The collection and enforcement of child support is an ongoing enterprise which affects the lives of many people especially the children. Often times an obligated parent will faithfully pay their support but when an unexpected or unforeseen change in circumstances occurs and the support order is not adjusted accordingly, the parent can be stuck with a mountain of back arrears that may never be paid off. This arrears obligation affects the parent for years after the child is emancipated. The ability to drive and work will be impacted due to license holds or suspensions.
For many years the local child support agency (LCSA) would not actively review and adjust orders when a change in circumstances affected the obligor’s ability to pay. Such changes might include: loss of job, reduction in hours, lay off, incarceration or even disability. Consequently many obligated parents accumulated thousands and thousands of dollars in back support because the ongoing obligation was never modified.
Even now with mandates that the LCSA review the order upon knowledge of a change in circumstances or at least every 3 years since the last order was made, many cases fall through the cracks because the LCSA handles large caseloads and are understaffed. Many requests for reviews are never started or completed because paperwork gets lost or mis-assigned somewhere along the agency’s mail routing system.
Today, the local departments’ of child support are funded based on several federal performance measures. Two of these measures are focused on collection of ongoing child support and arrears. These measures are related to the amount of the ongoing support obligation and the arrears due.
The local child support agency now attempts to set the orders at collectable levels. Reviewing and adjusting the orders as soon as possible when a case qualifies is a big component in the LCSA’s collection improvement plans. The LCSA can face sanctions or state imposed program improvement monitoring if they fall below set performance measures.
There is also a new push by the LCSA’s to reduce or compromise the amount of unpaid child support arrears that are permanently assigned to the state. This program is called compromise of arrears or COAP and in some cases can result in the arrears reduced being reduced to as low as .10 to the dollar.
There are certain requirements specific to the LCSA and not all counties may have a COAP program, but you can always apply directly to the state if the local support agency doesn’t have it . Generally, the requirements to participate are as follows:
1. Owe at least $501. to the state in child support arrears
2. No contempt of court finding for failure to pay child support within the prior 6 months of application.
3. No denial of a COAP within the past year
4. No intentional non-payment in anticipation of a compromise
5. No concealment of income
6. Ability to pay off compromise amount within 3 years from date of agreement.
If there is an ongoing obligation that has to be paid monthly. If any arrears are owed to the other parent that amount can’t be compromised, but if you have a good relationship with that custodial parent then you can probably work out a side agreement or have him/her request case closure on their portion of the balance.
All income and assets will need to be verified as well as regular monthly payments you make to other utilities.
So it would be a good idea to get recent copies of phone bills, utility bills, car registrations, or other reoccurring expenses. If you work in exchange for room and board you will need to get a letter verifying this from your landlord or from the person you provide in-kind services to.
After all information is turned in and you qualify for a compromise you will be offered 2 options to pay. One is by a lump sum payment within 45 days after signing of the agreement. The other option is to pay the compromise amount over a 36 month period. If the agreed monthly payment is made each and every month then the remaining balance is wiped out and the case gets closed.
It’s a win-win situation for the obligor and the LCSA’s which can now write off thousands in arrears, thus showing less undistributed support and improved collections at the same time. The LCSA will also release any license holds and not take any enforcement action while on a COAP agreement.
Reference:
- www.childsup.ca.gov/Payments/CompromiseofArrearsProgram/tabid/131/Default.aspx
- www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/
