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Services of the Bureau
The BCSE services are available to everyone in West Virginia
who receives support for a child or who pays support for a
child. At this time, there is no charge for BCSE services.
However, this may change in the near future. Contact your
local county BCSE staff to learn if there are any fees for
the BCSE services.
The BCSE offers many different services:
- Establishing Paternity
- Establishing Support
- Locating Parents
- Securing Support from Parents who live in another State
- Enforcing the Payment of Support (collection methods)
- Income Withholding
- Income Tax Refund Intercepts
- Civil and Criminal Contempt of Court
- Other Enforcement Measures
- Reviewing and Modifying Support Orders
To learn more, call or visit your local BCSE
office.
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Who the Bureau Helps
The BCSE helps obligees locate obligors, establish paternity, establish and
enforce child support and medical support orders. For more
information about BCSE's services, call or visit your local BCSE office. The BCSE will collect and record
support payments from obligors who are court ordered to pay support. The BCSE will then send the payment to
the obligee.
The BCSE is required, by law, to
help you get your child support if you receive a public assistance check (TANF,
Food Stamps, Medicaid) to care for a child under the age of
18, or your child has been placed in Foster Care, or you have a medical card
for the Medicaid Program.
If you receive public assistance, you will be required to cooperate with the
BCSE to establish or enforce a support order. However, one exception does
exist. If the obligor has harmed you or your child in the past and if you
believe that the possibility exists that the obligor will hurt you again if
the BCSE attempts to secure support, then you may claim "good
cause". When applying for public assistance, the WVDHHR worker will
explain "good cause" to you. If the DHHR worker determines that
"good cause" exists, you will receive your public assistance
benefits without having to cooperate with the BCSE.
All new or modified support orders provide for immediate income
withholding. All cases are forwarded by the court to the BCSE. The obligee may
choose, at this time, to either apply for all BCSE services or apply for
income withholding only services. If income withholding only is chosen, the BCSE
will only withhold support from an employer. If the obligee chooses to receive
all of the BCSE's services, the BCSE will collect
& distribute all support paid through the income withholding &
other collection methods. The tax intercept process is only available to
full-service obligee's.
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Establishing Support
Orders
The BCSE assists individuals to collect support payments - both what is due to you now
(current support) and what
has been due to you (arrearages). The BCSE will ask the court to establish a child support order if
none exists. An order sets a monthly amount of money owed by a parent (obligor) for the
support of a child. The amount of support is determined by a formula called the child
support guidelines. The BCSE will also try to establish medical support, such as health
insurance.
The BCSE can request the court-ordered child support be paid
past the age of 18 (but not past the end of the child's 19th
year) if the child stays in high school or attends vocational
school (not college).
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Establishing
the Legal Father of the Child
If a child is born to parents who are not married, the father must be legally
identified before child support can be obtained. This process is call establishing
paternity. The BCSE will assist the mother and/or child in establishing paternity and
child support. The BCSE will also help a man who believes he may be the father establish paternity if a child has no
legal father.
Both parents may sign a document stating they are the child's mother and father
to legally establish paternity. This legal document, called
a Declaration of Paternity Affidavit, may be picked up at your local county DHHR office, BCSE office
or the Office of Vital Statistics. These Affidavits may also be obtained and
completed at any of the
birthing hospitals or birthing centers in West Virginia at the time of the child's birth.
However, court action will still be necessary to establish an order for child support.
Paternity may also be established by a court order. In a paternity action, a man
alleged to be the father of a child may request that the court order blood testing. The mother,
child and alleged father will all need to take this test. Even if the man lives in another
state, a paternity action may be started in West Virginia. If a man is determined to be
the legal father of a child, then he may have to:
- pay child support
- help pay any medical and hospital expenses related to the birth of the child.
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Locating Parents
that Owe Support
When a parent who should be paying child support cannot be found, the BCSE
will try to find that person. The BCSE has the right to search for obligors by using records such as:
- driver's licenses,
- vehicle registrations,
- tax records,
- employment security records (which show whether a person is on any employer's payroll in
WV), and
- records that show if a person is receiving any public benefits, such as an unemployment
check or Worker's Compensation.
If the obligor cannot be located in WV, the BCSE will search all other
appropriate states.
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Federal Parent
Locate Services
If a parent owing support cannot be found, the BCSE will work with the
Federal government to find the obligor through the Internal Revenue Services
(IRS), the Veteran's Administration (VA), the Social Security Administration, New Hire
Registry, Federal Case Registry, and the Department of Defense.
This service is also used when there is a dispute regarding the child's custody or to
locate a parent suspected of parental kidnapping. This service must be requested by the
court or authorized, by a United States or a West Virginia attorney licensed to investigate,
enforce, or prosecute the wrongful taking of a child.
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Securing
Support From Parents Living in Another State
If a parent who owes child support lives in another state, the BCSE will work with the other state
to establish and enforce a support order. Once an out-of-state employer is located, the BCSE will contact the employer to have the support payments automatically
withheld from the employee's pay. The employer will then send the support
payment to the BCSE.
Once received, the BCSE will forward the support payments to the obligee in West
Virginia.
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