SupportPay

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Frequently Asked
Questions

Search our FAQ or read answers below.

Child Support & Tracking Expenses Questions

Child support is the ongoing contribution of money to help pay for the living and medical expenses of a child or children until they are adults. The amount that must be paid is called the child support order.

Under federal and state law, BOTH parents have a legal duty to provide financial support for their children.

The goal is to have children share in the standard of living of both parents, so the court may order either or both parents to pay child support.

Child support amounts are based on a review of both parent’s monthly income and the amount of time the child spends with each parent.

The State Law, Child Support Commissioner or Family Law Judge in each state sets the amount of a child support order.

All income is taken into consideration and can be money, property or services, including:

  • Wages from a job
  • Tip Income
  • Commissions
  • Bonuses
  • Independent contractor income
  • Unemployment benefits
  • Disability and worker’s compensation payments
  • Department of
  • Veteran Affairs disability payments
  • Interest Income
  • Dividend Income
  • Rental Income
  • Social Security or pensions
  • Any payments that become due such as lottery winnings and insurance payouts

 

You can try our child support calculator to get a general idea of how much child support you may need to pay or receive. However, we recommend visiting your state child support agency to get specific and exact calculations.

SupportPay is meant to be complementary to the state child support systems. Most, if not all, state and tribal child support systems only manage base child support payments. SupportPay will allow you to track base support and document the payment (whether you send in money or your wages are garnished). In addition, you will be able to track all additional expenses (medical, healthcare or anything else you desire) as well as spousal support, alimony, family support, and arrears.

SupportPay does not require you to track how your base support is spent. Base support is set up as a set recurring amount and can be scheduled based on the agreed-upon order or agreement. Receipts or justifications are only required for additional or incremental expenses.

Yes, absolutely. We can track all expenses and payments exchanged between parents – including spousal support, family support or alimony. In addition, since you are tracking these payments in SupportPay you will know at the end of the year exactly how much money can or should be claimed when you do your taxes. No more worrying the numbers don’t match – now both parents will have the correct numbers to report – eliminating an audit risk.

If you are a current SupportPay customer you can login to SupportPay at: http://app.supportpay.com/. If you are looking for your balance that is managed by Child Support Services, you need to visit their website directly. You can find your local child support services website by visiting: State Child Support Services and clicking on your state.

The Child Support Services agency in your state is used to track and manage child support for only a fraction of the parents that exchange child support. In addition, they only track the base support amounts and do not encourage direct communication between parents to manage child expenses. SupportPay is ideal for parents who exchange child support or parents that need to track more than just base child support payments. Today, you can manually enter the payments you get through the agencies and in the future we would like to automate this process for you so all of your child support information is automatically populated in one location.

The child support office in your county or region can provide the following services: 

  • Establishing paternity (fatherhood) 
  • Locating parents 
  • Requesting child support orders from the court 
  • Requesting medical support orders from the court 
  • Enforcing child and spousal support orders 
  • Modifying child support orders 
  • Collecting and sending child support 

Child support offices do not: 

  • Handle custody or visitation matters 
  • Handle divorces 
  • Obtain or enforce restraining orders 
  • Establish spousal support orders 
  • Manage alimony or spousal support payments 

Yes, health insurance must be included in any child support order for all cases. If health insurance is not immediately available, the court will order both parents to provide insurance when it does become available. 

Under most state laws, you pay child support until the child turns 18, or 19 if the child is unmarried and still attending high school full time. Under special circumstances, the court may order child support to continue after the child is an adult. 

If past-due support (called arrears) is still owed, the local child support agency may continue to enforce collection until the balance including interest is paid in full. 

Child support case information is confidential and not open to the public. However, all documents in court files or county recorder files are public records and can be viewed by the general public. 

SupportPay Questions

SupportPay Is:

  • An application for parents to manage, track and pay their child support directly with each other (there is no state or government worker involved)
  • A place for parents to share additional child expenses
  • An application to share receipts and manage financial communications between parents
  • A solution that provides transparency to both parents – everyone sees where and how the money is spent – significantly reducing financial arguments
  • An application to track alimony – so both parents know how much was sent or received and they are not audited

SupportPay Is Not:

  • A child support calculator – we let your state take care of that and provide a calculator that you can use to help
  • A state child support system – we work with state systems. We help parents who have their base support managed through the state but also have additional expenses that they need to manage. In addition, we are a solution for parents not wishing to go through the government who would like to manage their child support directly with each other without having to argue directly with each other
  • A child support enforcement agency – we don’t and will never enforce child support orders or go after those who owe child support. We provide the necessary documentation and certified records necessary in case enforcement is necessary
  • A child support order or agreement – SupportPay helps you manage the agreement/order once it has been established or agreed upon with the other parent
  • A lawyer, mediator or judge – SupportPay tracks and stores your information so you can take it to your legal professional for specific legal advice and recommendations. Legal professionals cannot take action on a case until they have a complete history of all the child support made or received. We provide that information with a click of a button so action on cases can happen faster.

While you will get the most benefit from SupportPay if both parents participate, the product does not require both parents in order to enable the ability to manage your child support and child expenses.

No both parents do not have to pay for the service in order for them both to use the system. The non-paying parent will always have access to a lite version of the product.

SupportPay provides you the transparency you are looking for when it comes to child support and child expenses. We know you aren’t spending the money on yourself or wasting it on frivolous things. These payments are necessary for you and your children to survive every day. And since you have nothing to hide why don’t you show the other parent just how expensive your children really are. No more fighting over each line item, no more excel spreadsheets or emails, text messages or phone calls to ask for payment. Now SupportPay takes care of it all. Both parents can see where the money is being spent, via receipts that can be submitted.  SupportPay keeps a complete history of all expenses you have incurred – should you ever have to go back to court for a modification order. Imagine, now you can talk about your children and not argue over money when you are exchanging the children. Everyone will be much happier for it. We guarantee it!

SupportPay is using the most advanced security techniques to ensure your data is save and secure, from everyone. Your financial information and transaction information is stored in completely different locations by different companies. The platform is built on force.com by Salesforce which means your data gets the same multi-layer approach as millions of customers worldwide. You can read more about salesforce security standards by visiting: https://trust.salesforce.com/trust/security/

When it comes to the information shared with the other parent, you can choose by category, group or individual item what information will be shared. We give you complete control over your information and who gets to see what.

We charge a small monthly and / or yearly fee to support our ability to continue to deliver a product that makes your life easier. But don’t worry we do offer a free, light version. You don’t have to pay for a year up front (though if you do you will save a significant amount of money!) and you can cancel anytime. If you need the advanced features but are unable to afford the full monthly price, please contact us and we will work with you to find a price that works for your budget. We need to charge something for the product in order to continue to deliver a great product, add features and provide world-class support. But our mission is to end all of these financial conflicts so children benefit, so we will work with any family to make sure we achieve that goal. Visit our pricing page to learn more about the cost of using SupportPay.

SupportPay users can be used in any state or territory. We currently have users in all 50 states plus territories as well as over 70+ countries.

Company Questions

Smart Family Tech is the parent company of SupportPay. Smart Family Tech, Inc represents the vision and mission of our company: To develop and deliver technologies and solutions to make our lives and our children’s lives better.

We are always looking for new partnerships that match our mission and goals. If you believe we are a good match please contact us using the Contact Form.

We are always looking for new partnerships that match our mission and goals. If you believe we are a good match please contact us using the Contact Form.

That is awesome! Please send us a note via our contact form page and we will get right back to you.

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