Enforcement

Frequently Asked Questions

The California State Disbursement Unit (SDU) will mail you a payment within two days from the day we the SDU receives the payment. In order to collect a child support obligation, we need to know where the paying parent (non-custodial parent) is working. 

We will then serve an income withholding order so that the child support obligation is automatically deducted from his or her wages.

If you know where the non-custodial parent is working, please inform us via mail, e-mail or phone at (866) 901-3212, and we will serve an income withholding order.

We will review your court order for modification only if the following circumstances exist:

  1. Three years have passed since the entry of your existing child support court order and you would now like to have it reviewed.
  2. The basis for any decrease in monthly child support is anticipated to last more than 6 months. (IE: paying parent’s/custodial parent’s income has decreased due to lay off/job change, childcare costs included in the existing court order are no longer needed, etc.)
  3. Child support caseworker determines based upon a review of your existing court order that there is at least a $50.00 or 20% change (upward or downward) from your existing child support court order.

If you believe your case meets these requirements and would like to start the review process, please telephone, e-mail, fax, or drop-by our office to submit your request and start the modification review process. Warning! This review may result in either an increase or decrease in your child support amount depending on the circumstances of both parents.  

Once you have returned the application for review, the process will not be terminated regardless of whether your child support court order will be increased or decreased. In other words, as non-custodial parent, you may expect your obligation to decrease but when the guidelines are calculated and it is actually increased, we will proceed with the increase. Once processed, our Legal Unit will send you a court date via mail & your presence at the court hearing will be important. 

You may call into our public service center phone # (866) 901-3212 - 5 days prior to any court date & ask to talk to the Court Unit with any concerns/questions you may have. 

You may also seek a modification on your own behalf pursuant to California Family Code Section 3651.​

Yes, if appropriate. We will confirm that your employer is deducting the child support from your paycheck according to the court order on your case(s) and sending payments to the State Distribution Unit. The FTB 50% deduction can then be reviewed for possible reduction or withdrawal.

Note: If you have multiple cases in this county or cases in more than one county, the transaction may be more complex. Please advise how many biological children you are currently paying for, their ages, where you pay, and monthly child support when you contact our office at (866) 901-3212.

Typically, child support cases involving the same child(ren) and the same court order number are now being handled by 1 California County.

If you find you are paying more than your court ordered child support obligation for the same children, please call us at (866) 901-3212 & we will review your cases(s) for any appropriate needed action. 

Please be advised that only the county who submitted you to Franchise Tax Board Collection is eligible to withdraw your case.

Franchise Tax Board locates wages, bank accounts and many other assets for seizure and payment of any court ordered child support obligations. 

Please contact the California Department of Child Support Services at 1-866-904-7674 to discuss your situation with the representative.

Franchise Tax Board locates wages, bank accounts and many other assets for seizure and payment of any court ordered child support obligations. 

Please contact the California Department of Child Support Services at 1-866-904-7674 to discuss your situation with the representative.

Driver’s licenses and occupational licenses are automatically subject to submission for suspension if a non-custodial parent’s payment does not fully meet the monthly obligation for child support and/or arrears payments . 

Please verify which county has the hold on your license. This information is noted on the letter from the licensing agency. Only the county placing the hold can release it. Once you’ve verified the correct county, please call 1-866-901-3212 to discuss your situation with the representative.

Contact our office at 1-866-901-3212 and we will change the child support account so that you receive the current support.

If you have not received the check 14 days after it was issued, contact our office and our financial staff will send you the appropriate forms to complete. When our financial staff receives the forms from you, a "stop payment" order will be placed on the check. A new check will then be issued. The entire process may take as long as 3 weeks. (To avoid delay in receiving your child support money, we highly recommend custodial parents sign up for the electronic payment card or direct deposit. 

Either of these payment options is available to custodial parents by calling the State Distribution Unit at: (866) 901-3212. 

Non-custodial parents also have the option of setting up automatic monthly child support payments from a bank account or using a credit card. To do so, non-custodial parents can call the State Distribution Unit at (866) 901-3212. 

Custodial parents and non-custodial parents will be required to provide their participant ID # and social security # when calling the State Distribution Unit – if you need your Participant ID # - please call our office at (866) 901-3212.

You can notify us in writing, or by calling or visiting our office. We will then close your portion of the case. 

If the child(ren) ever received CalWORKs benefits, we will continue to collect the child support owed only for that time period. 

If the child(ren) never received CalWORKs benefits, we will close the case per your request and send you and the non-custodial parent a closing letter.