The Child Support Division provides legal counsel and representation to the Department of Health and Human Services Division of Support Enforcement and Recovery. Representation is provided in cases in which parents are in receipt of public assistance, as well as in cases in which parents are not in receipt of public assistance and receive non-welfare services from the Division of Support Enforcement and Recovery. Parents and legal guardians may seek assistance from the State in establishing and collecting child support obligations and in establishing paternity for their children. The Division also provides representation to the Division of Support Enforcement and Recovery for non-Maine residents under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act.
The Division's work is primarily civil in nature. Division attorneys appear daily in child support cases representing the Division of Support Enforcement and Recovery before the Family Division of the Maine District Court and in Probate Court proceedings.
Debby Willis, Division Chief
Debby Willis is Chief of the Child Support Division. She was born and raised in Piscataquis County. She received her undergraduate degree from Campbell University in North Carolina, her law degree from North Carolina Central University and her masters in tax law from Boston University. She practiced international transactional work for nearly ten years before returning to Maine and taking up the practice of family law concentrating on child support. She was the in-house counsel for child support and an administrative hearing officer for the Department of Health and Human Services before joining the Office of the Attorney General.
Ms. Willis' extensive knowledge of federal and child support law is a valuable resource to this Office and the State. Her tireless efforts to share her vast knowledge are acknowledged and appreciated by the private bar and the courts. Family law attorneys are often urged by the Court to contact Ms. Willis if they have a child support issue. She is respected for her fair, balanced and nonpartisan approach to child support. She trains at Family Law seminars for the Maine State Bar Association. She has also trained attorneys and staff from other states through the Eastern Regional Interstate Child Support Associations (ERICSA) and is a resource for the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement.