To file for child support, a petitioner must prepare a petition, subpoena, interim motion, hearing request, and notice. They must also review and follow jurisdiction-specific rules and prepare a citation form. A motion for interim support can be filed to expedite temporary child support payments. The petitioner must also prepare a request for a hearing and notice of hearing form. An information sheet may also be required.
A person wishing to file for child support will typically need to prepare a petition to establish child support, a subpoena, a child support interim motion, a hearing request, and a hearing notice. The petition will typically name the parties/parents/guardians involved, identify the children, and contain requests to establish paternity and to calculate and establish child support. The person who initiates the child support action is the petitioner, and the person who responds is the defendant. After each document is prepared, the petitioner will need to make two copies of each document and submit the original and copies to the court. The court will take the documents, affix the appropriate stamp or approvals to the documents, keep the originals, and return the copies to the claimant.
The rules regarding a petition to file for child support vary in each jurisdiction. These rules usually have a section specifically dealing with child support issues, which the court usually calls domestic relations. Additionally, each court will have its own local procedural rules, which will also have specific rules relating to internal relations cases. A person intending to apply for child support must review and abide by these rules.
In addition to the petition to establish child support, the petitioner will need to prepare a citation form. A summons is an official document directing the respondent to file a response to the petition within a specified time frame, usually 30 days. The summons will also contain a section that the server must complete after serving the defendant. The citation form is contained in the Rules of Procedure and the petitioner must submit this form to the court with the child support application. The court will take the form and place an official stamp or seal on the form authorizing it to be served on the defendant.
A petitioner may also file a motion to establish interim child support at the same time the petition to establish child support is filed. Interim means temporary, and this motion is a request that the court make an immediate temporary order for child support payments. This is necessary due to the delays involved in the process of setting up child support. When a person takes action to claim child support, the process includes 30 days for the defendant to file a response to the petition, delays resulting from the parties conducting the discovery, and delays in obtaining a scheduled hearing before the court, which could be months. A motion for interim support allows the court to conduct an expedited hearing to institute a temporary child support order while the case is pending.
The petitioner will also need to prepare a request for a hearing and a Notice of Hearing form. These forms apply to the motion for interim child support. The hearing request form is a request that the court schedule a fast-track hearing on your interim support application. The Notice of Hearing form will contain blanks, which the court will fill out with the date and time of the hearing. Many local courts require the party requesting a hearing to complete these forms and send them to the court along with self-addressed, self-addressed envelopes to each party so that the court can send hearing notices to the parties.
Many jurisdictions will also require the petitioner to submit a form called an information sheet. The Rules of Procedure usually contain the form, which an applicant must complete and file with the court along with the initial application. This form requests special information relating to children. Each state uses this form, through its own child support enforcement agency, to enforce child support payments. The agency uses the information to prosecute the person responsible for paying child support if they fail to make the payments as ordered.
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