Child Support

Establishing parentage is a process to create a legal relationship between a child and the child's parent when no legal relationship previously existed.

Establishment is a process to obtain a court order that sets the amount of support the obligor must pay.

Enforcement is the application of remedies to obtain payment of a support obligation contained in a support order.

Review and adjustment is the process in which information is obtained from both parties in a child support case and evaluated to determine if the support order needs to be adjusted for changes in the child support obligation.

To establish, modify or enforce a support order, the child support agency must have a current address or employment information for both parents. If the child support agency does not know where a parent lives or works, the child support agency can gather information from many sources.

The Child Support Payment Center (CSPC) processes support payments in Minnesota. Payments can be sent to: Minnesota Child Support Payment Center, PO Box 64326, St. Paul, MN 55164-0326. The obligor's participant number should be included with every payment. Sending payments to a county child support office will delay the payment. Sending a payment directly to an obligee when the child support agency is handling the case may result in the obligor not getting credit for the payment.