No money for lawyer and need to get child support, what are my options?

[SallySue15]

My lousy ex-boyfriend left shortly after my daughter was born. He refuses to pay child support, and I do not have money for a lawyer, what can I do? I currently have a part-time job, but I do not make nearly enough money to adequately care for myself and my daughter, let alone pay a lawyer to sue my ex-boyfriend for child support. Please help!

[SallySue15]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share some information that I recently discovered after a friend referred me to the local health department. The first link is the Child Support Enforcement Site for Colorado. There are links to many documents that are very helpful, like "Starting a Child Support Case", and "Calculating Child Support Payments". I found the second link on the page, "A Parent's Guide to Child Support", most helpful (it covers the majority of situations for people that are seeking child support):

https://childsupport.state.co.us/siteuser/do/siteSearch?query=Child+Support+Guide

(you will need to copy the link and paste it into your browser).

The second link is to the U.S. Department for Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, The Office of Child Support Enforcement State Links. This site has links for each of the U.S. states and territories and the child support laws specific to each state:

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/extinf.html

(again,you will need to copy the link and paste it into your browser).

I hope that this information will be as informative and helpful to others as it has been for me.

[SMFH]

Sally that is great information thanks for sharing it!

[TNShannon]

I used to think that you had to have an attorney to get child support from your ex...then I learned that's not the case at all. If you have a court judgment against them, the child support office can go after them, and garnish their wages if they don't pay willingly. If you don't have a court judgment yet, go to the child support office anyway...they will probably require a DNA paternity test, but once that is done, they will work on your behalf to make the child support case happen.

The procedures might vary from one state to another, but you should always start with your child support office and go from there.

Don't give up! That's the most important part. Don't let him get away without taking on his share of responsibility. It's so easy to just throw up your hands and say it will never happen, but it will...patience is the way to go.