Short answer. Under this rule, the application may also be filed successively by the child's own parents, grandparents, or guardian, and finally by the State itself, in the corresponding criminal case while it remains actively pending — not only by the offended party herself, as many people assume.
What the law says
The application therefor may be filed successively by the offended party, her parents, grandparents or guardian and the State in the corresponding criminal case during its pendency, in accordance with the procedure established under this Rule.
Rule 61, Section 6 — Support in criminal cases. Read the full provision →
When this kind of support order is even available
Section 6 applies to a specific situation: a criminal action where the civil liability includes support for a child born as a consequence of the crime, and the civil aspect of the case has not been waived, reserved, or instituted before the criminal case was filed. Where that condition is met, the accused may be ordered to provide support pendente lite — support pending litigation — to the child allegedly born because of the crime.
Who may bring the application, and in what order
The rule lists who may file the application, and it uses the word successively deliberately: the offended party herself, then her parents, grandparents, or guardian, and finally the State. This is not a list where any of them can file at the same time regardless of the others — the succession implies that each following category steps in where the one before it is not the one bringing the application, following the order the rule sets out.
Why the State appears on this list
Including the State among those who may apply reflects that support for a child born of a crime is not treated as a purely private matter between the offended party and the accused. Where the people who would ordinarily be expected to act — the offended party, her parents, grandparents, or guardian — are not the ones bringing the application, the State's inclusion in this list means the child's need for support pendente lite is not left completely unaddressed.
This has to happen within the criminal case itself
The application must be filed in the corresponding criminal case, during its pendency, following the procedure this Rule establishes. It is not a separate, freestanding civil filing — it is tied to the criminal action being actively litigated, and follows the specific procedural steps Rule 61 lays out for applying for support pendente lite in that context. Once the criminal case has concluded, this particular mechanism for obtaining support pendente lite is no longer the applicable route, since the rule frames it as relief tied specifically to a criminal action that remains actively pending before the court.