agency. Only the county placing the hold can release it. Once you’ve verified the correct county, please call 1-866-901-3212 to discuss your situation with the representative.
Contact our office at 1-866-901-3212 and we will change the child support account so that you receive the current support.
If you have not received the check 14 days after it was issued, contact our office and our financial staff will send you the appropriate forms to complete. When our financial staff receives the forms from you, a "stop payment" order will be placed on the check. A new check will then be issued. The entire process may take as long as 3 weeks. (To avoid delay in receiving your child support money, we highly recommend custodial parents sign up for the electronic payment card or direct deposit.
Either of these payment options is available to custodial parents by calling the State Distribution Unit at: (866) 901-3212.
Non-custodial parents also have the option of setting up automatic monthly child support payments from a bank account or using a credit card. To do so, non-custodial parents can call the State Distribution Unit at (866) 901-3212.
Custodial parents and non-custodial parents will be required to provide their participant ID # and social security # when calling the State Distribution Unit – if you need your Participant ID # - please call our office at (866) 901-3212.
You can notify us in writing, or by calling or visiting our office. We will then close your portion of the case.
If the child(ren) ever received CalWORKs benefits, we will continue to collect the child support owed only for that time period.
If the child(ren) never received CalWORKs benefits, we will close the case per your request and send you and the non-custodial parent a closing letter.
Yes. We may be able to establish and enforce a California order if the California court has jurisdiction over the non-custodial parent.
If a California court does not have jurisdiction, we can request an order be established and enforced in the state in which the non-custodial parent lives.
It depends on which country.
Once we have determined that we must proceed by obtaining the assistance of an agency in another state or country, we must send a request to the agency. The agency has 90 days to open a case.
An out of state order can be enforced without registration. However, registration of another state or country’s court order may be done for enforcement and/or modification purposes.
A California order can be enforced in another state without registration. However, registration of the California order may be done for enforcement and/or modification purposes.
Prior to requesting the assistance of another state, we review every case to determine if California has jurisdiction to either to establish and/or enforce an existing child support order.
If we determine that California has no jurisdiction, we send a request to the other state asking them to establish and/or enforce an existing child support order as we do not have legal jurisdiction to do so in the case. Jurisdiction is determined pursuant to Federal and State laws and regulations.