I have not received child support payments from my child’s other parent, but I have never officially applied for child support with the court. Is there any way I can still try to receive back payments if I did not file for them originally? I am struggling to make ends meet and really need financial help. What are my choices at this stage, or am I out of luck because I did not formally file?
Technically, no, because you would need to file for retroactive child support if you’ve never filed. Back child support refers to court-ordered child support that hasn’t been paid, which a parent can ask the court to enforce.
Consider talking to a lawyer or your local child support services, they can guide you on whether you can seek back payments and how to proceed.
In my state, the retroactive coverage only applies to the date of filing. If there was no order for support in place, I didn’t owe anything. When I began paying child support, I found myself in a situation where I was over $3k “behind” on it. This was due to a delay of four months between the date of filing and the date when the support order was finally implemented.