More than 204,000 child support cases exist in Missouri with roughly 2.39 billion dollars owed to parents who have primary custody.
State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick says a new automated system of matching unclaimed property owner names to those owing child support is blowing the previous year’s total out of the water. In 2018, his office’s manual process paid a couple hundred thousand dollars in unpaid child support. In the first run on the method, two million dollars has helped to pay down the debt on 18,000 child support accounts.
In the first run on a new electronic method, two million dollars has helped to pay down the debt on 18,000 child support accounts.
Fitzpatrick says the electronic process that eliminates the manual paperwork will allow his office to send weekly child support payments to Social Services. The new system also allows Social Services to withhold unclaimed property before a parent owing child support can claim it.