• Can I  collect child support  if my former spouse lives in a different state?

• Can my former spouse file for bankruptcy to avoid paying child support?

No. The federal bankruptcy code exempts child support and alimony. Even if a former spouse files for, and receives, relief from all debts, the child support obligation will not be relieved.

• How is child support calculated?

The federal Family Support Act of 1988 requires every state to establish numerical child support guidelines. Every state has "child support guidelines" that applies a percentage to the non-custodial parent's income. It is from this percentage that the child support is calculated.

• How long does it take to get a divorce?

The time required to obtain a divorce varies. Generally, a divorce takes anywhere from ten weeks to a couple of years. The divorce is final as soon as the judge signs the divorce decree. Parties to a divorce may not remarry anyone except each other for 30 days after the decree is granted.

• Must I get divorced in court?

Yes, it is necessary for a person who wants a divorce to issue a summons against the other person and to appear in court to give evidence. If the case is not defended, the process is usually fairly quick and uncomplicated, particularly if there are no children and simple proprietary issues.

• These options sound difficult.  If I can't afford an attorney; can I get help?

Yes, ask the court to put you in touch with the state agency responsible for enforcement. For most custodial parents, if there is any difficulty in collecting support, it is worthwhile applying for support enforcement services at the local child support enforcement agency. It is usually recommended that the custodial parent have the support paid through the support enforcement agency even if no problems are anticipated as most support enforcement services take care of the necessary record -keeping, provide a neutral third party to report to the court concerning any collection problems, send reminders to the payor parent, send out income executions and automatically undertake many of the enforcement methods without cost to the custodial parent in the event the payor parent does not pay support.

• What about the $75 "do it yourself" divorce kits?

Most lawyers really like these kits because they can charge you a lot of money to fix the messes that they have created. Be wary before attempting to utilize such a kit. If you really want to "do it yourself," call your local bar association and ask for a referral to a legal clinic or look in the yellow pages for a "legal support clinic."

• What can I do to enforce payment of child support?

There are many enforcement devices available in most states. These include wage garnishments, making a negative report to credit reporting agencies, collecting past-due child support from lottery prizes won by the payor parent, intercepting tax refunds due the payor parent from state and federal income tax authorities, seizure of the non-paying parents property, obtaining a court order directing that the payor parent post cash deposit to secure payment of support, obtaining a court order placing the defaulting parent on probation, and lastly, usually where other methods have all failed, obtaining a court order sentencing the defaulting parent to serve jail time.

• What if my former spouse is missing?

Many states have a parent locator service. Call your state's support enforcement agency and ask about the parent locator service. If they are not able to help you, you can often locate a missing parent if you know what state he or she resides in simply by asking for a search of the motor vehicle records for that state.

• What income is included in the calculation?

In the vast majority of cases, child support is awarded based on reported wages of the payor, as demonstrated by income tax returns and pay stubs.

• What is a common-law marriage?

A small minority of states, including Texas, allow the creation of marriage by common law. A common-law marriage is one in which there is no ceremony or marriage license. As in the above definition, parties must be capable of contracting and generally be of opposite gender. A common law marriage requires an actual agreement by the two people to act as husband and wife. The agreement may be by words or conduct. In addition, there must also be a "holding out" of the marital status and cohabitation. This means that the parties must represent themselves as married to others, such as using the same name, calling each other "husband" or "wife", opening joint accounts or contracting joint debt, filing a joint tax return, etc. If there is a disagreement as to whether or not the parties are married, the person alleging that a marriage exists must prove the marriage by clear and convincing evidence. If the relationship is not initially a common law marriage, because of a lack of contract capacity, the common law marriage may still be created if the couple continues the "marital" relationship after the contract defect is removed.

• What is a divorce?

A divorce is the legal termination of marriage. All states require a spouse to identify a legal reason for requesting a divorce when filing the divorce papers with the court. These reasons given are referred to as the grounds for divorce.

• What is a legal separation?

Legal separation is a legal status conferred by a court, where the parties remain married, but the court sets the rights and liabilities of the parties with respect to child custody, support, visitation, alimony, property and debts. The process of legal separation is sometimes called "separate maintenance." A decree of separate maintenance cannot later be converted to a divorce decree. If parties in a legal separation later desire a divorce, they must file a new divorce action.

• What is a marriage?

Marriage is defined as a civil contract between two people of the opposite sex, capable of contracting. Generally, to be married, two people must be of opposite gender. However, some states are in the process of changing the different sex requirement. To be "capable of contracting" means that both persons must be of age, or have the consent of a parent, and must be unmarried and not divorced within the six months prior to entering the current marriage contract.

• What is an annulment?

An annulment is a method of voiding the contract of marriage. If an annulment is granted, the result is that the parties are treated as if the marriage never occurred. An annulment can only be granted if the initial marriage contract suffers from a defect in the contract formation. Such defects include an underage party without parental consent, a party lacking the mental capacity to understand the marriage contract or fraud in the inducement of the marriage contract. An annulment can only be granted to the innocent party, or the party that suffers from the defect.

• Who has to pay child support?

Liability is imposed upon both parents. Substantially all states have adopted the Uniform Support of Dependents Law. Under that law, "if possessed of sufficient means or able to earn such means, either or both parents shall be required to pay for child support a fair and reasonable sum as the court may determine."