Support payments

How support is paid out

Paying on two or more cases or obligations

Under the most common payout process with a parent paying support to two or more families, current support due that month is paid to all families before any past-due support. The payment is divided in proportion to the current support owed to each family. Here are some examples.

Example 1

The paying parent is ordered to pay $400 each month for current support to two families -- $240 a month to Family A and $160 a month to Family B.

The parent pays $100 every week.

Each $100 weekly payment is prorated.

• Since Family A is owed 60% of the $400 due each month, Family A will get 60% of the weekly $100 payment ($60).
• Family B is owed 40% of the $400 due each month and will get 40% of the weekly payment ($40).

Example 2

The paying parent is ordered to pay $400 each month for current support to two families -- $240 a month to Family A and $160 a month to Family B. The paying parent also owes past-due support to Family B

The parent pays $110 every week/$440 every month.

• Since Family A is owed 60% of the $400 current support due each month, Family A will get 60% of the weekly $110 payment ($66).
• Family B is owed 40% of the $400 current support due each month and will get 40% of the weekly payment ($56).
• After the all the $400 current support is paid, any additional support paid that month will go to Family B to pay the past-due support.

Example 3

The paying parent is ordered to pay $400 each month for current support to two families -- $240 a month to Family A and $160 a month to Family B. The paying parent also has an order to pay $40 each month to Family B for past-due support. The paying parent also owes birth costs.

The parent pays $120 every week/$480 every month.

• Since Family A is owed 60% of the $400 current support due each month, Family A will get 60% of the weekly $110 payment ($66).
• Family B is owed 40% of the $400 current support due each month and will get 40% of the weekly payment ($56).
• After the all the $400 current support is paid, the next $40 paid that month will go to Family B to pay the periodic payment for past-due support.
• The additional $40 paid that month will also go to Family B for past-due support. The parent's monthly payments will not be used to pay birth costs until all past-due support is paid in full or the payer "designates" the extra money to pay birth costs. The payer will need to get a special coupon from the child support agency to designate a payment to birth costs.

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