Legal Question in Family Law in District of Columbia

Re: Child Support Information

You can go to the Paternity and Support Branch of the Family Court on the 4th floor of the D.C. Superior Court and request to have yourself named as the payee rather than your mother for the support to which you are entitled.

If a motion is required to change the name of the payee, a clerk may be able to provide you with a court form which may be utilized in filing this motion.

Re: Child Support Information

Well... difficult to say without looking at your support documents which probably your mother has in her records. To start, child support is an entitlement of the child not of the parent and the fact that parents normally receive the check is because children are too young to receive funds directly. After one becomes of age you can have monies sent to you directly: you need to go back to the source and have that changed. The child support office is on the fourth floor at the Superior Court on Indiana Avenue. However, the funds that your mother receive may include other things and not just your support... again, I would have to see the order from the Judge. Things may also be more difficult if your father is paying for other children in the same check!! Also... if your father only started paying a couple of years ago... several more questions need to be asked: is it because his obligation only started a couple of years ago? is he paying for back child support? has your mother claimed a portion of those funds as a reimbursement to her? when is the child support intended to end? through college? You need to look very carefully at your support papers to establish what the child support was intended to cover etc.

I hope this helps.

Tiziana Ventimiglia

202/271-5983.