New Jersey residents who pay or receive child support often work with their local child support enforcement office. The White House and the Department of Health are advocating for a new system to be put in place to nationalize child support monitoring and enforcement. This proposal is radically different from many programs implemented so far during the Trump administration that are designed to push certain costs down to the state level.
The plan asks for $63 million to create the system of monitoring and enforcement of child support payments in fiscal 2019. The program would replace the current system of reimbursing states for the costs of modernizing their systems. Modernizations efforts at the state level are currently costing about $120 million each on average, and the federal government reimburses about two-thirds of those costs.
The new system could potentially save $800 million in costs over the next 10 years. States have been required to develop child support systems since the Child Support Act was passed by Congress in 1995. Many states have struggled to keep their systems up to date, which the new federal system is designed to change.
Parents who have questions about their child support payment obligations may benefit from consulting with an attorney experienced in handling family law cases. An attorney may be able to assist those who have been asked to pay child support obtain a court order regarding visitation with their children. An attorney may also be able to assist with post-judgment modifications. For example, child support orders may need to be modified if a parent experiences a significant change in income. Modifications may also be necessary when circumstances related to custody and visitation change, such as if the custodial parent is no longer able to properly care for the child and the non-custodial parent wants to petition the court for primary custody.
