United States Rule, which was derived from common law and required partial payments of debt to be applied first to unpaid interest and thereafter to principal debt, did not provide method of allocating and distributing father’s child support payments as to current child support, accumulated arrearages, and interest on past due amounts, but rather statutes and Department of Human Services (DHS) rules controlled method of allocation, such that principal portion of past due child support would be reduced before accrued interest; specific statutes and rules were enacted to deal with child support obligations, and father paid his child support through DHS central support registry.
Laura W. Morgan is the owner and operator at Family Law Consulting in Charlottesville, Virginia. Laura is available for consultation, brief writing and research on family law issues throughout the country. She can be reached through her website: www.
