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If your child support isn’t getting paid, it creates financial hardship and emotional stress on the custodial parent. Child support is taken to be one of the crucial resources custodial parents have to help take care of the children. If you have a child-support order and do not receive the ordered amount, know what rights you have under the law and what options you have to enforce the order. This blog is going to walk you through on what to do if you are not getting the child support amount that you are entitled to be receiving.
Child support is a stipulated payment that one parent is supposed to make to the custodial parent, which is designed to help pay for a child’s basic needs. These child support payments typically cover the cost of the child’s food, shelter, school, and health care.
Child support is an official responsibility and is legally enforceable, states the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. If a non-paying parent is not fulfilling his responsibility, that parent might have to suffer from legal consequences even if he or she is short on money.
While there are plenty of reasons why child support can stop or vary, some of the most common issues causing this are:
Financial Hardship: The non-custodial parent may face an economic crisis such as losing a job or a cut in working hours.
Dispute: At times, disputes among parents can cause the withholding.
Lack of Enforce: If the custodial parent has little interest in it, then the non-custodial parent will also relax.
First, read through the child support order to understand the terms and amounts. Normally, it will state the amount you owe and when. If it doesn’t, or you don’t understand it, then you might want to meet with a family law attorney.
In many cases, all it takes is a simple explanation. The noncustodial parent may not even know that they are quite many payments past time or can be having a temporary problem with their finances. It pays to communicate about the issue without making it a legal matter.
Keep detailed records of all child-support payments that have gone unpaid. Such documentation will be beneficial in case you have to enforce the support order through the courts. Dates, amounts, and communication with the non-custodial parent concerning the unpaid support should be noted.
Each state has a child support enforcement agency to assist, and the same will go after unpaid child support on your behalf. Contact your local child support office if you are not getting your payments—this is very important. The agency can and will enforce collection through wage garnishment, seizing assets, and tax return interceptions.
You can find your local office on their website in the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE).
If informal actions are not successful, you may need to pursue a legal remedy to enforce the child support order. The most common methods include:
Contempt of Court Motion: This is one of the most common legal challenges you would have to make if the non-custodial co-parent is acting in defiance to the intent behind the court order. Fines, garnishment of wages, or in some cases jail, are typical examples of consequences from contempt.
Request for Wage Garnishment: You may ask the court to direct the non-custodial parent’s employer to divert child support payment from the check of the non-custodial parent directly to you.
Talk to a family law attorney and ask about your best legal options.
You will find a number of state and federal resources available to help you collect your back child support, such as:
State Child Support Enforcement Agencies: These agencies may help enforce meeting the obligation of the parent in child support through numerous enforcement methods like intercepting tax refunds, suspending licenses, and placing liens on property.
Federal Parent Locator Service: This federal resource can assist in locating a non-custodial parent whose whereabouts are unknown. More information can be found via U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
They will learn that other enforcement, other enforcement including:
Some of the solutions other than the traditional enforcement are as follows:
Reporting in Credit Bureaus: Credit bureaus can be reported unpaid Child support that can ruin the credit score of the non-custodial Parent. And that could bring the non-custodial parent into the track of payment to increase the credit score that may become a big income for them.
Seizing Assets: The court can authorize the seizure of the non-custodial parent’s assets, for instance, bank accounts, to be used to satisfy unpaid child support obligations.
Child support laws and regulations in every state are different, and you must know your rights. Many resources, such as the Legal Services Corporation, provide information on child support legal matters.
Mediation can be a helpful way to resolve issues about child support without the need to go to court. A neutral third-party mediator can assist two parents in coming to an agreement on payment arrangements. Mediation can be less adversarial and less costly than proceeding in court.
Finally, consider future planning to prevent similar issues. You may wish to seek a review of the child support order to ensure that there are corresponding new terms of financial circumstances. The major strategy to detesting future contention is in frequent updating of the court over the income, changes in employment, and any other relevant information that might have an impact on the child support order.
Not getting child support can be a very hard and stressful period in your life, but luckily, you have several ways to enforce your child support order and secure the payments that your child deserves. By adequately preparing, such as contacting your local child support office or keeping a record of missed payments and following through with legal recourse, you may manage the topic satisfactorily. Think about it: You don’t have to deal with this alone. Resources and legal help are available at each step of the way to help you.
If ever you encounter problems on child support matters, you may want to be advised by a family law attorney regarding your specific case. It is very important that you do anything—that you make an act—to secure your child financially because, as aforementioned, legal remedies are available to address it by enforcing child support obligations.
Ans 1. If the non-custodial parent fails to make child support, one has to file a contempt of court motion. The punishment can apply through fines, wage garnishments, or imprisonment to the non-paying parent.
Ans 2. Yes, child support may be ordered even though the non-custodial parent may be out of a job. The court can derive the order from such benefits as unemployment payments, or the non-custodial parent could be given a compelling reason to actively look for employment.
Ans 3. Be sure to report such incidences to your nearest child support enforcement location. They can take measures to collect whatever they have not been paid, using any number of enforcement mechanisms.
Ans 4. Yes, child support amounts can always be changed if there is a to be significant change of circumstances, usually material in nature, for example, a change in income, loss of job, or a change in the needs of the child. You will have to file a petition for the same with the court.
Ans 5. When you can’t afford a lawyer, some resources such as legal aid organizations, the state child support enforcement agency, or not-for-profit organizations can offer free or low-cost legal assistance.
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