Child Support Services

When a customer applies for enforcement services, Child Support Services can help establish an order or modify an existing order to address financial and medical support.

Court orders

Get an order

Idaho Child Support Services can help establish an order that:

  • Establishes legal fatherhood (including providing genetic testing)
  • Establishes child support
  • Establishes medical support
Things to know about getting a child support order:
  • Child Support Services calculates a proposed support amount that is filed as a petition with the courts. Either party may file a response with the court and present information, and the final support amount is set by the courts.
  • A relative or third-party caretaker with legal or physical custody may also apply for child support services
  • Child support amounts are set using income and expenses of both parents, according to the Idaho Child Support Guidelines set by the Idaho Supreme Court
  • Legal and service fees may apply for obtaining an order and are generally set in the child support order. These fees and are not due at the time of service and can be deducted from future support collections.
Enforce an order

Idaho Child Support Services enforces court-ordered medical support by enrolling a child in a parent’s employer-provided medical insurance (when available), and enforces child support through a variety of enforcement methods. 

Income withholding is ordered in most Idaho child support orders and is put in place immediately when an employer is known to Child Support Services. Most other enforcement methods occur automatically when the case meets certain legal criteria.

  • Income withholding
  • Garnishing accounts
  • Credit reporting
  • Intercepting lottery winnings
  • Intercepting federal tax refunds
  • Intercepting state tax refunds
  • Withholding federal benefits and retirement accounts
  • Suspending licenses
  • Filing liens
  • Intercepting PERSI retirement benefits
  • Passport denials
  • Establishing judgments
  • Contempt action
Change an order

Each child support order is carefully determined with a child's best interest in mind and is generally not eligible to be reviewed for a change for at least three years. A child support order can be reviewed for a change in support:

  • After three years at the request of either parent
  • Or if there has been a substantial change in circumstance that has been maintained for at least six months

If the order is at least three years old or a significant and sustained change has occurred, you can request a review by calling 800-356-9868. An order can only be changed by the court and fees may be charged. 

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