When the parents of a minor child divorce or are no longer living together—or were never married—child support is the amount of money the court orders a parent who does not have primary custody of the child (the noncustodial parent) pay to the parent who does have primary custody (the custodial parent).

In some states the parents may be designated joint managing conservators of the child (joint custody), but one parent is given the right to choose the primary residence of the child, within a geographic area. The parent with this right to choose the child’s primary residence is usually entitled to receive child support payments.

The Office of the Attorney General in your state generally enforces the payment of court-ordered child support. Child support payments generally may be made by direct payment from one parent to the other, or through wage withholding by the employer of the parent who owes child support (the obligor). One advantage to payment by wage withholding is the built-in recordkeeping in the system.

In Alabama, when parents divorce or separate, and they have a minor child, the noncustodial parent is typically required to pay child support to the custodial parent, who has primary custody of the child. Alabama law determines the amount of child support based on an 'Income Shares Model' which considers the income of both parents. The state's child support guidelines are designed to ensure that the child receives the same proportion of parental income that they would have received if the parents lived together. Even in cases of joint custody, the parent who has the child for the majority of the time is usually entitled to receive child support from the other parent. The Alabama Department of Human Resources, through its Child Support Enforcement Division, assists in enforcing child support orders. Payments can be made directly between parents or through wage withholding, where the employer of the noncustodial parent deducts the support payment from their wages. Wage withholding offers the benefit of automatic record-keeping, which can be helpful in disputes or for tax purposes.