Get help with the forms
Find out more about child support and parentage
- Learn the basics about child support and parentage (laws about who a child's legal parents are)
- Talk to a Family Law Facilitator at your court. A Family Law Facilitator offers information about child support and parentage and helps with forms. Their services are free.
How to respond to government child support request
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Fill out two forms
- Response to Governmental Notice of Motion or Order to Show Cause (form FL-685)
- Income and Expense Declaration (form FL-150)
You only need to fill out an Income and Expense Declaration if the LCSA asked for child support.
If the forms you received from the LCSA ask the court to establish parentage, make sure you check the box in item 1 on your Response that says whether you do or do not admit (agree) you are the parent of th echild or children listed.
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Make copies of the Response and any other form
Make 3 copies of the Response and any other forms you filled out, along with any attachments.
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File your Response with the court
To file your forms with the court:
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Give the original and the 3 copies to the court clerk
There is no fee to file a Response in an LCSA case.
The clerk will:
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Stamp the forms
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Keep the original form and return the copies to you
Yes, you can file by mail. Mail your original and 3 copies to the clerk. You need to include a self-addressed stamped envelope so the clerk can mail your copies back to you. If you do not include a self-addressed, stamped envelope you will have to go to the courthouse to pick up your copies.
Some courts allow online filing (called e-file). You can find out if your court has online filing by visiting your court’s website.
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Serve the LCSA and other parent
After you file your papers, you must have a copy delivered to the Local Child Support Agency and the child's other parent. You do this by having someone, 18 or over, deliver a copy of the court papers to both of them. The person who delivers the papers is your server. You can't be the server.
Your server delivers papers by a deadline
Your server must deliver the papers at least 9 court days before your hearing.
A court day is a day the court is open (Monday through Friday, except court holidays).
Take out a calendar and find your court date.
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Count backwards on the calendar 9 court days (Monday to Friday, not including any court holidays). Your court date is not counted (so it’s day “0”).
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Stop when you get to the 9th court day. That’s your deadline.
Your server needs to hand-deliver the papers on or before this date.
If your server mails your papers, your server should mail your papers at least 5 days before the service deadline. If they live far away, your server should mail it even sooner.
The server fills out a Proof of Service
After the server hand delivers or mails the papers, they need to fill out and sign a Proof of Service form.
- If your server mailed the papers, you can use Proof of Service by Mail (form FL-335)
- If your server hand-delivered, you can use Proof of Personal Service (form FL-330)
It helps if you fill in the top part of the form with the case and court information.
Your server can then fill in the information about how, when, and where they mailed or delivered the papers. Your server must sign and date the form.
Make a copy of the signed form and file the original with the court before your hearing.
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Prepare for and go to your court date
Before your court date
If this is the first time you've been in a courtroom, review some basic tips about how to plan for your day in court or how to plan for a remote (by phone or computer) appearance.
If you don't speak or understand English very well, you can ask for a court interpreter for your court date. Ask as soon as your get the court date.
On your court date
Go to your hearing at the date and time on your Notice. Child support hearings with the Local Child Support Agency (LCSA) are different than other types of family law hearings. For example
- A lawyer from the Local Child Support Agency will be there
- A Child Support Commissioner will decide your case not a judge
A Child Support Commissioner is a lawyer with experience in child support laws. They are trained to make decisions in child support cases. If you do not want the Commissioner to decide your case, you or the other parent can object before the hearing.
At the end of the hearing, the Commissioner will make a decision. You must follow the court's order.