How do I get some of the money that my dad owes in child support? 12 Answers as of October 17, 2011

The money is owed to your mother, not to you. She paid for your support during your minority. Have your mother seek to collect the arrearages. She should consult and/or retain an experienced Family Law Attorney to do so. The arrearages are bearing 10% in interest per year.

If you are still a minor, you can't do anything - the person who was to receive child support (apparently your mother) has to seek enforcement. If you are an adult, it is still primarily your mother's responsibility to pursue enforcement because, presumably, if your father failed to pay support, she bore the full burden of financially supporting you. You probably should consult an attorney to discuss the exact details of your situation, but you need to recognize that the required child support was to provide for you while you were a child - not to provide you a nest egg when you are grown.

Unless your mother is dead, the support would need to go to the mother. Your mother would be the one who has to retain someone to enforce teh support order.

I am not aware that this was ever done in Nevada but I do know it was done in other states. (It may have been, I just don't know.) In other states, courts have permitted a lawsuit directly from the child against the father, especially where the father was ordered to pay child support and did not. In that case, the only question is how much he owes. I assume you are not a minor any more. You can try to bring an action directly against your father for the money owed.

It is up to your mother to get any child support arrears; she is the one with the standing to file a legal action.

You are not entitled to any past due child support. Only your mother is entitled to that money (or a government agency if she assigned her right to the money to that agency in exchange for financial assistance).

Have your mother contact your local Department of Child Support Services. They will collect on an existing child support order. There is no charge to use their services.

From your question, it sounds like you are the "child" for whom support was ordered. In that case, there is probably not much you can do to collect unpaid back support (except perhaps post-secondary support). When the father is ordered to pay child support, that support payment goes to the mother. The idea is that the support money is to reimburse the mother for the father's share of the cost of raising the child. If the father does not pay what he is supposed to pay, then, he owes a debt to the mother. Since the debt belongs to the mother, she is the person who is going to have to attempt to collect it. There are probably rare factual situations that would change this answer. However, in general, it is the mother who has the right to collect unpaid back support, not the child.

If there is a child support order in place, and your father is not current on his payment, you simply need to petition the court on an enforcement of the present child support order.

The Money in child support is owed to your mother. So, she is the one that would have to pursue this matter. She can take him back to court for a determination of how much money is owed and for a judgment on it. But she has to do it since the money was payable to her. You would not be able to pursue this. You could help your mother but she would have to be the asking party.