You can cancel a child support application in Texas by asking the Office of the Attorney General’s Child Support Division to close your case, but only if no court order has been entered yet. Once a court order exists, closing the AG’s case does not end the order. The obligation continues until a court modifies or terminates it, and any arrears remain collectible regardless of whether the AG is still involved. That single distinction, before an order versus after, decides almost everything about your options.
Withdrawing Your Application Before an Order Is Entered
If you filed an application for services with the AG’s Child Support Division and the case has not yet produced a court order, you have the cleanest path out. Contact the division in writing and ask that the case be closed. The AG operates as a “Title IV-D” agency under federal law, and federal regulations set the rules for when these agencies can close cases.
There is no dedicated cancellation form. The AG’s forms page lists documents for warrant cancellation, modification reviews, and nondisclosure requests, but nothing for withdrawing an application.1Office of the Attorney General. Child Support Forms Send a letter to your assigned caseworker or the division directly. Include your case number, the names of both parents, and a clear statement that you want the case closed.
Federal regulations at 45 CFR 303.11 list the grounds a IV-D agency may use to close a case. These include situations where no current support order exists and arrearages are under $500, where the noncustodial parent is deceased, where paternity cannot be established, or where the noncustodial parent’s location is unknown despite diligent search.2eCFR. 45 CFR 303.11 – Case Closure Criteria A person who applied for services and now wants out, before any order is entered, generally has a strong basis for closure, but the agency will still review the request before acting.
Follow up. Check your case status through the Texas Child Support Portal or contact your caseworker. Do not assume a mailed letter closed anything on its own.
Why Closing the Case Does Not Cancel a Court Order
If the AG has already secured a support order through the courts, asking the AG to close your case does not touch that order. The order stays in force whether the AG actively manages it or not. The AG’s own guidance says informal agreements between parents do not change a court-ordered amount, and only a court hearing or the AG’s Child Support Review Process can alter it.3Office of the Attorney General of Texas. Support Modification Process
Even parents who fully agree that support should end cannot end it by handshake. The paying parent remains obligated to pay the ordered amount, and the receiving parent could enforce that order later. To actually stop the obligation, a court has to say so.
Modifying or Terminating an Existing Order
Texas gives you two ways to change an existing order: file a motion in court, or request a review through the AG.
Filing a Motion to Modify
Under Texas Family Code Section 156.401, a court can modify a child support order if either of two conditions is met:
- The circumstances of the child or a person affected by the order have materially and substantially changed since the order was entered or since a mediated settlement agreement was signed.
- At least three years have passed since the order was last set, and the current monthly amount differs from what the guidelines would produce today by at least 20 percent or $100.
The statute also treats certain events as automatic material changes. Incarceration exceeding 180 days qualifies, and so does an obligor’s release from incarceration if support was reduced or suspended during confinement.4State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 156.401 – Modification of Order or Enforcement of Order for Child Support or for Health Care Coverage or Dental Coverage
File the motion in the court that issued the original order. The base filing fee for a modification motion within an existing suit affecting the parent-child relationship is $15, and some counties with a Domestic Relations Office add an operations fee of up to $15.5Texas Judicial Branch. District Court Civil Filing Fees If you cannot afford court costs, an affidavit of indigency lets you ask for a waiver.
At the hearing, both parents can present evidence. The judge decides whether the facts justify a change and whether the change serves the child’s best interest. Asking a court to eliminate support entirely is a heavy lift.
Asking the AG to Review the Order
If the AG manages your case, either parent can ask the division to review the current amount by completing the Child Support Review Questionnaire. Return it with copies of your tax returns from the past two years and your two most recent pay stubs.6Office of the Attorney General of Texas. Request for Review and Child Support Review Questionnaire The AG decides whether the order meets the threshold for modification and then proceeds administratively or files a motion in court.
Sending the New Order to the AG
If you get a change through the court on your own, tell the Child Support Division. Send a copy of the new order so the agency’s records match your current legal status. Otherwise, enforcement can continue at the old amount, including wage withholding. Submit by mail or through the Texas Child Support Portal, then confirm with your caseworker or the portal that the update posted. Delays here cause overpayments and enforcement actions that are painful to unwind.
Arrears Do Not Disappear When the Case Closes
Closing an AG case does not erase back payments. If the paying parent owes arrears when the case closes, that debt stays fully enforceable. The court keeps jurisdiction to confirm arrearages and enter a cumulative money judgment, and a motion for that judgment can be filed up to 10 years after the child reaches adulthood or the support obligation ends.7State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 157.005 – Jurisdiction for Suit to Enforce
Case closure does not forgive arrears, does not pause interest, and does not stop the other parent from reopening the case or hiring a private attorney to enforce the order. If back support is owed, deal with the arrears directly.
If You Receive TANF, You Cannot Cancel
Recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families do not have the option to withdraw. Federal law conditions TANF cash benefits on cooperation with child support enforcement, including helping establish paternity and pursuing the noncustodial parent. Recipients also assign their support rights to the state, so the state collects to offset the cost of benefits.
Refusal to cooperate cuts TANF benefits by at least 25 percent, and some states end them entirely. While you receive TANF, the case stays open. You cannot withdraw until you are no longer receiving cash assistance and no support rights remain assigned to the state.
Interstate Orders Follow You
If the parents live in different states, jurisdictional rules limit what closing a Texas case can do. Texas has adopted the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act in Chapter 159 of the Family Code. Only one state at a time has authority over a support order.
If a Texas court entered the order, Texas keeps exclusive jurisdiction to modify it as long as the obligor, obligee, or child still lives in Texas. If no one does, the parties can consent in writing or in open court to keep the case in Texas.8State of Texas. Texas Family Code 159.205 – Continuing, Exclusive Jurisdiction to Modify Child Support Order Once everyone has left, Texas loses modification authority, and you file in the state where the obligor, obligee, or child now lives. Closing the Texas AG case does not make the order go away; another state’s IV-D agency can enforce it.
Steps in Order for Your Situation
- No court order yet: write to the AG’s Child Support Division asking that the case be closed. Include your case number and both parents’ names, then follow up to confirm closure.
- Court order exists, no arrears: file a motion to modify or terminate in the issuing court, or request a review through the AG. After a new order issues, send a copy to the AG to update the file.
- Court order exists with arrears: address the arrears first. A court will not terminate an order while significant back payments sit unresolved. Negotiate a payment plan or seek a reduction through proper channels before asking to terminate.
- Receiving TANF: you cannot cancel until the cash assistance ends and the assignment of support rights ends with it.
The Family Code does not lay out a specific cancellation procedure for child support applications, so the process runs on the AG’s internal policies and the federal IV-D closure rules. When a court order is already in play and Section 156.401 governs, a family law attorney familiar with your court and the local AG office is worth the call.