How to File for Child Support in Massachusetts: Court or DOR

To file for child support in Massachusetts, you have two paths: file a Complaint for Support yourself in the Probate and Family Court in the county where your child lives, or apply for free services through the Department of Revenue’s Child Support Enforcement Division (DOR/CSE), which will file and enforce the order on your behalf. Both parents are legally responsible for supporting their child based on their incomes, whether or not they were ever married, and the obligation applies from birth.

Choose Your Path: Court or DOR

Most people don’t realize there are two separate ways to open a case, and the choice shapes how much work you do yourself.

Filing your own complaint in Probate and Family Court gives you direct control. You prepare the paperwork, pay the fees, arrange service on the other parent, and go to hearings. This route lets you address custody and parenting time in the same case and generally moves on your schedule.

Applying to the DOR is the other option. You can apply online, by mail, or in person at the courthouse when your order is entered.¹ The DOR can locate the other parent, establish parentage, file for the support order, and enforce it. Services are free and especially useful if you receive public assistance, don’t know where the other parent lives, or want help with collection. The trade-off is less control over timing, since the DOR handles a large volume of cases.

You can also do both. Many parents file their own case for speed and then enroll with the DOR afterward so the agency handles collection and enforcement once the order is in place.

Establish Parentage First if You Were Not Married

If you and the other parent were never married, the court needs legal proof of parentage before it can order support. There are two ways to establish it.²

The simplest is a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Parentage, a form both parents sign, usually at the hospital after birth but valid if signed later. When both parents agree, this form carries the same legal weight as a court order.

If the other parent disputes parentage or refuses to sign, you file a complaint under Chapter 209C, the statute covering children born to unmarried parents, and the court can order genetic testing.³ Parentage and support can be resolved in the same case, but the court will not set a support amount until parentage is legally established.

Gather Your Documents

Before you file, pull together identifying and financial information for yourself, the other parent, and your child: full legal names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and current addresses.

The financial side takes more work, because the court calculates support from both parents’ actual income.⁴ Collect:

Four to six weeks of recent pay stubs showing gross and net income
Your most recent federal and state tax returns
Documentation of the weekly cost of your child’s health, dental, and vision coverage
Receipts or statements for any work-related childcare, which factors directly into the support calculation

The two main forms are a Complaint for Support and a Financial Statement. If you were never married to the other parent, use the Chapter 209C complaint form (CJ-D 109). The Financial Statement comes in two versions: the short form if you earn less than $75,000 annually, and the long form at $75,000 or more.⁵ The wrong version will get sent back.

File in Probate and Family Court

File your complaint with the Probate and Family Court in the county where the child lives. The correct county is required for the court to have jurisdiction.

You have three ways to submit:

In person at the court clerk’s office, bringing originals and copies
By mail, sending the original forms with two complete copies
Electronically through eFileMA, which requires an account and a payment method on file⁶

If you’re filing for more than one child, each child requires a separate complaint with its own docket number. When e-filing, submit them one after another on the same day.⁶

Filing Fees

The total cost to file a new child support complaint is $120: a $100 filing fee, a $15 surcharge, and a $5 summons fee.⁷ E-filing adds a one-time $22 processing fee plus a small credit card charge.⁶

Fee Waivers

If you can’t afford the fees, file an Affidavit of Indigency to request a waiver. Massachusetts offers a free online tool called “Guide and File” through Suffolk LIT Lab that generates the completed form for you.⁸ A judge decides whether to approve it. When e-filing, selecting “waiver” as your payment option brings the total to $0, but if the court later denies the indigency request, you’ll need to pay the $120 before the case can proceed.⁶

Serve the Other Parent

After filing, the other parent must receive formal legal notice, called service of process. The court cannot move forward until this is done correctly.

When you file, the clerk issues a summons and a tracking notice. You need to deliver a copy of the summons, your complaint, and the tracking notice to the other parent, and you cannot do this yourself. You’ll hire a sheriff or constable and pay for the service.⁹ If you received an approved Affidavit of Indigency, give the sheriff a copy instead of paying. Constable directories are available online.

Once served, the sheriff or constable completes the Return of Service section of the summons, which is your proof of notice.⁹ That form gets filed with the court. If you e-filed the original complaint, you can submit the Return of Service electronically under the same docket at no extra charge.

