THERE were some great questions to choose from for Reader Request Wednesday, but I felt like dealing with ones about child custody this week since I've been dealing with some custody issues myself lately.

First up, is Eric, who asks "My baby momma hasn't paid child support one time since I got custody of our son. I am getting by, but it would help a lot if she pitched in. Is there anything I can do to make her pay?"

A. Getting your back child support will take some work, but with some effort you should be able to collect what you are owed. Here are seven things you can do:

1. Make sure you have a child support order- Just because you think you are owed child support doesn't automatically mean you will get it. You must have a court order stating the child support terms.

2. Talk to your ex- In the event you do have a court order, the first thing you should do is talk to your ex. If they are hostile or you are unable to find them, that is one thing, but there may be circumstances in their lives explaining why payments have ceased. Talk to them, find out and make plans to have payments continued.

3. Keep records- If your ex still doesn't want to pay, you are going to need to have some records of what you think you are owed. You can download this free time tracker tool, use a child support calculator or buy some other support tracking software to keep detailed records to prove your case.

4. Contact your state child enforcement agency- Take your records to your local child support enforcement agency and fill out the required paperwork. Most often they will garnish the delinquent parents wages or place a lien on some of their property. You can also find your state's child support laws here.

5. Hire a child support recovery company- If for some reason your state agency cannot help you recover back child support, there is a good chance a third party service can help. They typically take 1/3 of the recovered amount, but they have higher recovery rates than some states. Some of these companies include Child Support Recovery, Support Kids and Support Collectors.

6. Get an attorney- It's good to try other options, but if nothing else has worked, get an attorney and see what they can do. The threat of lawsuit may be enough to convince your ex to pay up. If not, perhaps following through will yield some results.

7. Read the Child Support Enforcement Handbook- This free 93-page book should be able to give you some other idea as to what you can do to recover any child support payments you may be owed.

Hope that helps Eric. Please come back and let us know how things turn out.

DAD TALK

* What type of child support agreement do you and your ex have?
* Has it worked out for you?
* Are you interested in improving your child support situation or does it seem like more hassle than it is worth?

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