What are the Options for Collecting Child Support?

You and your former partner have come to an agreement and/or received an Order of Court regarding payments of child support from one party to the other. Once you have an Order of Court, it becomes enforceable. This means that if the person that is supposed to pay child support doesn't, there are mechanisms in place to help obligee (the person receiving support) collect those funds from the obligor (the person paying support).

So, what are the options for collection of these payments?

If you and the other party come to an agreement about payment of support, it is important to get documentation evidencing the support obligations in the form of a Court Order. Simply filing or, worse yet, having a signed document that does not get filed with a Court is typically not sufficient for enforcement by a Court. You must obtain an Order from the Court approving the agreement. This will likely be in the form of a document called a Support Order. It may also simply be an Order approving the agreement (usually called "Stipulation") or Permanent Orders issued by the Court.

An Order outlining support payments will have at least these important facts in it: the amount of the child support due each month; and the due date or due dates (sometimes these correspond with pay periods rather than a monthly amount on one day). If there are child support arrears (child support that is owed but not yet paid), this also may be part of the calculation, but not every Support Order may have this information in it.

In Colorado, child support becomes due and owing on its due date and will accrue interest at the rate of ten percent per annum. It is important to note that this changed in July 2021 and interest for support payments due before that time are accrued at twelve percent per annum. What this means is that the day that a support payment becomes late, it has potential for an interest amount attached to it. The Court does not have jurisdiction to modify or eliminate this interest rate; only the obligee can waive it.

When child support is not paid in Colorado, it becomes an automatic judgment. Once you have an outstanding child support balance, you can discuss with an attorney or have one assist you in obtaining a document called a Verified Entry of Support Judgement. This document certifies that you have support payments owed to you. From there, you have a couple of options for collection of child support:

1. Family Support Registry

Sometimes parties opt to use the services of the Family Support Registry to receive payments from or make payments through. The Family Support Registry, or FSR, is an accounting service that keeps track of payments made by the obligor to the obligee. This can help keep track of missed payments. It is important to note however that the FSR simply keeps track of missed payments; they will not engage in any activity to obtain the missed payments.

2. Colorado Child Support Services Program

The Colorado Child Support Services Program, or CSS, is a program through the housing and human services department of Colorado that assists those owed child support in obtaining monies for said owed support. The theory is that you can pay a nominal annual fee (it used to be $25) for this program to help you with collection tactics such as those described below to get support payments to you.

Now, I have my own controversial opinions on this service that I will share from my own personal and professional experience with this program through the past sixteen years. In my experience, you will need to have a decent bit of information on the obligor in order to get this to work. You may need information such as their place of employment, driver's license number, address, or bank account information in order to aid the agency in getting your support payments. This is so that they have sufficient information in order to utilize one of the below collection techniques. However, if the other party is shirking their responsibilities, frequently changes jobs, is paid cash under the table, moves around a lot, and/or does not keep their money in a bank account, this service is not super helpful.

3. Wage Garnishment/Income Assignment

A Wage Garnishment or Income Assignment is a document that is filled out by an attorney or pro se (unrepresented) party and sent to the payroll department of the obligor's employer. The first step is to file a Writ of Garnishment with the Court and follow the steps to get the Court's permission to proceed with the garnishment. Once this document is received by the payroll department, they can garnish the support payments directly from the obligor's paychecks. Of course, this requires the obligee to know where the obligor works; for the obligor to be an employee that is paid through a paycheck and not strictly cash; and for the form to be filled out correctly in order for it to be effective. It is also important to note that there are limitations to what can be withheld from a paycheck. In other words, even if the obligor owes more support than their paycheck is worth, their entire paycheck will not be withheld for the support that they owe.

4. Bank Garnishments

If you know where the obligor banks, the same Writ of Garnishment can be served on the obligor's bank such that the amount owed for child support is withdrawn from their bank account. Sometimes if you don't know where the obligor banks, you can get the assistance from a private investigator to help figure it out.

5. Property Lien

If the obligor has real property, a lien can be attached to the real property as an encumbrance. This means that if the property is sold, the title company will know that you have a monetary claim against the property, and you become one of the debtors to be paid in the instance of a sale. This, of course, requires waiting until the property is sold, if ever. Further, a lien of this nature is highly technical and should be drafted or at least reviewed by an attorney before submitting to the clerk and recorder of the county the property resides in.

6. Personal Property

It is also possible to attach a Writ of Garnishment to ask the assistance of a sheriff to seize non-exempt personal property of higher value such as a car, jewelry, etc. An example of exempted property would be disability or retirement income.

Counting on child support payments that do not arrive or consistently come late is beyond frustrating and debilitating. However, there are options to collect on those payments. I highly encourage anyone needing this kind of assistance to consult with an attorney who can give you a sound opinion on which avenue makes the most sense for you.