District Clerk

General Information-

              The information on this page pertains to the child support practices of the McLennan County District Clerk’s Office.  All child support paid by order subsequent to January 1, 1994 is directed to the State Disbursement Unit in San Antonio Texas.  All questions regarding accounts established after this date should be directed to 1-800-252-8014.

Shortcut to:

• Making Payments

•  Child Support Payment Window

•  Processing Of Payments

• Filing Information

•  Payment History Requests

• Payment Types Legend

•  Changes To Case Information

• Stop Payments

Making Payments

The person making the payments is the Payor or Obligor.  The person receiving the payments is the Payee or Obligee.  The SDU is the State Disbursement Unit.                                                                       

To make payments of child support either with the SDU or with the McLennan County District Clerk’s Office an account must be established after a written order is entered by the Court.  A form must be filled out to establish the account.  The form and a copy of your order must be presented to the McLennan County Child Support Office.  All payments for court orders entered after January 1, 1994 will be made by the Payor to the Payee and sent to the State Disbursement Unit in San Antonio.

The McLennan County Child Support Office posts all payments by name, account number or cause number for orders entered prior to January 1, 1994.

All Child Support payments received by the Child Support Office are processed within 48 hours of receipt and mailed out the next business day if the following information is correct and instructions are followed:

·         The payment is made by certified check, cashier's check, money order, cash, personal check, Western Union checks, or company checks.

• All payments made through the Child Support Office should be made payable to the Payee.
• Print Payor’s or Obligor’s name and account no. or cause number on each payment.

Payments for orders prior to January 1, 1994 can be made in person at:  300 Courthouse Annex Waco, Texas 76701.  Enter on the ground floor at 501 Washington Avenue Waco, Texas 76701.
                                                                             

Or mailed to: P.O. Box 2451 Waco, Texas 76703
                                                                      

Back to top

Child Support Payment Window

The Child Support payment window is located in the District Clerk’s Office of the McLennan County Courthouse Annex. When paying in person at the payment window, you must provide the Clerk with the name, account number or cause number in order for them to access your account.

When making a payment the following information must be included on the check, money order or cashier’s check:

• The Cause Number
• The Name of the Payor
• The Name of the Payee

TEMPORARY CHECKS ARE NOT ACCEPTED

Back to top

Processing Of Payments

·         We post payments received by 4:00 p.m. on the day received.

·         For individuals whose payment is processed by the McLennan County Child Support Office and who receive support payment by wage withholding in combination with others, the payments are credited to their account and checks are mailed within 3 business days of being received.

·         For cases handled by the SDU payments made to the McLennan County District Clerk will be mailed to the SDU the next business day.  Payments made through the SDU are not processed locally.

Payment History

We can provide a payment history to anyone who asks.  A payment history is a list of the payments that were paid through McLennan County Child Support. We do not keep a record of payments sent directly to the SDU or the Attorney General’s Office nor can we record payments that are made directly to the Payee. A payment history is public record. You are entitled to a free payment history if you are current in your annual child support fee payments to the Child Support Division.  If you are not current then you must become current or pay a fee of $1.00 per page. The methods in which an individual may obtain a payment history are :

• Send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:  McLennan County Child Support
                                                                            P.O. Box 2451 Waco, Texas 76703
  Cause number or child support account number must be included with the request. 

·         Request payment history in person at 300 Courthouse Annex Waco, Texas 76701. You can pick up a payment history printout Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at the inquiry window.

Note: Law (privacy act, Govt. code section 552.101), prohibits us from giving out the Payee’s and/or the Payor’s address and phone number. This information should not be given to anyone regardless of his or her association to the case. The only time address information can be released is if we receive a court order signed by the judge. For this reason address information is not on the payment history.

Back to top

Payment Types Legend

This is an explanation of some of the most frequently used payment types that are listed on the third column of the payment history printout.

Stop Payment

A stop payment is a request made only by the Payee when a check drawn from the McLennan County Child Support account has not been received. This can only be requested if your case is not with the SDU. The following steps are required for a stop payment to be processed.

• A stop payment can be processed only after 10 business days from the date the payment was mailed. To process the stop payment prior to the 10 business days you must agree to pay the $20 fee assessed by the bank. This fee cannot be taken from the payment being stopped or any future payment.

·         The stop payment request cannot be sent in any earlier than the 10 required business days.  A form is provided for your convenience under Forms.

·         The following information is needed on the request, which can be faxed, mailed or submitted to the information window. 

• Cause number or child support account number
• Payor and Payee’s name
• Date of check
• Amount of check
• McLennan County check number
• Signature of the Payee
• Copy of the Payee’s state issued I.D.
• Daytime phone number

If the check has not been cashed it will be voided and reissued within 3 business days.

