I’m pregnant, and the whole situation is complicated. I’ve tried reaching out to the guy I believe is the father, but he won’t respond. I don’t have his address or any way to contact him.
How do courts in Pennsylvania track someone down in cases like this?
I went through this in 2023. The courts use their system to look up his Social Security number and check where he’s working. They can find a lot of info that way. That’s one of the reasons we have SSNs—it makes it easier to locate people.
@Dora
I don’t have his SSN. Can they still find him? And when you say ‘they,’ who exactly do you mean? lol
Isla said:
@Dora
I don’t have his SSN. Can they still find him? And when you say ‘they,’ who exactly do you mean? lol
Yeah, you don’t need to have his SSN. The court has access to databases that can pull up that kind of info.
If you know where he usually hangs out, you can hire a process server to track him down and serve him papers. That does cost money, but it’s usually effective. Some of them can even help locate him if you don’t know where he is.
If the sheriff’s department is handling it, you should try to give them any details you have, like where he works.
If he stays with his mom or another family member, that could be useful too.
Also, the child support office in your county has resources to help find him. They’ll ask for any info you have, but if you don’t know much, just tell them what you do know, and they’ll go from there.
@Zuri
What if he lives in another state?
That’s not a problem! The child support office can still track him down, even if he’s out of state.
Do you know where he works? I can look up Pennsylvania’s child support search process and let you know.
Update: Here’s what I found—if you don’t know where the other parent is, the Domestic Relations Section (DRS) can use the Parent Locator System. They check federal, state, and local records to find them. You just need to give as much info as possible—his full name, birthdate, phone number, employer, or anything else that might help.
Here’s another link from a different county in PA: Absent Parent Location | Westmoreland County, PA - Official Website 
Speaking from personal experience, when I needed to find my child’s dad, I gave them his name, birthday, and job info. They found him in about two weeks. He’s not a deadbeat, just couldn’t do 50/50 custody, so he had to start paying support. If that changes, I’ll adjust the payments or drop them if needed.
@Oakley
I can see his LinkedIn, and he has an employer listed there, but I’m not sure if it’s current.
Isla said:
@Oakley
I can see his LinkedIn, and he has an employer listed there, but I’m not sure if it’s current.
That’s a good place to start! Look up the company and find the office closest to where he lives. Even if he doesn’t work there anymore, someone might know where he transferred to.
Also, check social media—sometimes family members pop up in the ‘people you may know’ section if you’ve ever had his number saved.
Another option is using his phone number to search for an address on sites like truepeoplesearch.com. Public records might have an old address that’s still useful. Just double-check that it’s legal before you go down that route!
Oh, and someone mentioned IRS records—no idea how you’d access that, but maybe worth looking into.
If he’s working, IRS records might have something on him.