North Carolina Child Support

Quick Guide to North Carolina Child Support

North Carolina Child Support

This article will cover general NC Child Support laws, how to calculate child support payments in NC, and services a custodial parent can use to file a claim for backed payments. For more information on North Carolina child support, you can refer to any of the recommended articles on this website.

NC Child Support Laws

The majority of North Carolina child support laws are located in Chapter 50 of the NC General Statutes. For a link to the complete chapter, visit the link.

The state of North Carolina has an option for parents to undergo an expedited process for determining support. Not all districts within the state allow such a procedure, but Statute 50-36 Child support procedures in district with expedited process explains the general process in such a case:

(a) All expedited NC Child Support cases are allowed in district defined in G.S. 7A-133, and all claims will be heard from a hearing officer. The initiating party must send a notice of the date, time, and place of the hearing to all parties.

(b) The hearing before the North Carolina child support officer does not need to occur in a courtroom, only in a judicial setting.

(c) The hearing is without a jury, and the officer may have the parties produce a financial affidavit, state and federal tax returns, and other financial and employment records. If an agreement is reached between the two parties, a copy of the order will be supplied to both parties.

(e) An officer or either party can transfer the hearing before a district court in any of the following circumstances, but a temporary order may still be mandated by an officer:

• contested paternity action

• custody dispute

• contested visitation rights

• the ownership, possession, or transfer of any property to meet a child support obligation

• other complex issues

Calculating NC Child Support

In order to calculate North Carolina child support, an officer or judge will account for each party’s gross income, income from self-employment, potential or imputed income, child care costs, health insurance costs, and any other extraordinary expenses.

The judge will use the combined adjusted income of both parents and refer to a table starting on page 7 under the NC Courts:

If the NC Child Support needs modified, the action will be held before a court and there must be a modification of at least 15% in order for a judge to adjust the former settlement.

NC Child Support Disputes

If a noncustodial parent has failed to make their North Carolina child support payments, the custodial parent should contact the Child Support Enforcement program in NC. Caseworkers under the program review collection activities for North Carolina child support and use enforcement strategies such as income withholding, assets attachment, and tax intercepts.

For more information on the NCCSE program, you can visit the link provided.

If you want to call the CSE, you can reach the service at (800) 922-9457. You can mail the CSE at:

Child Support Enforcement
PO Box 20800
Raleigh, NC 27619-0800

The fee for the use of services is $25 although this can be reduced to $10 for families in need. The North Carolina Child Support Office can locate non-custodial parents as well as help establish paternity. For families on public assistance, child support arrangements are reviewed every three years. As with other states, reviews of child support arrangements can happen every three years or in the event that the financial circumstances of either parent changes significantly. In the event of non-payment of child support, the non-custodial parent can be faced with jail time, interception of tax refunds, revocation of passports and licenses and placing liens on personal property. Child support can be paid through income withholding, bank drafts or through check payments.

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