How To Find Out Where Someone Works for Child Support Legally

Jayson Baxter

October 25, 2022

Those wondering how to discover where someone works for child support legally aren’t alone because approximately ¼ of all children under the age of 18 live in single-parent households with nearly 30% who didn’t receive any child support payments at all. ^{1, 2}

In some cases, the custodial parent, which is the person that has the child with them the majority or all of the time, may not even know where the other parent is located or where the other parent works.

Luckily, there’s multiple ways to the absent parent such as through public records databases, the free search form above, and there’s even government programs that help to find them too.

How To Find Out Where Someone Works When They Owe Child Support

Finding out where someone works for child support starts with looking at local, state, and federal agencies. Some of these databases are searchable by the general public, others are accessible only by child support enforcement courts and agencies to determine where someone is working. Understanding how the system works can help find out where your ex works to start the process of receiving child support.

Federal Parent Locator Service Is How To Discover Where Someone Works for Child Support

The United States Department of Health and Human Services has oversight of the Federal Parent Locator Service. This service is used by state child support enforcement agencies to locate a parent who is ordered to pay child support. This is how to find out where someone works on the federal level.

The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement provides assistance to 54 state and territory child support agencies to help ensure families who are due child support are receiving the payments as ordered with the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) being central to the process. The FPLS includes:

• Oversight and maintenance of the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH).
• Oversight of the Federal Case Registry (FCR) database which lists all the active child support orders in the country.
• Enforcement of the Federal Offset Program (FOP) which helps collect back child support. Back child support is money that was ordered to be paid but was not. This is the program that will intercept a tax return for the parent ordered to pay when payment has not been made.
• Enforcement of the Federal Administrative Offset Program which intercepts other federal payments such as grants or disbursements from federal programs.
• Cooperative program with the United States Department of State for the denial of passports to parents owing more than $2500 in child support. This program is known as the Passport Denial Program (PDP).
• Administration of the Multistate Financial Institution Data Match (MFIDM) which allows the program to access financial data allowing them to find assets that may help satisfy the child support obligation.³

Information from the FPLS is limited to the following individuals:

• State child support agencies,
• Attorneys for state child support agencies
• Child support courts, court agents.
• State child welfare agencies.
• State foster care programs.
• Certain court officials in kidnapping/child custodial interference cases.³

FPLS is a secure database that helps states find out if someone works at a company when that person owes child support; however, enforcement is typically left to the state level.

The table below lists the new hire agency for each state.

These state agencies work with the local child support enforcement program to make sure those agencies can help find someone who owes child support. These agencies also know how to find out someone’s salary for child support to make sure the child is receiving the maximum amount due.

Locating a physical address for someone could mean pinpointing where they work, but could also include a mailing address.

How To Locate a Parent’s Physical Address for Child Support Notices

Locating a physical address for someone can be done in a variety of ways. One way is to search voter registration records in a county or state. Voter registration is considered public record, and some areas provide a mailing address for the individual voter; however, you will need the full name and date of birth of the person registered in cases to look up voter registration.

For example, Montana’s voter registration link requires a date of birth to search. This is one way to find out who lives here when looking for a physical address. A physical address is necessary to serve someone with notice of child support obligations.

Local county clerk’s offices also maintain property records that can be searched online in a number of cases to help locate a physical address for someone who owes child support. This is only beneficial if the person owns the property for which they are taxed in that region.

Another way to locate someone’s address is to use a third-party search site. This carries a fee and results may or may not be up to date.

In addition to knowing how to locate a parent who owes child support, it’s important to know how child support works and how cases get started.

How Child Support Cases Work: Everything You Need to Know

Child support obligations can be agreed upon by the parents of the child without court involvement, called a voluntary service agreement; however, most child support cases require assistance from the state child support enforcement program and the local courts

When learning how to discover where someone works for child support and where paternity is questioned, a court must intervene to establish not only the child support amount, but whether or not the person identified as the father is the biological parent, and find the father when paternity has been determined.

Determining the amount of child support a person will pay each month depends on a number of factors in addition to state laws. Some things that are considered when determining the child support amount include:

• Income earned by both parents (some states only consider the noncustodial parent’s income, but most states look at both incomes)
• Amount of time each parent has the child in their physical custody
• The age of the child or children
• The number of children
• Which parent carries insurance on the child or children
• Childcare costs and who pays the childcare expenses
• If there is anyone else in the household with the children, and if that person contributes to the household expenses.
• Other factors the judge may consider relevant to the support of the child (such as education expenses, medical needs not covered by insurance, or supplemental income from either party such as bonuses or incentive pay).

Starting child support in most cases requires a court order, and all child support must be in compliance with state and federal laws. State agencies use a child support calculator that factors in the list above to determine the amount.

