New York Child Support Hearings
New York parents who need child support or need to have a current child support order modified must petition the family court to do so. Knowing what to expect at a child support hearing can make the process less stressful and go more smoothly.

December 17, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- New York Child Support Hearings

Going to court can be intimidating. New York parents who need child support or need to have a current child support order modified must petition the family court to do so. Knowing what to expect at a child support hearing can make the process less stressful and go more smoothly.

Preparing for the Hearing

People need to bring a number of documents with them to the hearing so that the child support magistrate, who presides over the hearing and determines that amount of child support, has all of the information he or she needs to determine the proper amount of child support. A parent needs to have:
-Most recent pay stubs
-Most recent income tax returns
-A completed and notarized financial disclosure affidavit
-Any order for support for other children, if applicable
-Receipts for past child support payments

A custodial parent also needs to bring:
-A copy of the child's birth certificate
-A voluntary acknowledgement of paternity form, if applicable
-A marriage license and divorce decree, if applicable
-Proof of cost of rent, food, clothing, education for the child, child care and health insurance

At the Hearing

The court officer will begin by asking both the petitioner (the person who asked for the hearing) and the respondent, (the other parent), for their names, addresses and to swear to tell the truth. The child support magistrate will then ask the parties if they want to hire lawyers or if they wish to speak for themselves. If either party wants a lawyer, the magistrate will set the matter for a later date. If the parties wish to proceed, the hearing will go on.

Four Types of Child Support Petitions

What happens in a hearing depends on which of the four types of possible petitions the court is hearing:
-Paternity petition: if the parents were never married and one of the parents seeks to establish paternity of the child, the man may admit to fatherhood or the court may order a DNA test. If the court orders a test, the magistrate reschedules the hearing for after the test results are complete. If the results show the man is the father, the court will issue an order of filiation and determine child support.
-Support petition: if the parents have already established paternity of the child, the court hears a support petition, and after the hearing the court will decide how much money that the non-custodial parent must pay for support, child care costs and medical expenses based on state child support guidelines.
-Modification petition: if one of the parents has experienced a significant change in circumstances since the court issued the support order, he or she may ask the court to modify the existing order and will need to explain the reason for the desired change in the hearing.
-Violation petition: if a parent is not meeting the support obligations, the custodial parent or the Department of Social Services may petition the court to enforce the order and will need to show proof that the parent has failed to pay at the hearing.

Knowing what to expect from a child support hearing can help parents prepare for them better. Having the assistance of an experienced family law attorney may also help ease parents' minds.

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