Oregon Child Support Program

This process generally takes 30 - 120 days.

1. A parent applies for child support or paternity establishment-only services.

2. The Oregon Child Support Program will contact parents to sign appropriate paperwork.

This process generally takes 30 - 45 days, but can take longer if a parent must be located. Please see Locating the Other Parent for more information.

• If the alleged father agrees that he is the biological father, parents may sign a Voluntary Acknowledgement form. Once this form is signed by both parents, notarized and filed with Oregon Vital Records, paternity is legally established.

• If the parents are not in agreement that the alleged father is the biological father, the mother must complete and sub­mit a Paternity Affidavit to begin a legal process that will usually include genetic testing.

3. Once a Paternity Affidavit is received, the Oregon Child Support Program will attempt to establish paternity and/or a child support order.

If the child is not receiving public assistance from the State of Oregon the custodial parent may choose paternity-only services. The time for this step can vary because it may take repeated attempts to obtain the affidavit and serve the proposed order.

4. Once served, the alleged father may deny that he is the biological father and request genetic testing.

• If no action is taken within 30 days, the order will be finalized 34 days after it was served. This means paternity is legally established for the child and the father is provided with the same rights and responsibilities as if the child was born in a marriage.

• If genetic tests are requested they will be scheduled for the next available dates, generally 15 - 45 days follow­ing the request.

5. Genetic tests are performed on alleged father and child.

These tests are more than 99% accurate and the results are usually available within 15 - 30 days.

• If the test indicates that the alleged father has the genetic markers required to be the biological parent, paternity will be legally established.
• If the test indicates that the alleged father is not the biological parent, then an order of non-paternity will be filed to court and the alleged father is no longer involved. At this point the mother will need to provide the name of another alleged father to continue.

This process generally takes about 30 - 120 days. However it may take longer or be resolved sooner depending on your family’s needs.

1. The Oregon Child Support Program receives either: a referral because a child is receiving assistance from the State of Oregon, or an application for services from a parent.

2. The Oregon Child Support Program determines if the case needs an order.

If so, the Oregon Child Support Program will confirm parent’s contact and financial information. This information is used to generate a proposed order for child support using the Oregon Child Support Guidelines. This process generally takes 30 - 45 days, but can take longer if a parent must be located or if the child’s paternity need to be legally established. Please see Locating the Other Parent or Establishing Paternity for more information.

3. The Oregon Child Support Program will serve the proposed order.

Once a proposed order is created, the parents and any other parties receive copies. The time for this step can vary because it may take repeated attempts to serve the proposed order. The average time is 30-90 days.

4. Parents may correct information, request a hearing or consent to the terms.

• If no one contacts the Oregon Child Support Programs within 20 days, the proposed order will be finalized 24 days after it was served.

• If the Oregon Child Support Program receives information about corrections that are needed, then there may be an additional 20 days for either parent to take action after the proposed order is amended.

• If a hearing is requested additional steps will be taken. Please see Administrative Hearings Process for information.

Note: The effective date of a child support order is the date the order is final. By law, past support may be included from the date the child or children began receiving public assistance from the State of Oregon.

This timeline illlustrates the length of time a typical administrative modification process may take to complete. It generally takes between 30 - 120 days but may take longer or be resolved sooner depending on your family's needs. There is another type of modification called a "judicial modificiation." A judicial modification requires additional steps and may take at least 30 days longer to complete. If you have questions about the modification process please contact your case manager.

1. A parent submits a written request to modify a child support order.

2. The Oregon Child Support Program reviews the request and sends notice to other parent.

The Oregon Child Support Program will confirm parents’ contact and financial information and use it to generate a proposed modification to the child support order. This process generally takes about 30 days.

3. The Oregon Child Support Program will serve the proposed modification.

Once a proposed order is created, the parents and any other parties will receive copies. The time for this step can vary because it may take repeated attempts to serve the proposed modification. The average time is 30-90 days.

4. Parents may correct information, request a hearing or consent to the terms.

• If no one contacts the Oregon Child Support Program within 30 days, the proposed order will be finalized 34 days after it was served.

• If the Oregon Child Support Program receives information about corrections that are needed, then there may be an additional 30 days for either parent to take action after the proposed order is amended.

• If a hearing is requested additional steps will be taken. Please see Administrative Hearings Process for information.

Note: The effective date of a modified child support order is the date the proposed order was served on the non-requesting party

This process generally takes about 90 - 180 days. However it may take longer or be resolved sooner depending on your family's needs.

1. During the process to establish or enforce an order, the Oregon Child Support Program determines that they do not have jurisdiction to proceed with actions on a case.

This is usually because the parent who is to pay support lives outside of Oregon.

2. The Oregon Child Support Program collects information for an interstate petition.

If an interstate petition is needed, the Oregon Child Support Program will request information from the parents and the other state’s agency. Determining what needs to be requested and making the request is generally completed within 20 days. Receiving the requested information may take an additional 30 days.

3. The Oregon Child Support Program sends the Interstate Petition to the agency in another state.

4. The other state acknowledges that they have received the interstate petition.

Responding states are required by law to confirm that they have received the petition within 10 days. The other state has 75 days to notify the Oregon Child Support Program if additional information is needed in order to take action based on the petition.

5. Establishment or enforcement of the order proceeds according to the other state’s legal timeframes.

If the other state requests further information from the Oregon Child Support Program, establishment or enforcement may be delayed until the other state receives a response—generally within 30 days.

6. The Oregon Child Support Program and the other state will continue to work together.

General status updates between child support agencies will occur every 90 days or as appropriate based on the other state’s actions.

This process generally takes about 90 - 180 days. However it may take longer or be resolved sooner depending on your family’s needs.

1. A parent talks to their case manager about requesting a hearing.

If the proposed order cannot be amended, the parent may submit the hearing request form included in their proposed order packet. This form must be received by the Oregon Child Support Program within 30 days of the date they were served.

2. The child support case manager sends the parent’s hearing request to Office of Administrative Hearings.

3. The Office of Administrative Hearings will contact the parents to schedule a hearing.

Parents should receive a hearing date within 30 - 60 days.

4. A hearing will occur with an Administrative Law Judge.

• If the parent who requested the hearing fails to appear, their request for a hearing will be dismissed and the proposed order will be made final. See Pay Support for more information.

• If the non-requesting parent fails to participate, the hearing will still happen but the Administrative Law Judge will reach a decision with only parent’s testimony.

5. A final decision is made.

It will be mailed to the parents and their case manager in 30 - 45 days.

6. The Oregon Child Support Program will begin to enforce the order.

Unless the decision calls for a re-hearing, the Oregon Child Support Program will file the order to court and begin enforcing it as appropriate. See Enforcement for more information.

7. A parent may file an appeal in Oregon Circuit Court.

If a parent disagrees with the final decision they may appeal the order by filing a petition for review within 60 days after the Oregon Child Support Program files the order to court. Parents may want to contact the court or consult with an attorney. See Get Legal Help for more information.