Enforcing Child Support

“Child support” refers to the monthly payments that are made from one parent to the other parent for the purposes of raising their children.

The money from a child support payment may only be used to pay for items that affect the health and well-being of the children. This includes food, clothing, medical needs, school expenses, day care, extracurricular expenses, and so on.

How Are Child Support Payments Determined?

When a couple is divorcing, important questions include how much will the child support award be, and who will pay it?

Child support awards will incorporate several factors, including:

• Each parent’s gross monthly income from all sources
• The amount of any benefits the child(ren) receive from Social Security or the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs because of a parent’s disability or retirement
• How many children each parent has
• Any child support orders already in place for either parent
• The monthly cost for medical and dental health insurance coverage
• The amount of child care costs
• Any special educational costs, or physical, emotional or mental needs of the children
• The amount of parenting time each parent will get with the child(ren). Typically, the parent who has the child the greatest number of days/hours will receive child support, and the other will pay it
• Any spousal maintenance orders for either parent

I Need Help Enforcing Child Support. Where do I Start?

Enforcing child support may be necessary in instances where the paying parent has failed to meet the required child support payments.

Child support enforcement measures are usually handled through a child support enforcement agency. This is a government department (usually at the county level) that is dedicated to all matters involving child support enforcement. If you need help enforcing child support, it may be necessary to submit a claim with a local child support enforcement agency.

Child support enforcement agencies perform various tasks, including:

• Examining child support payment histories to determine whether any amounts are due
• Identifying parents who may be responsible for child support payments (including performing paternity tests if necessary)
• Enforcing different measures in order to collect missing amounts, including garnishing wages from the parent’s paycheck, or seizing property in order to make up for missing amounts
• Reporting related issues to a judge such as child abuse and neglect

Child support enforcement agencies may also assist with issues involving back child support payments (i.e., failed payments that have accumulated over time).

Note that the agency can act without the participation of the parent who owes the child support, However, the agency cannot act without informing the delinquent parent. Under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, states may not deprive individuals of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. Due process of law requires the state to give notice to the parent who owes child support, that the state intends to use the collection power.

The notice explains the collection procedure. The notice also gives the delinquent parent the right to challenge the measure the state wants to use to collect the payment. The notice also informs the noncustodial parent of the date by which they must challenge the measure, and explains that if the parent fails to make the back payments, the government will take action to collect those payments.

How Are Child Support Disputes Resolved by Courts?

Working with a child support enforcement agency is not your only option. You may also file a petition with the court. Your case will be heard by the same judge who originally issued the child support order.

Failing to pay child support can have severe consequences. Courts take this responsibility very seriously and will typically give high priority to cases of missed child support payments.

When your ex misses a child support payment or does not pay the full amount, you can enlist the help of the court and state to have the child support order enforced. One enforcement option is a Motion for Contempt of Court. If your ex repeatedly fails to obey the order to pay child support, you can ask the judge to hold them in contempt of court.

They will be held in contempt if they were ordered to pay support, knew about the order, and failed to pay without good reason. A person in contempt of court is typically given a chance to correct the problem. If the parent does not do what the judge orders to correct the problem, the person can actually be put in jail until they are willing to follow the order.

The type of punishment for not paying child support will usually depend on the reasons that a parent failed to pay child support and also on how far behind they are in missed payments. Consequences for not paying child support may include:

• Wage garnishment order from the court. A wage garnishment order will inform an employer to withhold a certain portion of a person’s paycheck until the amount of the child support is paid off. The withheld amount will be paid directly to you
• Withholding of a tax refund
• The court may order that a lien be placed against the parent’s property until the payments have been made. If the parent fails to do so before the lien period expires, then the property can be seized and sold to pay the child support
• Unemployment Insurance Benefits (UIB) may be intercepted. Under UIB intercept, overdue child support payments are deducted from the weekly unemployment insurance benefit payments of parents who owe back child support;
• The court may report the delinquent payments to the credit report agencies. Child support payments are debts. The parent owing these payments is a debtor, and the parent who is owed child support is a creditor. A parent who owes back child support is said to be “delinquent” in payment. Parents who are delinquent may have their names given to the three major agencies for consumer credit reporting (Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian).
  • Being listed as a debtor on a consumer credit report can lower a person’s credit score. This means lenders may decide not to give a loan or extend credit to a delinquent parent until the debt (the past due child support) is paid
• The court may revoke or suspend the parent’s driving privileges and recreational licenses such as hunting licenses. In a worst case scenario, the court may even revoke a professional license like one issued by an attorney’s bar association or a doctor’s medical board.
• The court may deduct the owed child support from lottery winnings. Some states that run lotteries take a portion of a noncustodial parent’s lottery winnings, so that the money can pay for overdue child support.
• Criminal consequences: A criminal warrant may be issued when prosecutors are asked to intervene in a child support case. This can happen when a parent has failed to pay child support for an extended period of time (usually around a year or when the amount owed surpasses $5,000).
  • The parent may then be arrested and will need to appear in court where they can be convicted. A conviction in a criminal case for failing to pay child support can result in heavy criminal fines, a lengthy prison sentence, and the loss of some parental rights.

Do I Need a Lawyer for Help Enforcing Child Support Payments?

Child support payments are important for the benefit and upbringing of the child or children involved. You may need to hire a qualified child support lawyer if you need help with child support enforcement.

An attorney can provide you with legal advice and can guide you throughout the entire legal process. Also, your lawyer can represent you in the event that you need to file a lawsuit or make an appearance in court.