Albany County Child Support Enforcement

If you have a case in Albany County Family Court:

At the Albany County Family Court Help Center, volunteer attorneys can assist unrepresented litigants with filling out pro se petitions and give brief legal advice related to those petitions. The Help Center is located inside the Albany County Family Court on the first floor, all the way at the back of the building past the vending machines.
The Help Center is operating remotely. If you need to speak to a lawyer from the Albany Help Center, please email [email protected] or call (518) 445-7691 x115 and leave a detailed message.
Note: All information at the Help Center is provided by volunteer attorneys – the Albany County Bar Association itself cannot answer any procedural questions or give any legal advice.
Many family law questions can be answered by the staff at LIFT Family Legal Connection’s hotline: 1-800-696-8629.
If you would like to pay for your own attorney, our Lawyer Referral Service can give you the contact information for a family law attorney in the Albany area: (518) 445-7691 ext. 110.

Here is some good information regarding the 2020 Covid-19 Stimulus Payments and Offset / Interception.

Treasury Offset Program - TOP Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for the Public on COVID-19 JavaScript Disabled Some features of this site will not work with JavaScript disabled. Please enable JavaScript to use all features.

ACCOUNT MUST BE CURRENT BY

LAST FRIDAY OF OCTOBER TO AVOID BEING

SUBMITTED FOR TAX OFFSET

Procedures to Collect Overdue Support:

Income Tax Refund Intercept (Federal and State)

A delinquent noncustodial parent's federal and/or State income tax refund may be intercepted to pay overdue child support.

What is the tax refund offset program?

The tax refund offset program collects past-due child support payments from the tax refunds of noncustodial parents. When a noncustodial parent owes past-due child support, the amount that is past due may be certified to the federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (DTF) for tax refund offset. If spousal support is included in the child support order, the amount certified to these agencies may also include past-due spousal support.

When a case is eligible for tax refund offset, the noncustodial parent will receive a Special Notice (PDF) showing the amount of past-due support as of a given date (usually late August). If the noncustodial parent is due to receive an income tax refund from either the federal IRS or New York State DTF, all or part of the tax refund may be offset to pay the past-due support.

The actual amount deducted from the tax refund may differ from what is shown in the Special Notice because of changes in the past-due amount after the Special Notice is mailed.

A noncustodial parent's federal and/or state income tax refund may be offset even if he or she is paying child support when the case is certified. When is a case eligible for tax refund offset?Federal IRS: For federal income tax refunds, a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) case is eligible when the noncustodial parent owes past-due support of at least $150. A non-TANF case is eligible when at least $500 is past due.

New York State DTF: For New York State income tax refunds, any case (TANF or non-TANF) is eligible when the noncustodial parent owes past-due support of at least $50 and the amount is delinquent for at least 2 months.

Check out the FAQ link here:

NYS DCSE | Tax Refund Offset questions and answers New York State Child Support Enforcement site provides information about how the amount of a child support payment is decided based on parents' income levels and other factors. Parents can log in to check payments. Information for employers and providers.