Child Support

As the official child support enforcement agency for Warren County, the Warren County Attorney’s Office provides services for parents who wish to obtain or provide support for their children. The Child Support Division determines, on a case-by-case basis, which of the child support services listed below are appropriate:

• Locating a non-custodial parent.
• Enforcing child support orders.
• Enforcing medical support orders.
• Establishing child support and medical support.
• Establishing paternity for children born out of wedlock.
• Enforcing alimony payments.
• Collecting delinquent child support and medical bills.

(This project is funded, in part, under a contract with the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services).

Kentucky Child Support Enforcement has an interactive website where you can apply for child support services, estimate a child support obligation, make your child support payments, report address changes, upload court orders and other legal documents, verify payment history and past due child support amounts and request updates on ongoing child support actions.

Under Kentucky law, both parents have a duty to support their child or children, and both have a right to expect the other parent to assist with support. To begin the process of collecting support, the custodial parent (person having custody of the child) can come to the Child Support Division to fill out a request for assistance or complete an online application. Upon completing the required forms with our office, we will determine if paternity has been established.

If paternity has not been established, our office will first file a paternity petition because under Kentucky law, the parent, or parents, cannot be ordered to pay child support until their status has been legally established. There are a variety of ways to establish paternity and our caseworkers will work with you through this specific process. However, a paternity suit must be brought before the child’s 18th birthday. If it is brought before the child turns four years old, the child support order can be retroactive to (take effect on) the child’s date of birth.

Once paternity has been established, the Child Support Division will help you proceed with having the Court set a child support payment for the non-custodial parent. In Kentucky statutes KRS 403.211 and KRS 403.212, there is a statutorily created Child Support Guideline chart that sets out how much parents are expected to pay to support their children. The guidelines are primarily based on the number of children and the combined income of both parents. The Kentucky Child Support website can assist you in calculating how much monthly child support you may expect. However, these are guidelines, and the parties, by agreement, or the Court may deviate from them based on the facts of a particular case.

Once the child support amount is established by the Court’s Order, it can only be modified under certain circumstances. KRS 403.213 sets forth the criteria for modifying child support. KRS 403.213 states that the child support obligation can only be modified if there is a “material change in circumstances that is substantial and continuing.” The same statute goes on to state that a “material change in circumstances” is presumed to have occurred if the proposed modification would results in at least a 15% change in the amount of monthly support.

In the event that the non-custodial parent does not pay child support as ordered, the Child Support Division can assist you with collection through legal processes. In order for the Child Support Division to assist you, the non-custodial parent must be behind in an amount equal to one month’s obligation. Some of the remedies that the Child Support Division can use to enforce child support orders include:

• Court action resulting in jail time
• Interception of tax refund (state and federal)
• Passport denial
• Liens
• Driver’s, professional/occupational or wildlife (hunting/fishing) or CCDW license revocation/denial
• Levying financial institution (bank) accounts
• Withholding of unemployment benefits

To pay online, login to your child support account at http://csws.chfs.ky.gov/csws/. You may pay using a checking account, savings account, debit card or credit card (Visa or Mastercard only). There is a $2 fee for payments made by electronic check. There is a 3% fee for payments made by debit or credit card. If you do not have an online account, follow the instructions found in the handout titled “Kentucky Child Support Interactive, Taking Control of your Child Support Case.”

To pay by telephone, call your local child support office at 270-781-3654 or call the Child Support Hotline at 800-248-1163 during regular business hours. You may pay by phone using checking account, savings account, debit card or credit card (Visa or Mastercard only). There is a $2 fee for payments made by electronic check. There is a 3% fee for payments made by debit or credit card.

To pay in person, bring money order, cashier’s check, or personal check to the Warren County Attorneys’ Office, located at 1001 Center St, Suite 206, Bowling Green, KY 42101. Make sure to bring payment to this location by 3 PM. There is NO CASH ACCEPTED.

To pay by mail, send a personal check, money order, or cashier’s check to the address below. Make the payment payable to Child Support Enforcement and write your name and child support IV-D number on the payment.
Child Support Enforcement
PO Box 14059
Lexington, KY 40512