When Is Child Support Due?

The court that issues an order for the payment of child support includes when it should be paid in the order. Most courts order that child support payments be made monthly on a certain day of each month. But what happens if payments are late or not made at all?

What Is a Child Support Order?

A child support order is an order of a court that directs one parent to pay the other a certain amount of money to provide financial support for their child or children. It is a legally binding order, which basically means it cannot be avoided. If the parent who is ordered to pay child support wants to change the order, they would have to apply to the court for a change.

Child support orders can be issued either by a state court or a state government agency. The purpose of these payments is to help meet the child’s needs for health care, education, housing, food, clothing, and other essentials.

Each state has its own formula that courts within the state use to calculate how much support should be paid for each child. The formula considers the child’s living expenses, medical needs, and the paying parent’s income, among other factors. Of course, if more than one child is involved, the child support payment must be higher. The amount reflects the number of children that have to be supported.

Child support orders tend to put the payment due date towards the end of the month. This ensures that the paying parent has sufficient funds to meet their obligations, as many workers are not necessarily paid on the first of the month.

What Happens If Child Support Is Paid Late?

Technically, a child support payment is considered late if it is not paid on the date specified in the court order for payment. Generally, however, the parent who receives the child support is not going to take any action if a payment is a few days late.

However, if payments are habitually late, or left unpaid for several months at a time, then the paying parent can expect the receiving parent to take action to collect the unpaid support payments. This is when the receiving parent can return to court to seek enforcement of the child support order or turn to other government agencies for help in enforcing the child support obligation.

The first step is usually for the receiving parent to file a motion for contempt of court in the family law court that issued the child support order. After a hearing at which the receiving parent would have to show that the parent who was ordered to pay has not paid, how much is owed and for how long it has been owed.

The judge then has a number of ways to enforce the court order, such as the following:

• Declaring the non-paying parent in contempt of court;
• Garnishing the non-paying parent’s wages or other income;
• Suspending the non-paying parent’s driver’s license;
• Issuing a lien against the non-paying parent’s personal or real property;
• Freezing the non-paying parent’s bank accounts;
• Reporting the non-paying parent’s debt to credit reporting agencies;
• Sentencing the parent to jail time until they pay the required support.

What Happens If I Don’t Pay Child Support?

Both the federal and state governments take the non-payment of court-ordered child support very seriously. Most states have laws that allow district attorneys to impose a number of serious consequences if someone refuses to pay the child support they owe. The custodial parent will seek the help of the court and state authorities to enforce the court order and levy any measures allowed by law.

The repercussions of failing to pay child support may include:

• Garnishment of Paychecks: The court can order that any of the non-paying parent’s income sources can be accessed to meet their child support requirements. One of the most powerful moves a court can make is to garnish the non-paying parent’s paycheck. This means that a portion of the parent’s paycheck is sent to the court to satisfy the child-support debt and is not forwarded to the person who should receive the payment. Moreover, past-due child support payments can also be taken from workers’ compensation benefits, unemployment benefits, and tax refunds;
• Liens And Seizures: A court can have a lien placed on the person’s real or personal property, which might be lifted only when all unpaid child support is paid. In addition, a court can order that bank and other accounts can be seized for payment;
• License Suspensions: The court or a state agency can suspend the non-paying parent’s drivers, recreation, and professional licenses as well;
• Credit Hits: Child support debt is considered high-priority and must be reported to credit agencies. Failure to make child support payments will show up on the non-paying parent’s credit reports, which can affect their ability to get a mortgage, other loans, housing, or a job in the future;
• Contempt of Court: In extreme circumstances, if a court holds a person in contempt of court for violating a child support order, a judge can issue a warrant for the person’s arrest. They can then be arrested and spend time in jail.

The federal Department of Health and Human Services has an Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE). When a non-custodial parent does not pay child support regularly, the OCSE can take action to enforce child support orders and collect both monthly payments and amounts that are past due. Many of them are the same actions that a family law court can take, but some are different:

• Garnishing paychecks;
• Confiscating bank and other accounts, e.g., retirement accounts;
• Intercepting a state or federal income tax refund;
• Withholding other one-time or recurring federal payments such as pension payments, salary, payments to vendors or contractors, and other federal payments;
• Denying a passport;
• Suspending licenses, such as a driver’s license, occupational licenses, e.g., a contractor’s license; and recreational licenses;
• Placing liens on property;
• Reporting child support debts to credit reporting agencies.

For cases being handled by the OSCE, the Federal Tax Refund Offset Program (FTROP) collects past-due support payments from the tax refunds of parents who owe child support. There is also a Passport Denial Program, which is part of the FTROP. It is designed to help states enforce delinquent child support obligations.

Under this program, the OSCE submits a record of parents that have been certified by a state as having past-due child support in an amount that is more than $2,500 to the U.S. State Department. The State Department denies the applications of these parents for U.S. passports.

If a parent is referred to the State Department for passport denial, the OCSE does not automatically remove them from the Passport Denial Program if their past-due child support should fall below $2,500.

Are Late Payment Consequences the Same as Retroactive Child Support?

Most child support orders assume that the support ordered is to be paid after the order is issued. But courts may order the payment of retroactive child support also. This would be, for example, support that covers the period after a divorce petition is filed and before the court orders support, so it is retroactive child support.

Retroactive child support might also be awarded in cases in which the parents were not married at the time of a child’s birth. The parent who has custody might go to court to establish paternity and seek child support, including child support for the time that has passed since the child’s birth. Most states impose time limits on actions for retroactive child support of this kind. For example, in California, the custodial parent can ask for retroactive child support to cover only the three years that preceded the filing of the application for child support with the court.

Retroactive child support might also be ordered under other circumstances. For example, a receiving spouse might request retroactive support, that is, additional support payments for periods of time in the past for reasons such as:

• The paying spouse concealed assets to get lower child support payment amounts;
• The custodial parent needs to be reimbursed for expenses that were not anticipated and arose from an emergency situation;
• The court finds other pressing reasons for extra funds to be paid to help care for the child.

Retroactive child support is treated in the same way as regular child support in terms of payment calculations and payment schedules. And, if a court orders retroactive child support and it is not paid, then the same measures can be taken to collect it as can be taken to collect regular child support.

Do I Need an Attorney to Help with Late Child Support?

Sadly, late and unpaid child support is a common problem that many parents deal with while also struggling to raise a family.

If you are struggling with an issue regarding child support payments, contact an experienced child support lawyer who handles family law and child support and custody problems. They will know the proper procedure to follow to collect unpaid child support and ensure that you receive future payments on time.