For example, California has an online child support calculator accessible to the general public to help the custodial parent get an estimate of the child support due. Factors that California uses to determine child support include the income of both parties, number of children, who carries insurance, and other support provided.⁴

Establishing Identity in Child Support Cases

Before a child support obligation can be ordered by a court, identifying the biological parent is key. Establishing paternity refers to conducting a DNA test to establish the male identified as the father is the actual biological parent.

Establishing parentage involves the court ordering the male submit to a DNA test which is then compared to the DNA of the child or children. Once the results confirm the person is the biological father, the court can then order that person to pay child support.

When DNA testing is ordered by the court, it must be done by an approved lab that follows the “chain of custody” for the sample. This simply means there are checks and balances in place to ensure the sample collected is for the person being tested, and the results are passed to the appropriate authorities for official use.⁵

State and Federal Child Support Laws

Each state has its own child support enforcement laws, and the federal government has passed legislation to help strengthen those laws. In 1992, Congress passed the Child Support Recovery Act which made failure to pay child support a misdemeanor offense. While this helped to an extent, many parents refusing to pay were not deterred by a misdemeanor charge.⁶

In response, Congress passed the Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act in 1998 to create a federal felony charge for those parents who had thousands in back child support that was unpaid.⁶

These laws help state agencies that are designated as Title IV-D agencies when it comes to enforcing child support and holding nonsupport offenders accountable.⁶

State laws are enforced by the state agency that is designated by statute to provide support to families seeking child support. State agencies also oversee the process of establishing paternity in child support cases.

State Child Support Enforcement: How it Works

State agencies that manage child support enforcement and determination in each state are known as Title IV-D agencies. By working under state and federal statutes, these agencies help locate parents who owe child support, help establish the child support amount, work closely with families and the courts to make sure child support obligations are being met, and educate the public on child support enforcement in their state.

The table below lists the child support enforcement department for each state and the state child support statute or policy.

These state agencies have access to the Federal Parent Locator Service and this is how to learn where someone works for child support in the most efficient, cost effective method that’s available to the custodial parent.

The Title IV-D state agency can find out where the noncustodial parent works, start the proceedings to get child support established, enforce the child support order, and file the necessary action when a child support order is not being followed.

What Happens When Child Support Payments Are Not Being Made?

When child support payments are not being made, the state agency can file a motion with the court for the violation. The agency can alert state and federal revenue departments to withhold tax refunds to help satisfy child support payments.

The courts can also issue a warrant for the arrest of the individual. In some states, the amount of bond on a child support warrant is equal to the back child support due. For example, in North Carolina, a person can be arrested on a child support warrant for being $2000 behind on payments. The court will establish a cash bond of $2000 which will go to satisfy the obligation when the person posts bail.

Employers also need to know how to determine if an employee is in police custody due to a child support warrant when they fail to show up for work.

A warrant is only one way the state can try to enforce a child support order or obligation. Another option is wage garnishment. Knowing how to learn where someone works for child support also helps the state agency start wage garnishment processing to satisfy the obligation.

Wage Garnishment and Child Support: What a Parent Needs to Know

When a person is not making their child support payments, their wages from their employment can be garnished to help satisfy the child support obligation. Garnishment simply means the money is taken out of the paycheck before the person receives it.

The Title IV-D state agency petitions the court to order garnishment when child support payments are not being made in some cases. Other states allow garnishment without a court order. The state agencies locate someone’s place of employment for garnishment and send the necessary notices to the employers.

The state agencies use the FPLS for assistance in how to find where someone works for garnishment to make sure their records are up to date, and to track those individuals who move from state to state to avoid child support.

The table below lists the wage garnishment laws for each state, as well as limitations on garnishment and the laws, discuss how to learn where someone works for child support.

State agencies that petition or file for wage garnishment use a calculator to determine the exact amount to be taken from the paycheck. That is why it is vital to know how to discover where someone works for child support. Failure to pay child support can have other consequences than garnishment or loss of tax refunds which could include jail time.

Does Child Support Appear on a Background Check?

Since child support can be part of a family court order, it can be considered a public record and may appear on a background check. Failure to pay child support can reflect on a person’s credit history, and may also appear on a background check as a contempt charge for failure to comply.

While child support isn’t a standard on most background checks, there is a possibility it could show up on one. Additionally, garnishment requests are sent directly to the employer which alerts them of a child support obligation.

In order to fill the gap of children who are not receiving the support they need, states are working diligently to enforce support orders. These agencies know how to discover where someone works for child support, legally enforce the court’s order, and notify the courts of noncompliance when necessary.

Frequently Asked Questions