What information does the child support office need to find a parent?
The Social Security number and any recent employer's name and address are the most helpful information. Also helpful are the names, addresses and phone numbers of relatives, friends or former employers who might know where he/she works or lives. Unions and local organizations, including professional organizations, might also have information.
What if I don't have the Social Security number?
Social Security numbers are now required on applications for professional licenses, driver's licenses, occupational and recreational licenses, and marriage licenses; on divorce records, child support orders and paternity determinations; and on death records.
If none of these is available, or the Social Security number was not yet required when the document was issued, the child support office can subpoena information about bank accounts, insurance policies, credit cards, pay slips, or income tax returns. If you and the other parent filed a joint Federal income tax return in the last three years, the child support office can get the Social Security number from the IRS.
The child support office may be able to get the Social Security number with at least three of the following pieces of information: the parent's name, place of birth, date of birth, his/her father's name, and his/her mother's maiden name.
What happens when the child support office has the current address of the obligor?
The child support office will verify home and work addresses, and take the next appropriate action on the case, to establish paternity or a child support order, or enforce and existing support order.
In most cases, to establish the paternity of a child, to obtain an order for support, and to enforce that order, the child support office must know where the other parent lives or works. If an obligee does not know the obligor's address, the child support office can try to find it. The most important information needed to locate a parent is their Social Security number.
