Survey of Maintenance Enforcement Programs (SMEP)

Support payment beneficiary of maintenance enforcement case, type

Support payment beneficiary refers to the person(s) entitled to the benefit of the support payment, and is named in the support order. The beneficiary may be children only, spouse only, or both. In a very small number of cases in some jurisdictions, the beneficiary may also be a parent of the payor.

Maintenance enforcement case refers to a case that is registered involving one payer and one recipient and the financial obligations that are being monitored/enforced by the program (MEP). The program processes payments, monitors and enforces cases in order to ensure that recipients receive their payments of child and spousal support.

The data for this variable are reported using the following classifications and/or lists:

• Beneficiary of maintenance enforcement program