- A New York court will issue a child support order requiring a noncustodial parent to pay child support when married parents divorce or separate or when an unmarried mother requests child support after paternity has been established. The Child Support Standards Act sets the guidelines a court must use to set the support amount; these are set forth in Section 240(1-b) of New York's Domestic Relations Law. The child support amount is a percentage of the owing parent's income in accordance with the number of children owed support. In New York, the child percentages are 17 percent for one child, 25 percent for two children, 29 percent for three children, 31 percent for four children and 35 percent for five or more children.
- The Division of Child Support Enforcement is authorized to help a custodial parent collect past-due child support for 20 years after the payment was missed. The agency provides services for almost 900,000 families in New York, helping collect child support on current and past-due support orders. To deter parents from ignoring their child support obligation, interest accrues on missed payments at a rate of 9 percent annually.
- The most successful collection method the Division of Child Support Enforcement uses for both current and past-due support is the Income Execution Order, or IEX. The agency submits the IEX to the owing parent's employer, and the employer deducts the child support amount from the parent's income and transfers the funds to the custodial parent owed support. This method of collection is also used to intercept a percentage of an owing parent's unemployment insurance benefits.
- The Division of Child Support Enforcement is also permitted to collect child support by intercepting any federal or state tax refunds an owing parent would receive, as well as state lottery winnings. The agency can also obtain a property execution order to seize funds from the owing parent's bank account or file a lien against any real estate in order to collect the owed support from the proceeds if the parent ever sells the property.
- There are certain methods available to not actually collect child support, but instead are designed to deter parents from ignoring their child support responsibility. For example, when child support is not paid, the Division of Child Support Enforcement can submit an order to the state of New York's Department of Motor Vehicle requiring that the parent's driver's license be suspended. In addition, any other licenses held in the state, including business, professional and recreational (boating, fishing and hunting), will also be suspended until child support is paid in full.
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