There are many issues under family law, child support being one of them. Child support typically works like this - a couple is divorced or separated and one of them receives full custody of the children. This person is considered the custodial parent of the children while the other parent is considered the non-custodial parent. The non-custodial parent is almost always required to pay child support to the custodial parent. The judge will determine how much is to be paid based on several factors, including how many children are involved, whether any of them require special care or not, whether or not the non-custodial parent is currently making any other court-ordered payments, and how much the non-custodial parent makes at his or her job. Once the figure is calculated, the judge will issue a court-order requiring the non-custodial parent to pay a certain amount each month or bi-weekly to the custodial parent. Failure to do so could result in serious legal ramificaitons such as jail time, seized property, garnished wages or even suspended driver's licenses.