Most children grow up dreaming of a time when they can be with someone they love and have a child or two. They think of how much they will love the child, and of how they will raise the child together. Far too often, however, parents don't manage to make the relationship work, and the child is destined to live with one parent or the other. The parent that the child does not live with is many times required to pay what is known as child support, a specific amount of money that is designed, by the court, to help the custodial parent pay for everything that the child needs. But also all too frequently, the non-custodial parent skips out on paying their child support, or they claim that they don't have enough money to pay the support. When this happens, free public records may be able to help the custodial parent get the support that they need.

Searching Locally

If the child's other parent works in your area, you'd want to look at state public records first. Look for things like employment records, which can often be found if you know where to search. What's easier to find, however, are records about their real estate matters, which can often give you a lot of information. If the parent says that they do not have much money available, research what types of property they own. Much real estate information is available as free public records and if you find that they have purchased a home, you'll likely be able to find out how much they purchased the home for, and you'll have more ammunition available when you go back to court. These state public records are very easy to find no matter whether they're living in your town or another town.

Searching Wider

If the other person doesn't live in your state, you'll have to expand your search. Free public records can help because they can assist you with locating information (again, like real estate transactions) which you may not know about if the person is living in another state. You may also be able to learn about any court cases that they have been involved with. If they've been involved with other matters, such as lawsuits, that information can also be very helpful.

And, of course, you can use free public records to actually locate the other parent. Sometimes the other parent simply disappears, and unfortunately the state only has so much money available to try to locate them in order to get the funds they're supposed to pay you. Using free public records, however, can enable you to find them yourself. You may be able to quickly locate them, or you may have to search a bit. Either way, as soon as you locate them, you can take that information to the state and they can go from there to get access to the funds that the other parent is supposed to be paying you for child support.