Intergovernmental Services

Child Support Services Across Borders 

States - Tribes - Countries

Federal laws and regulations assure parents get similar child support services wherever they live - even when parents live in different jurisdictions from one another.

The Child Support Handbook - Working Across Borders provides a lot of information on inter-jurisdictional services.

Incoming Intergovernmental Case

Each state Child Support Program has a Central Registry whose primary function is receiving, distributing, and responding to inquiries from other jurisdictions. 

When the parent who owes support resides in Montana and the other parent lives in a different jurisdiction, the other jurisdiction may request assistance from Montana through its Central Registry in Helena. The Central Registry processes the incoming request by making sure the request for assistance includes all information necessary for proceeding with the case. Once all the necessary information is received, the case is provided full services.

Outgoing Intergovernmental Case

If Montana cannot proceed with a case because one of the parents lives in a different jurisdiction, Montana will refer the case to the Child Support agency in the jurisdiction where the other parent lives.  This is called an outgoing intergovernmental case. There are many federal laws and rules governing intergovernmental case management to ensure families receive similar services wherever they live.