How to File for Child Support in NC: Steps, Paternity, and Payments

To file for child support in North Carolina, you have two options: apply through North Carolina Child Support Services (CSS), the state agency that handles the case for you, or file a civil complaint for child support directly in district court. Both routes end in a legally binding order that sets a monthly payment amount under the state’s child support guidelines. The agency route is cheaper and more common; the court route gives you more control but costs more.

Applying Through Child Support Services

CSS is a division of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Once you apply, the agency locates the other parent, establishes paternity if needed, files the legal paperwork, and enforces the order after it’s entered.¹

The application fee is a nonrefundable $25, reduced to $10 if your income is below 100 percent of the federal poverty guidelines (currently $15,650 per year for a single person). If you receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, foster care services, or certain other public assistance benefits, you’re referred to CSS automatically at no cost.²

Submitting Your Application

You can apply online through the state’s eChildSupport portal. First register for an NCID (North Carolina Identity Management account), the standard login for state online services. Once you’re registered, you have 10 business days to complete and submit the application. Typing your name at the end counts as a legally binding electronic signature.²

If you prefer paper, print the application and mail it or drop it off at your local CSS office. Pay the fee by certified check or money order made out to the county handling your case. Some local offices also accept cash for in-person applications.² After CSS receives your application and fee, the agency opens a case and assigns a case number to use on all future correspondence.

Filing a Civil Complaint in District Court

You can also skip the agency and file directly. You may hire a family law attorney or represent yourself. The complaint gets filed with the Clerk of Court in the county where the child lives or is physically present, or in a county where either parent resides.³

The complaint sets out who the parents are, where the child lives, and why you’re asking for support. You pay the court’s filing fee when you file. Then the other parent must be formally served with the summons and complaint, which the sheriff’s office or a private process server delivers. The sheriff’s fee for service is $30.⁴ Once served, the other parent has 30 days to file a written answer.⁵

Representing yourself is legal, but you’re held to the same procedural rules as an attorney. Missteps in the paperwork or in court can push your case back.

What to Gather Before You File

Whichever route you choose, start by pulling together identifying information: full legal names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers for you, the other parent, and every child involved. You’ll also need the other parent’s current or last known address, phone number, and employer information. For a CSS application, have a recent photo of the other parent ready as well.

Supporting documents include:⁶

Proof of income: recent pay stubs, tax returns, or self-employment records
A driver’s license or other government-issued photo ID
A state-issued birth certificate and Social Security card for each child
Marriage certificates or divorce decrees, or the dates of marriage if you don’t have the certificates
Any existing court orders for the children: custody orders, paternity orders, an Affidavit of Parentage, or domestic violence protective orders
Records of any support already paid, directly or through a court

Missing a document about the other parent won’t necessarily stall your application. CSS has tools to locate noncustodial parents and verify employment, so submit what you have and let the agency work on the rest.

Establishing Paternity if the Parents Weren’t Married

A court can’t order child support until legal parentage is established. If the parents were married when the child was born, paternity is presumed. For unmarried parents, there are two paths.

The simplest is an Affidavit of Parentage, a voluntary document both parents sign acknowledging the father’s paternity. It can be completed at the hospital at birth or any time afterward.⁷ If the alleged father disputes paternity, the court can order genetic testing. When the results show a 97 percent or higher probability of parentage, that is clear and convincing evidence of paternity, and the court can enter a temporary support order while the case continues.⁸

How the Payment Amount Gets Set

North Carolina uses statewide presumptive guidelines. A judge can deviate in unusual circumstances, but the formula is the starting point in every case.⁹ The main inputs are each parent’s gross income, work-related childcare costs, and the cost of the child’s health insurance.¹⁰

Gross income means income from any source before taxes, Social Security deductions, retirement contributions, or other withholdings. That covers wages, self-employment income, Social Security benefits, veterans’ benefits, workers’ compensation, and even recurring gifts or in-kind benefits like free housing that reduce your living expenses.

Which of three worksheets the calculation uses depends on how the child’s nights are split:⁹

Worksheet A (primary custody) applies when one parent has the child for 243 or more nights per year. It’s the most common scenario. Support is calculated for both parents, but only the noncustodial parent pays.
Worksheet B (shared custody) applies when the child spends at least 123 nights per year with each parent. It also covers cases where one parent has primary custody of one child and the parents share custody of another.
Worksheet C (split custody) applies when each parent has primary custody of at least one child. The parent with the larger obligation pays the difference.

The distinction matters. Visitation short of 123 nights per year isn’t shared custody for guideline purposes, even under a joint legal custody agreement. The night count picks the formula, and the results can differ substantially.

What Happens After You File

Once CSS opens your case or your court complaint is on file, the process moves in stages. If the other parent’s location is unknown, CSS uses databases and other tools to find them. After the noncustodial parent is located and served, paternity is established if it hasn’t been, and both sides submit financial information.

CSS cases often include a negotiation conference where both parents try to agree on a support amount using the guidelines. Any agreement goes to the court for approval. If you can’t agree, the case goes to a hearing where a judge reviews the evidence and enters a binding support order. The order specifies the monthly amount, when it’s due, and how it will be collected.¹¹

For CSS cases and for every child support order entered since January 1994, immediate income withholding is built into the order. The paying parent’s employer deducts the support amount from each paycheck and sends it to the NC Child Support Centralized Collections within seven days.¹²

When Support Will End

Filing now doesn’t lock in payments forever. Support in North Carolina ends when the child turns 18, with a few exceptions.¹¹ If the child is still in high school at 18, support continues until the child graduates, stops attending regularly, stops making satisfactory academic progress, or turns 20, whichever comes first. For a cooperative innovative high school program, support runs until the child completes the fourth year of enrollment or turns 18, whichever is later. If a child becomes legally emancipated through marriage, military service, or a court order, support ends at that point.

When the obligation ends because of graduation or reaching age 20, payments stop automatically without a new court order. If back support is owed at that time, payments continue at the same amount until the arrearage is paid off.¹¹

1
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Child Support Services
2
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Case Application Information
3
North Carolina Judicial Branch. Child Support
4
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 7A-311 – Fees of Witnesses, Jurors, and Officers
5
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure – Chapter 1A
6
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. North Carolina Child Support Services Application for Services
7
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. North Carolina Vital Records – Paternity Establishment
8
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 49-14
9
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. North Carolina Child Support Guidelines
10
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. North Carolina Child Support Guidelines
11
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 50-13.4 – Action for Support of Minor Child
12
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 110-136.3 – Income Withholding in Child Support Cases