Rights and Responsibilities

Any parent or caregiver of a child who needs child support services can apply, free of charge, at a local child support office. Child support services are available to both custodial and non-custodial parents. These services come with certain rights as well as certain responsibilities. (Click here for more information on Employer Rights and Responsibilities).

Your Rights

We can help you:

• Establish paternity if fatherhood is not legally established.
• Establish child support orders if no order for support exists.
• Establish medical support if no order for medical support exists.
• Enforce child support and medical support orders if the terms of the order are not met.
• Review and adjust support/medical orders if the circumstances of the parties involved changes.

We cannot provide you the following:

• Guarantee success on any actions taken by the office.
• Guarantee results within any specific timeframe.
• Determine or enforce orders for custody or visitation.
• Harass either party to a child support case.
• Provide legal representation.

How our office will behave:

• We will treat all parties to a child support matter with respect. We will treat all customers equally.
• We will maintain the confidentiality of the participants in a child support case.
• We (including our attorneys) will represent the State's interest in your child support matters, not you individually.
• We will follow all Federal and State regulations with respect to the child support enforcement program.
• We will take actions as defined by Federal and State laws around child support and local judicial practice.
• We will provide services to all those who apply. This may mean that we will be serving someone whose interests are different from yours.

Your Responsibilities

Obtaining and providing support for your child can be a very difficult and emotional process. Our experience shows that child support enforcement services are most effective when everyone involved works together for the benefit of the child. This includes the custodial and non-custodial parents as well as the child support office. Our efforts on your behalf will be most effective if you help us help you.

To provide you with effective child support services, we need you to:

• Inform your caseworker of any changes in your:
  • Residence
  • Mailing address
  • Employment
  • Income
  • Other things that might affect your child support case
• Inform your caseworker of any changes in the other party's:
  • Residence
  • Mailing address
  • Employment
  • Income
• Keep your appointments with your local child support office. If you are not able to keep your appointment, notify the office at least one day in advance.
• Return all phone calls and letters quickly.
• Provide us with information needed to establish paternity and locate non-custodial parents.
• If you are a recipient of Families First (formerly AFDC) and TennCare/Medicaid and Foster Care, you have certain obligations to work with our office. See below for more detail.

Families First and TennCare/Medicaid Recipients' Responsibilities

Recipients of Families First (formerly AFDC) and TennCare/Medicaid and Foster Care cases are automatically referred to the child support program if a parent is absent from a child's home. Recipients of public assistance benefits must work with the child support office to:

• Locate the non-custodial parent
• Establish paternity
• Establish a child support order
• Enforce a child support order

As a Families First or TennCare recipient, you may claim a "good cause" exception if cooperating with the child support office might be harmful to yourself or your child. For example, if you might be physically harmed for revealing the identity of your child's father, discuss this with your Families First case manager. Your case manager can tell you more about reasons for claiming good cause and the kinds of proof you will need to provide. If you do not cooperate with the child support program and have not established "good cause," you could lose eligibility for Families First benefits.

As a recipient of public assistance benefits, you assign your rights to collect child support to the state. Any child support payments received directly from the other parent must be sent to the state. 

Send all child support payments or payments received directly from the non-custodial parent to:

Child Support Receipting Unit
P.O. Box 305200
Nashville, TN 37229

Be sure to write your name, the child support case number, the name of the parent who paid the support, and the date the payment was received on all support money. Cashier's checks, certified checks, or money orders should be made out to the Department of Human Services.

Families Not Receiving Families First Benefits

Customers who do not receive Families First benefits are provided the same child support services and are treated equally with customers who do receive these benefits.

Employer Responsibilities

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