Support

Support

Types of Support
CHILD SUPPORT - MEDICAL SUPPORT - SPOUSAL SUPPORT
A “support order” is an order entered by the Court that requires the payment of support. Support may include:
  • child support;
  • payment of expenses for medical, dental and other health care expenses;
  • childcare expenses; or
  • spousal support

IV-D Services
In 1975, Congress established the IV-D child support program to coordinate services and benefits available to families with dependent children. Any person with custody of a child who needs help to establish a child support or medical support order, any parent who already has a support order who needs help to collect support payments, or any non-custodial parent can apply for IV-D child support services. If you are receiving public assistance from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), or Medicaid or federally assisted Foster Care programs, you will be automatically referred to the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services (“DHHS”) Office of Child Support (“OCS”) for child support services.

You may also obtain forms and apply for IV-D services from the FOC or the Prosecutor’s Office in the county in which you live. In Clare County, the Prosecutor’s Office (Child Support Division) establishes most new child support orders including establishing paternity if paternity has not already been established at the time of a child’s birth. 

Child Support Basics
A child support order is a court order directing a parent to pay a specific amount of money for the support of minor children not living with them. Child support orders may be issued as part of a divorce settlement, family support case, paternity action, and interstate case.

Child support generally stops when a child reaches the age of eighteen or graduates from high school, whichever occurs last, but under certain conditions may be ordered to continue until the child reaches age nineteen and one half.

When a child support order is entered, the court will usually order that the payments be automatically deducted from the payer’s paycheck. This process is known as establishing an Income Withholding Order (IWO), and is required by law. When the employer begins taking the money from the payer’s paycheck, it will be forwarded to the Michigan State Disbursement Unit (MiSDU), and then distributed to the person authorized to receive the child support payments. The Friend of the Court is also required to keep a record of all payments, and to take appropriate action if payments are missed.

In MICSES, child support charges on the first (1st) day of the month for the whole month.

Parties who have a support order, must immediately inform the FOC of any change in:
  • your address;
  • the name and address of your employer;
  • your health insurance; and
  • any changes in your employment that will affect the payment of your child support (e.g. mergers, plant shutdowns, relocations, lay-off, etc.)
Post Majority Support
In Michigan, a court may order child support after the child reaches the age of 18 if: 1) the child is regularly attending high  school on a full time basis; 2) with a reasonable expectation of completing sufficient credits to graduate from high school; 3) while residing on a full time basis with the recipient of support or at an institution; and 4) but in no case after the child reaches 19 years and 6 months of age. MCL 552.605b(2). The FOC can only enforce what is in the Uniform Child Support Order (UCSO). If there is no provision for post majority support, it will not be enforced.

Q. Must the office send emancipation letters to know when to stop an ordered obligation?
A. No. The FOC is not required by law to send an emancipation letter or to find out whether a support obligation should end or continue. Letters may be sent or they may not. When an order specifies an end date for a support obligation, the FOC has no reason to find out if a child will remain eligible for post majority support. The FOC office should stop the obligation on the specified date as ordered, unless or until the order is modified.
 

Friend of the Court - Clare County, Michigan