Your First Court Appearance

After service is complete, the court schedules an initial hearing. Both parents receive a mailed notice with the date, time, and location, and both are expected to attend.

At the first appearance, you’ll likely meet with a probation officer from the court’s Family Service Office before seeing a judge. The officer reviews both Financial Statements, runs the numbers through the Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines worksheet, calculates a recommended amount, and helps parents negotiate. Many cases settle here.

If you reach an agreement, the probation officer drafts a stipulation for the judge to sign, and it becomes an enforceable order. If you can’t agree, the judge may issue a temporary support order to keep money flowing while the case is pending and schedule further hearings.

How the Support Amount Is Calculated

Massachusetts uses the Child Support Guidelines, updated periodically; the current version took effect December 1, 2025.¹⁰ The Guidelines produce a presumptive support amount based on both parents’ gross incomes, the number of children, and specific deductions like health insurance costs and childcare expenses.

The court starts with each parent’s gross income from all sources, subtracts allowed deductions (taxes, other child support obligations, health insurance premiums for the child), and applies the Guidelines formula to determine each parent’s share. A downloadable worksheet on the Mass.gov Child Support Guidelines page walks through the math.

Custody matters. When one parent has primary physical custody, the other parent’s payment is straightforward. When parents share roughly equal parenting time, the calculation adjusts because both parents are covering day-to-day expenses directly. In shared custody, the higher-earning parent typically still pays some support, but the amount is reduced. If both parents earn similar incomes and share time equally, the support amount may be minimal or zero.

Judges can deviate from the presumptive amount in either direction when the formula would produce an unjust result, but they must explain their reasoning in writing.

Modifying the Order Later

Support orders can change if circumstances change. Massachusetts allows modification when:¹¹

The current order no longer matches what the Guidelines would produce, often because incomes have changed significantly
Ordered health insurance is no longer available or affordable, or new coverage has become available
There has been another material change: job loss, a significant raise, a change in custody, or a child’s new medical needs

File a Complaint for Modification in the same Probate and Family Court that issued the original order, along with an updated Financial Statement. If you’re enrolled in DOR services, you can also ask the DOR to review your order.¹¹

Timing matters. A new amount generally runs from the date you file the modification, not from the date your circumstances changed. If you lose your job in January but don’t file until June, you owe the original amount for those five months. File quickly.

If the Other Parent Doesn’t Pay

Every child support order in Massachusetts includes automatic income withholding. The paying parent’s employer deducts the support amount from each paycheck and sends it on. This is the default in every case, not a punishment. If the parent falls behind, the law requires increasing the withholding by 25% above the current order until the arrears are caught up.¹² A judge can suspend automatic withholding only with written findings that it wouldn’t be in the child’s best interests, or when both parents agree in writing to direct payments.

If payments still don’t come in, you can file a Complaint for Contempt. The judge reviews the order, hears both sides, and decides whether the parent willfully violated it, setting a payment plan for the arrears. In serious cases, the court can impose jail time.¹³

The DOR has additional tools for significant arrears, including revocation or suspension of professional, occupational, and driver’s licenses, and interception of tax refunds. At the federal level, a parent who owes more than $2,500 in past-due support can be denied a U.S. passport.¹⁴ If you’re enrolled in DOR services, the agency handles these enforcement actions for you, which is one of the strongest reasons to enroll even after filing your own case.

1
Mass.gov. Learn the Benefits of Child Support Services and Enroll
2
Mass.gov. Massachusetts Law About Parentage
3
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 209C Section 1
4
Mass.gov. Learn About Receiving Child Support
5
Mass.gov. Financial Statement Short Form Instructions
6
Mass.gov. Probate and Family Court eFiling – Custody, Support, Parenting Time
7
Mass.gov. Probate and Family Court Filing Fees
8
Mass.gov. Apply for Indigency (Waiver of Court Fees and Costs)
9
Mass.gov. Service of Process of Domestic Relations Complaints in Probate and Family Court
10
Mass.gov. Child Support Guidelines
11
Mass.gov. 2023 Child Support Guidelines Section III – Modification
12
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 119A Section 12
13
Mass.gov. Request Overdue Child Support Payments
14
Congress.gov. The Child Support Enforcement Passport Denial Program