Beaver County Court of Common Pleas

Filing the Initial Complaint

In order to begin the process to receive support, a complaint must be filed by the Petitioner (person seeking support) against the Respondent (person who must pay the support). Domestic Relations will accept your complaint to start support proceedings when it receives all pertinent information.

The party filing the support action should provide as much of the following information as possible at the time of the scheduled intake appointment:

1. The Social Security numbers for all parties (plaintiff and defendant) and for each child for whom support is sought;

2. A birth certificate for each child for whom support is sought;

3. The Defendant’s home address and the address of his or her employer;

4. Proof of medical coverage;

5. Marriage license / divorce decree / current PFA;

6. The last six pay stubs;

7. A copy of the previous year’s tax return;

8. Proof of other sources of income for the Defendant

Failure to provide the intake officer with the above information will slow the processing procedure and will then cause a delay in the receipt of support. Please come prepared on the day of your intake appointment and supply as much information as possible.

The Support Conference

After the intake of a new case is complete and the petition is filed, the case is forwarded to a Conference Officer, who will schedule a conference to determine the amount of support to be contributed by each party.

Both should be present at the conference. In the event of an out-of-State client, a phone conference would be appropriate. Conference Officers encourage parties to come to an agreed amount of support. In the event an agreement cannot be reached, an Order of Support is entered by recommendation of the Conference Office based on the guidelines established by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and other criteria. The Order as prepared at the conference is submitted to a judge for his review and signature.

If a party is not in agreement with a recommended order, that party should file exceptions within 10 days of the date of the Order. In some cases, both parties file exceptions. A hearing on those exceptions will then be scheduled before a judge. However, the original Order remains in effect during that time before the hearing on the exceptions takes place.

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