Child Support

You can seek a child support order for any and all children who live with you, whether you are married or unmarried.

If you are unmarried, you will first have to establish a legal relationship between the child and the father, which is called paternity.  If you are married, paternity is automatically established once the child is born.

Child support can be filed for as part of a divorce action, a separation action, a custody action, or a paternity action.  You can also receive a temporary child support order as part of a protective order for family abuse.  See How can a protective order help me? for more information.