The Mecklenburg County Office of Child Support Enforcement (CSE) works to ensure that both parents are responsible for the financial support of their children to the best of their ability.
The following services are available through the Mecklenburg County Office of Child Support Enforcement:
LOCATING A NON-CUSTODIAL PARENT
The noncustodial parent must be located by obtaining a residential address or employment address before any actions to establish paternity, establish support, or enforce a child support order can take place.
ESTABLISHMENT OF PATERNITY
A legal responsibility for a child must exist before a father can be pursued for support of the child. If no such responsibility has been determined, paternity must first be established. Under North Carolina law, paternity can be established at any time prior to a child's eighteenth (18th) birthday.
ESTABLISHMENT OF SUPPORT OBLIGATION (CHILD & MEDICAL)
A "support order" is a judgment, decree, or order (whether temporary, final, or subject to modification) that is issued by a court or an administrative agency. It establishes the legal obligation for support or maintenance of a child up to the age of majority under the law of the issuing state.
Child support does not establish spousal support orders. However, spousal support can be collected in conjunction with the collection of child support for that responsible parent's child.
COLLECTION OF SUPPORT PAYMENTS
Federal and state laws require that all child support payments be processed at a central location. Noncustodial parents and/or their employers can send child support payments to North Carolina Child Support Centralized Collections (NCCSCC), which processes and sends these payments to the appropriate custodial parents/payees.
ENFORCEMENT OF SUPPORT OBLIGATION
Establishing an order does not guarantee the noncustodial parent (NCP) will pay the support as ordered. There may be times when the parent makes partial payments, skips payments or never makes a payment. Child Support identifies these cases and utilizes several enforcement tools. Ex: income withholding through employer, monthly billing to NCP who does not pay through income withholding, unemployment compensation, worker's compensation, Social Security benefits, veteran's disability, court action, state and federal tax intercept, passport revocation.