All family support, paternity, and interstate cases must be referred by the State of Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).  Contact the Office of Child Support Enforcement at 1-866-540-0008.  The referral is then sent by DHHS to the FOC and the initiation process begins.  This process takes 1-4 months for completion. You may also file a complaint for support and/or paternity on your own or with the help of an attorney. 

You are not required to have an attorney to file a motion for support.  However, you may find an attorney’s help useful when filing papers and following specific rules.

Yes, unless the FOC or the judge finds a clear reason why using the formula is “unjust or inappropriate.”  This reason must be stated on the record or in writing.

You can find ways to make payments on the Court’s website and also on the website for the Michigan Statute Disbursement Unit. 

You should not make court-ordered payments of support directly to the custodian of the children unless the court has so authorized.

Use the convenient Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System which gives you automated information and service.  The number is 1-877-543-2660.  This is for payment information only. 

If you wish to speak with a customer service representative, please dial 1-844-785-7593 and follow the prompts to speak with a Friend of the Court representative.  The Call Center offers a courtesy call back option. 

For address, employer, social security number, and / or  name changes,  you may dial 1-844-785-7593 and speak with a Friend of the Court representative, or fax a signed Address and Demographic Change Form (FD-FOC4041) located on our website to 313-237-9202.

For name and Social Security number changes, a copy of your driver’s license, Social Security card, plus your Court order which confirms these change requests must be included in your fax.  You may also mail this information to:

Be sure to include the case number and the full names and addresses of both parties.  Also, report any changes such as those in personal appearance, including tattoos and visible scars.

Child support is effective on the commencement date stated in the court order.

Child support may continue past age 18 only if certain conditions are met.  You must notify the FOC in writing and provide written documentation from the high school advising that your child will continue to be enrolled as a full-time student past his/her 18th birthday.  A full-time student generally attends classes for at least 35 hours per week.  The school must also provide the anticipated month, day, and year of graduation.

The custodial parent must provide this information prior to the child’s 18th birthday to ensure the continuation of child support and any child support withholding.  Support may continue up to age 19½ if the child “is regularly attending high school on a full-time basis with a reasonable expectation of completing sufficient credits to graduate from high school while residing on a full-time basis with the payee of support or at an institution."

If support arrearages are due, payments must be made until they are paid in full.  If no support is owed, call 1-844-785-7593 for assistance. 

Yes.  Parenting time and support are separate parts of a court order.  Each has enforcement procedures to be used when that part of the order is disobeyed.

You may file a Request for Parenting Time or Custody Enforcement or obtain your own attorney for assistance. 

Please allow 10 days from the date the employer mailed the payment.  All payments are to be sent to the Michigan State Disbursement Unit (MISDU) in Lansing.  If the payment was sent to FOC’s offices, it will be re-directed to the MISDU, which may delay the payment.  If you have not received it after 10 days, call 1-877-543-2660 and press the prompts to speak with a MISDU representative.

No, not unless your court order is modified to allow direct payment. 

If you fail to pay through the Michigan State Disbursement Unit (MISDU), the designated agency, you will not receive credit for the payment.

If you are receiving TANF or FIP, when a parent who owes you child support pays in the month it’s due, the child support program sends you all of this money instead of sending it to the State. You can keep this money and your cash assistance. This type of child support payment is sometimes called a “pass-through, client participation payment, or CPP.”

If you are receiving Medicaid for your child, the amount of the medical support payments will be sent to the State.

If you have questions regarding this program, contact your DHHS Support Specialist.

Either party may request a child support review every 36 months or when there is a change in circumstances such as employment and income changes.  Written requests for a child support review may be mailed to:

Wayne County Friend of the Court
Review and Modification Department
P.O. Box 829
Detroit, MI 48231

You may also file a Motion to Modify Child Support. The benefit of filing a motion, versus requesting a support review, is that you have control over the commencement date of the modified support order. When you file a motion to modify support, the commencement date is the first of the month following the date the motion was served on the other party.  

You must wait 30 days from the date the check was issued by the Michigan State Disbursement Unit (MISDU).  After 30 days, call 1-877-543-2660 and press the selection for MISDU. MISDU handles lost and stolen checks and/or debit cards.

State law requires that child support funds must be turned over (escheated) to the State Treasurer when there has been no owner-generated activity in the account for one year and all attempts to contact the owner have failed.  The owner or owner’s heirs may claim the funds from the Treasury and there is no time limit on when an owner may claim the funds.  The Department of Treasury contact information is: 

Unclaimed Property Division
Michigan Department of Treasury
P.O. Box 30756
Lansing, MI 48909
Telephone: 1-517-636-5320
Fax: 1-517-763-0420
Website: www.michigan.gov/treasury

State law requires that support be abated for a payer who will be incarcerated for 180 days or more unless the payer has the ability to pay support.  While the FOC receives reports of payers who are incarcerated in the Michigan Department of Corrections, we do not always receive information from jails or other state/federal correctional facilities.  It is advisable that the payer send a certified letter to the FOC notifying them of his/her incarceration. 

Call 1-844-785-7593 to report the name and address of the non-custodial parent’s employer.  You may also fax this information to 313-237-9290.  The FOC will process the Income Withholding Notice.  The employer, as well as both parties, will receive a copy of the notice.  You should give the withholding process six to eight weeks to be completed.

Michigan law requires the FOC to charge the payer of support a service and processing fee on all child support orders as a partial offset of administrative costs.  The current fee is $42.00 per year assessed semiannually on January 1 and July 1.

The person who is the custodial party as listed in the court order receives child support payments with there being some exceptions in cases where the child is receiving state assistance.

Payments are disbursed in accordance with Welfare Reform guidelines currently outlined in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996.

Upon receipt of a support payment, the Michigan State Disbursement Unit (MISDU) will enter the payment in the Michigan Child Support Enforcement System (MICSES) and disburse the payment to the payee.  Payments received for children receiving public assistance are sent to the DHHS, with some exceptions.

You may file a Request for Child Support Enforcement or obtain your own attorney for assistance. 

In paternity cases, parties can request genetic testing; the testing on cases referred by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is less than $100.00 and will be scheduled by the Court once requested.  Testing in cases filed by a party or attorney costs more and parties will have to get the testing done on their own

Child support is established using the Michigan Child Support Formula.  The Michigan Child Support Formula uses both parties’ income in the child support calculation, along with taking in to account the number of overnights with the child. The formula can be found here and the child support calculator is available here.