How does Pennsylvania enforce child support orders?
Pennsylvania employs a state-wide computerized child support collection system, known as PACSES (Pennsylvania Automated Child Support Enforcement System). All child support orders are enforced by wage attachment unless the recipient agrees to waive the wage attachment. Even then, the payor must send child support to a central agency in Harrisburg, not directly to the other parent. If child support arrears exist, PACSES may take enforcement action, such as increasing the wage attachment, intercepting the payor’s IRS refund, establishing a lien against the payor’s property, or suspending the payor’s drivers license, hunting or fishing license, or professional license. A child support obligation begins to run when the action is filed, even though the hearing may be held several weeks later. If the payor does not make any payments until the hearing, child support arrears may accrue for several weeks, triggering possible enforcement action. For this reason, the payor may wish to make volunt
