Interstate Cases

Your case may become an interstate case when:

• One party lives somewhere other than Ohio
• At least one party lives in Ohio and there is an existing court order from a state/country other than Ohio.

The Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) can help you Establish, Enforce or Modify an order when one party lives in another state.


To Establish Paternity and/or Support

Walk in to the main agency and/or a Neighborhood Family Service Center with the following documents to complete the required paperwork:

• Birth certificate(s) for all children.
• Proof of paternity (if established) for all children.
• Valid address and any other information you have for person(s) living outside Ohio.
• Income and medical insurance information for yourself and child(ren) subject to the case (including child care)
• Breakdown of monthly income and expenses.
• Legal custody orders and/or divorce decrees (if applicable).
• The order will be established under the laws of the State of the Non-Custodial Parent and will be that State’s order.

To Enforce an existing order

If it is an Ohio order:

• Ohio can request another state/country to enforce the order if the person who pays support does not live in Ohio and is not paying when there is a valid address for the person living outside
• Ohio Ohio can receive a request from another state/country to enforce an order and to send payments to them if the person who receives support does not live in Ohio.

If it is NOT an Ohio order, the following items are required:

• Certified copies of all orders
• Certified financials from the state/country that issued and/or enforced the orders
• Whether any other states/countries have ever enforced the orders (may need their certified financials too)
• If the Non-Custodial parent still lives in another state, the OCSS cannot transfer or register the order to the State of Ohio.

To Modify an order that is in another state/country

Walk in to the main agency with the following documents to complete the required paperwork:

• Certified copies of all orders
• Certified financials from the state/country that issued and/or enforced the orders
• Whether any other states/countries have ever enforced the orders (may need their certified financials too)
• Reason for modification request
• Valid address and any other information you have for person living outside Ohio
• Income and medical insurance information for yourself and your child/children (including child care)
• Breakdown of monthly income and expenses
• If neither party lives in the State the order was established the modification will be done by the State of the non-requestor.
• If the Non-Custodial parent still lives in another state, the OCSS cannot transfer or register the order to the State of Ohio.

Things to keep in mind when you have an interstate case:

• Your point of contact is your local agency. Your local worker will contact the other state/country agency and will follow up with you when a response is received.
• Your worker must allow the other state/country time to receive and respond to requests and cannot send multiple requests within a 30-day period.
• The other state/country agency will tell you to call your local worker. f you call them; they are not required to talk to you.
• The interstate process generally takes between 6-12 months, but it can take longer.
• If you have an order from another State and the Non-Custodial parent still lives there, the OCSS cannot transfer or register the order to the State of Ohio.