Along with child custody questions, child support is one of the most disputed issues when couples separate. It is important to understand your responsibilities if you have to pay child support. You also should know your rights if you are owed child support. Fortunately for Utah residents, the Office of Recovery Services (ORS), a part of the Utah Department of Human Services, can educate you about your rights and obligations under child support laws.
Some common child support issues and disputes involve:
- Disputes over payment amounts and schedules
- Issues with collecting child support payments (late or missed payments)
- Using child support payments for non-authorized uses (not for the child)
- Withholding visitation if child support is not paid
The court uses the following standard in considering any child support issue: what is in the child’s best interests?
Utah Family Law: Who Needs to Pay Child Support?
The obligation to pay child support falls on the parent who does not have physical custody. This person is the “non-custodial parent” parent, and the one with physical custody is the “custodial parent.” If you share physical custody with the other parent, you may still be required to pay some child support if you do not have the child at least half the time.
Note that if the parties both have custody, the one who spends the most amount of time with the child is the one who receives child support. The courts are fair: if the child support payer spends 3 days a week with the child, they will not have to pay full child support. It will be adjusted to account for the payer’s expenses for caring for the child. For example, if the mother has the child all week and the father has visitation, the child support amount might be $ 1,000 a month. If the mother has the child for 4 days and the father has them for 3 days, the child support amount will be reduced to $571.00 – four-sevenths of $1000.
Child support is determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on the child’s specific needs and the parents’ ability to support the child. Child support calculations may be based on a number of different factors, which can include:
- The income levels of both parents
- Whether the child has any special considerations or needs
- Whether multiple children are involved
- The geographic location where the child is being raised determines the cost of living there
- The history of past child support payments and arrangements (the courts may often lower or raise child support amounts based on previous payments)
- The academic, educational, and extracurricular needs of the child
Utah Family Law: How Can I Get Child Support?
Child support is often awarded as part of divorce or legal separation proceedings. If that is not the case, you can ask for child support by filling out forms available at your local courthouse. You can also apply for child support services through the Utah Department of Human Services.
When applying, you must provide information about yourself, the other parent, and the child, such as Social Security numbers and addresses. You should also have copies of the birth certificates for each child, financial information for both you and the other parent, and copies of any documents regarding paternity.
Utah Family Law: Can I Face Consequences For Not Paying Child Support?
There are several serious consequences for not paying child support. The most common consequence is wage garnishment, where money is automatically removed from your paycheck.
Other potential consequences:
- The state can seize your bank accounts
- The state can seize your tax refunds
- Liens can be put up against your property, including personal property, real property, securities, and other assets
- Your property can be seized and sold to pay the child support debt
- You can lose your passport
- You can lose your driver’s license
- You can lose any professional license you may have
- Credit scores can be impacted
- You are at risk of going to jail for contempt of court
If you are a custodial parent, the Office of Recovery Services can help you receive child support by taking the money from the non-paying parent’s bank account, lottery winnings, or tax refunds.
Utah Family Law: What is Wage Garnishment?
As mentioned, courts sometimes take child support payments directly from the paying parent’s paycheck. This is known as “wage garnishment” and is typically ordered when the paying parent has not kept up with the regular child support payments.
Under a wage garnishment order, the paying parent’s employer will be directed to set aside a portion of the parent’s paycheck, which will be used for the child support payments. The payments may go directly to the court, or in some cases, they may be processed through an agency that handles those types of financial arrangements.
Utah Family Law: Will I Lose My Visitation For Not Paying?
Child visitation and child support are two different legal issues. This means that nonpayment of child support should not necessarily affect your visitation rights. You may ask the court to enforce your visitation order if the other parent is being vindictive and refusing to let you see your kids because of nonpayment.
However, there is a difference between being behind on child support payments and refusing to pay child support. Not paying child support only hurts your child. Refusing to pay child support to spite the other parent will ultimately impact your rights to visitation since it reflects on your willingness to provide for your child.
Utah Family Law: How Can I Avoid Paying Child Support?
There are legal ways that you can end child support. The most straightforward and common way to end the obligation to pay child support is to prove that you are not the child’s father. This often happens when a couple is married, and the husband is legally the presumed father, but the wife became pregnant by someone else. You can ask for a paternity test if you think you are not the father.
If you were not married, but you voluntarily established paternity (e.g., you put your name on the birth certificate), you have 60 days to take that back and prove that you are not the parent through a paternity test.
You can also reach an agreement with the other parent, which has to be approved by the court. Note that since child support belongs to the child, not to the parent, courts sometimes refuse to approve an agreement between the parents to stop child support.
The idea is that neither parent can take away money that belongs to the child. One way to avoid this is to agree that instead of monthly child support, the noncustodial parent will transfer a significant amount of property or money to the custodial parent.
Child support automatically ends if:
- The child turns 18 or graduates from high school (whichever comes later)
- The basis of child support was the child’s disability, and the disability no longer exists
- The child becomes emancipated
- The child marries
- The child dies
Where Can You Find the Right Utah Child Support Lawyer?
Since child support is such a complicated aspect of family law and can have consequences that last for years, it is very important to find the right lawyer. You should find a Utah child support lawyer to assist you in asserting your rights. Your attorney can provide legal advice and guidance for your child support situation.
One of the key advantages of using an attorney for child support issues is that the attorney will not get caught up in emotional issues surrounding the issue. The other parent might want to fight with you but might be willing to concede some points if they are dealing with your lawyer instead.
