Can a child support case be reopen with a new plaintiff without going to court?

I am stealing from Sarah Gables' answer to your similar question earlier: Usually the only parties for a child support case are the two parents. However, the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) in the county where your case is filed sometimes is involved to help with collection and enforcement if either parent requests services through their office. OCSE can assist the Plaintiff in filing an initial complaint for child support and/or reopen the case for nonpayment if the Defendant parent is behind on payments. OCSE can also reopen the case on their own and file contempt proceedings against the Defendant parent if payments are not made for a certain period of time. I am also adding my answer to the same question: And because there is not enough information provided, I would add that if the Defendant in the child support case becomes the primary care giver and is now seeking child support the defendant can reopen the same case. However, no matter who is seeking child support if the parents and children are the same then a court filing (in the same case) will need to be opened.

Sometimes an attorney is listed on behalf of the Office of Child Support or an attorney of the Office of the State's Attorney in the child support division as the attorney of record, however, that does not mean that the attorney is actually receiving payments they just represent the agency. However, If the person is someone who is not the other parent of your child (like another friend or family member who has/had custody of your child) and not an attorney then that person should have been a party to the case when child support was established. A child support case could have more than one plaintiff if two people filed together as Co-Plaintiffs, like two grandparents filing for child support if they had custody of their grandchild, but it is more typical to have just one Plaintiff who is also a parent of the child(ren) for whom support is being requested. I would suggest you consult with an attorney to try to get this straightened out and determine if the person requesting support has standing to even make that request and make sure you are sending payments to the correct person.

I agree with the other attorneys and would add: You can reopen a child support case to enforce or modify the award. The question about a different Plaintiff opening the case is hard to answer. Is the new plaintiff legally responsible, have custody of the child? What had changed to warrant a new Plaintiff in the child support matter? Additional details are needed here.

Its impossible to answer your question without more information. It depends on if this was an office of child support case or not and who was listed as the parties. You can be held responsible for back support back to the date the case was filed unless the petition was denied or dismissed and then it would have to be refiled, which is different than if support was decided and the case was closed. In that case it can be reopened at any time and you can be pursued for back support. It doesn't make sense that anyone would direct you to pay back support to someone new, they can't really do that, but if the child is now living with a different family member, ongoing support could be made payable to that new person. Get yourself a consultation so you can clear all this up and see what can be done to help