How Paying Child Support Works

Paying Child Support

In Oregon, most parents pay child support by payroll deduction. Employers withhold the support amount from the paycheck of parents who pay support and forward it to the Oregon Child Support Program after receiving a notice to do so. We pass the payment along to the parent receiving support. Employers may charge a fee of up to $5 a month per case to the employee.

Other Ways to Pay

Parents who want to make additional payments, are self-employed, live overseas, or anyone making a payment on behalf of someone else may use the following alternative payment methods:

Paying Child Support on Behalf of Someone Else

To make payments on behalf of someone else, you will need:

  1. Child support case number(s)
  2. Name and address of the parent who pays support

Employers Submitting Payments for Your Employees

See Employer Resources to learn more about submitting child support payments and complying with an Order/Notice to Withhold Income for Child Support (PDF).

Adults in Custody

Payments may now be received from an adult in custody who owes past-due child support through an interface between the Department of Justice and the Department of Corrections. ORS 423.105 allows the Department of Corrections to collect eligible moneys from the trust accounts of adults in custody to pay certain court-ordered financial obligations.

How does this work? 15% of each eligible deposit to the trust account of an adult in custody is withheld and distributed as follows:

  • 5% is deposited into a transitional savings account until the account reaches $500
  • 10% is collected for court-ordered financial obligations, and disbursed in priority of restitution, civil judgments that include a money award in which the Department of Justice is a judgment creditor, and then to child support obligations
  • Once the transitional savings account reaches $500, the entire 15% thereafter is collected for court-ordered financial obligations