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 Kansas, when parents divorce or separate, and they have a minor child, the court may order the noncustodial parent to pay child support to the custodial parent. This financial support is intended to contribute to the child's living expenses. Kansas law allows for joint custody arrangements, but even in these cases, the parent who has the child for the majority of the time, or who is designated as the primary residential parent, is typically the one to receive child support. The Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) provides services through the Child Support Services (CSS) program to enforce and collect child support payments. Child support can be paid directly from one parent to the other, but often it is collected through wage withholding from the noncustodial parent's employer, which also serves as a form of record-keeping. The amount of child support is determined by state guidelines that consider the income of both parents, the needs of the child, and other relevant factors.