Will closing my child support case affect my CalWORKs benefits?

Be VERY careful about this! If you close your child support case while on CalWORKs, you could lose 25% of your cash aid amount as a penalty for non-cooperation. The county requires cooperation with child support as a condition of eligibility unless you have a good cause exemption (like domestic violence). If your ex pays you directly, you'd have to report that income on your SAR7 anyway, and it would count against your grant. Plus there's no official record of payment which could cause problems for both of you later.

my cousin tried to do this last year and ended up with so many headaches. the county reduced her grant and then when her ex stopped paying directly (which OF COURSE he did eventually) she had to restart the whole child support process from scratch. not worth it imo

I work with CalWORKs recipients, and this is a common question. Here are the facts: 1. You must cooperate with child support while receiving CalWORKs unless you have a "good cause" exemption 2. Closing your case voluntarily is considered non-cooperation 3. The penalty is 25% of your cash aid amount 4. Any direct payments from your ex must be reported as income on your SAR7 5. If you report the income correctly, you'd likely see a similar reduction in benefits anyway (dollar for dollar after the first $225 of income) The advantage of keeping child support open is enforcement - if he stops paying, the county can help collect. With private payments, you have no recourse except going back to square one. If you're concerned about his willingness to pay through the system, remember that consistent payments through child support can actually help him build credit in some cases.

hey, wanted to jump in - if ur ex is suddenly being nice about paying support directly, be suspicious! my ex tried this exact thing and it was just so he could control when/if he paid. then when we had a disagreement he stopped completely and i had no proof he ever paid me anything. keep the case open with the county!!

Another option: you could apply for a good cause exemption from child support cooperation if there's any history of threats, violence, or if cooperating would somehow endanger you or your children. This would let you keep your full CalWORKs grant without the child support requirement. But it doesn't sound like that applies to your situation if you're on good terms now.

Have you tried calling your eligibility worker to ask about this? I had a question about my case last month and spent THREE DAYS trying to get through on the county line. kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours. So frustrating!! I finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to a real person in like 15 minutes. They have a video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE. Your worker should be able to tell you exactly how closing the child support case would affect your specific CalWORKs amount.

One more thing I forgot to mention - if you decide to keep the child support case open (which I strongly recommend), your ex can still give extra help beyond his court-ordered amount. Things like buying clothes, paying for extracurriculars, or other direct expenses for the children don't count as income you need to report as long as the money never comes to you directly. This might be a good compromise - he can feel good about helping extra while you maintain the security of an enforceable order.