Child Support Arrears Forgiveness, Decoded

The split

When a family received public assistance, arrears were assigned to the state. That state-owed half is the state's to compromise, and the federal OCSS list records formal programs or compromise authority in most jurisdictions — California's Debt Reduction Program, Maryland's Payment Incentive Program (state arrears halved after 12 months of full payments, eliminated after 24), Texas's Arrears Payment Incentive Program ($1 of credit for every $1 paid on interest and arrears while enrolled), Illinois's Project Clean Slate, New York's district programs. The family-owed half belongs to the other parent: only their voluntary, documented agreement can reduce it, and no agency can force it. Tennessee is the verified inversion — there the family-owed slice is the compromisable one, with court approval, and state-owed cannot be forgiven.

What cannot happen

A judge cannot forgive back support for hardship. Under the Bradley Amendment (42 U.S.C. §666(a)(9)(C)), a payment once due is a judgment that cannot be retroactively modified by any court. Arrears are not dischargeable in bankruptcy. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you something this site will not.

First move: get the split in writing

Most men cannot tell from their own statement how much is state-owed and how much is family-owed. Request the split from the agency, as separate lines, in writing. That letter is the first artifact in the Arrears Forgiveness Kit because every later step routes off it.

Run your state

The Door 2 decoder prints your state's program status, waivable slice, and application path, and the national table prints all of them, including the states that honestly have no program. Episodic programs are labeled — confirm the program is still open before relying on it.

Questions

Can child support arrears be forgiven?

The state-owed part can be reduced by the state in states with a program or compromise authority. The family-owed part can only be reduced by the other parent's voluntary written agreement. A court cannot erase either part retroactively for hardship.

Will the state forgive all of it?

Programs state their own limits — California's program says plainly it will not forgive the entire debt. This site never prints an amount or a percentage for any individual case; approvals are the agency's, and they are discretionary.

Does a payment plan help?

Yes, as a track of its own: Florida's DOR payment agreement can pause or reverse a license suspension, and several programs forgive in stages while a plan is kept. The decoder prints what your state offers.

Rules checked October 2026. General information, not legal advice.