Paying Child Support
Child support payments are received and processed by the New Jersey Family Support Payment Center (NJFSPC), a centralized center.
Non-custodial parents who are not paying child support through income withholding must make payments as directed by court order, whether weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc. Checks or money orders must include your child support case number and social security number and be made payable to the New Jersey Family Support Payment Center (NJFSPC). Mail payments to the New Jersey Family Support Payment Center at P.O. Box 4880, Trenton, NJ 08650-4880.
To help ensure that your account is credited properly, make sure to include your payment coupon with your payment as well as your case information and name on the payment. Do not send cash.
Important: The NJFSPC will not accept starter checks, counter checks or credit card checks. A starter check is one issued at the time a new checking account is opened. Your name and the check number must be pre-printed on checks. A counter check is issued by a bank and lacks personal information such as name, account number, address, etc. A credit card check is a check issued against a personal line of credit. Additionally, the NJFSPC will not accept post-dated checks. A post-dated check is one that has been written by the issuer for a date in the future. Unacceptable checks (as described above) will be returned to the sender.
Note: It is the policy of the New Jersey Office of Child Support Services to hold any personal check submitted for the first time equal to, or greater than, $1,000 for ten business days in order to verify that the funds are available.
Federal law requires child support payments to be automatically deducted from the non-custodial parent’s paycheck. Income withholding makes it easier for the custodial parent to receive timely, regular payments, and for the non-custodial parent to take care of this obligation. The employer deducts the child support amount and sends it to the New Jersey Family Support Payment Center (NJFSPC), which then provides payment to the custodial parent.
In rare cases, a judge and the parties may determine another way for the non-custodial parent to pay support.
Income withholding may also be applied to unemployment benefits, Social Security benefits, disability payments, and other income the parent may receive. If the non-custodial parent is self-employed, the court order for child support sets out how the support will be paid.
If the custodial parent receives public assistance, the child support payment goes to the State that provided the assistance. The custodial parent may, in some circumstances, receive up to $100 of each month’s current child support payment in addition to their grant.