Legal Question in Family Law in New York

Re: Child support arrears

Arrears in child support are determined in several ways.

If you are paying support throught one of the governmental agencies that collect child support like the Support Collections Unit or the Child Support Enforcement Bureau then that agency is empowered to calculate arrears and will collect the arrears and interest/penalties. If you were paying directly to the custodial parent then it is the custodial parent who would bring a petition in Family Court or a motion for enforcement in Supreme Court and that magistrate or justice would determine the amount of arrears owed.

As for your questions pertaining to what can be taken into consideration, once the arrears have been accumulated, the court can not take anything into consideration. If you wish to make an application for modification before you accrue arrears, you must bring the action before and demonstrate to the court that a significant change of circumstances, not of your creation has taken place and that a modification is warranted. After the arrears have been accrued, the court does not have any ability except on consent of the opposing party to modify the arrears, only to calculate them.

Joel R. Salinger, Esq.

Law Office of Joel R. Salinger

114 Old Country Road

Suite 440

Mineola, New York 11501

516.746.4747

[email protected]