Hi Tanya!! If you do hire an attorney is not although, it is not mandatory when petitioning for child support. Therefore, if you can afford the benefit of hiring an attorney though, which may be costly but then its always recommended that you do hire someone. However, there may be a possibility that you may always represent yourself in court, or use one of many creative ways of hiring an attorney that may cost you nothing at all, or the bare minimum in up front fees.