NOTE: If your payments have been redirected to the State Disbursement Unit (SDU), you will have to submit an SDU stop payment form directly to them. You can retrieve the form at Office of the Attorney General, click on Child Support, then click on Forms & Contacts, and then click on Request for Warrant Cancellation. Please return to the address listed on the form. 

For checks paid directly by the Payor to the Payee either through wage withholding or individually you must deal directly with the business or the person.

Back to top

Child Support Filing Information

Initial Filing

McLennan County Child Support does not have the paperwork to establish child support. When you want to establish child support, you can hire an attorney, ask the Attorney General for representation, or go to any law library to obtain information on how to prepare your own petition for child support. The McLennan County Law Library is located at 4^th Floor McLennan County Courthouse 501 Washington Waco, Texas 76701.

Establishing a Case in the Child Support System

Child Support is NOT automatically set up in our office once the judge has signed the order. McLennan County Child Support must receive the Child Support Information Sheet or a copy of the court order. After we receive this information from the Payee, the Payor, one of the attorneys, or the Attorney General’s Office, we can establish this case to receive payments. We cannot take this information over the phone.  To establish the case we first need the cause number. This is the number located at the top of the court order. This number is between 7 and 9 digits. The McLennan County Information sheet must be filled out completely and signed. It can be faxed, mailed or brought into our office.

Enforcement of Child Support

McLennan County Child Support is a court registry. This means we simply receive and disburse child support payments as they are made through our office. We do NOT enforce, nor do we have the authority to enforce child support. Since we are not an enforcement agency, this means we do not track payments owed, payments missed, late payments, etc. This is done either by:

·         The Attorney General’s Office- They are a state office that can assist in every aspect of child support enforcement.

• A private attorney
• Third Party Collectors- These are private child support collection agencies.

Modification of Child Support

A modification is any change to the terms of a child support order and must be signed by a judge. Possible changes include an increase or decrease in child support, a change of Payee, change of Payor, or the frequency of the payment. This modification must be submitted to McLennan County Child Support before the change can be made in our system. To obtain a modification, you must contact a private attorney; the Attorney General’s Office or obtain information from a law library on how to prepare your own modification. The McLennan County Law Library is located at the Fourth Floor 501 Washington Avenue McLennan County Courthouse Waco, Texas 76701. Although the reference material is available from the County law library, there is no one available to assist you in your research or preparation.

Wage Withholding

After the judge has signed a wage withholding order, customers wanting the Payor’s wages withheld should contact our Child Support Section. The mailing address is: McLennan County District Clerk’s Office P.O. Box 2451 Waco, Texas 76703.  The physical address is:  300 Courthouse Annex Waco, Texas 76701.  The phone number is (254)757-5057. There is a $15 fee for this service. The office accepts cash, personal checks, cashier’s checks, credit cards or money orders as payment. A new wage-withholding request must be filed each time the Payor changes employment.

Termination of Child Support

McLennan County Child Support can NOT determine whether child support can or will be stopped. If your case is with the Attorney General, you will need to contact them directly. If your case is not with the Attorney General you should refer back to your court order or your attorney for information regarding termination of child support. If wages are being garnished you will need to contact your employer to find out what is required by the employer to terminate child support. Should a termination order be necessary, you will need to contact either a private attorney, or go to any law library to retrieve information on how to prepare your own termination order.

Payee Deceased

If the Payee is deceased and the Payee information needs to be changed, we need a signed court order by a district or family court judge. The order can be from the court of continuing jurisdiction stating the name of the new person set to receive the payments or the person who has legal guardianship of the children. We cannot return the money to the Payor without a signed court order. This order, once signed by the judge, must be submitted to McLennan County Child Support before this change can be made in our system.

Back to top

Child Support Changes to Case Information

Change of Address

Only the Payor or Payee can request a change to his or her address. The following information must be provided:

• Cause number or child support account number
• Payor and Payee’s name
• The old address and the new address
• Signature of the person making the request
• Copy of the state issued valid I.D.
• Daytime telephone number

Attorneys CANNOT make changes to their clients’ addresses.

The request for change of address may be done in person, at 300 Courthouse Annex Waco, Texas 76701.  You may also mail the request to P.O. Box 2451 Waco, Texas 76703.

Change of Name

Only the Payor or Payee can request a change to their name. The following information must be provided:

• Cause number or child support account number
• Payor and Payee’s name
• The new and old name of the person changing their name
• Signature of person making the change
• Daytime telephone number
• One of the following documents
• A copy of your state issued valid I.D. noting your new name
• A copy of your marriage certificate
• Signed court order stating the change of name

The request for change of name may be done in person, 300 Courthouse Annex Waco, Texas 76701, at our information window.  You may also mail the request to P.O. Box 2451 Waco, Texas 76703.

Back to top