If you are one of the many parents fighting to receive your court-ordered child support payments in New Mexico, we will explain how the State of New Mexico enforces child support payments. We will also explain what happens when a parent makes the fateful decision not to pay their court ordered child support or they cannot pay due to unforeseen circumstances or circumstance beyond their control.
Parents’ Duty to Support their Children
Parents have a continuing duty to support their children. This duty does not end after divorce or separation, nor does it go away if a parent doesn’t receive regular visitation with his or her child. A parent who tries to avoid paying the child support they owe each month may find themselves facing some very harsh consequences. One consequence is a finding by a judge of “contempt of court.” This can result in fines and possibly jail time for a parent who refuses to follow a child support order.
Child Support Obligations: Overview
Both parents are responsible for supporting their children financially. However, after child support is established by a paternity order, child support order, or divorce decree, only one parent will pay child support – usually the noncustodial parent.
The order or decree will specify the amount of support the noncustodial parent needs to pay. A parent’s obligation to pay child support continues until the court order is changed or until a child turns 18 and graduates from high school in their expected graduation year. (There may be other terms specified in the order.) To learn more about New Mexico child support laws, read Child Support in New Mexico.
Getting a Child Support Court Order
You can obtain a child support order by contacting your local child support agency. In New Mexico the agency is the Child Support Enforcement Division of the New Mexico Human Services Department. You can also hire a New Mexico licensed child support lawyer to represent you in court and ask the judge to order the other parent to pay child support. Another option is for you and the child’s other parent to communicate and reach an agreement.
Either way, a judge will need to review the child support amount and approve it by entering it as a final order before it becomes legally enforceable.
New Mexico Child Support Enforcement Division Explained
The Child Support Enforcement Division of the New Mexico Human Services Department (sometimes referred to as New Mexico CSED) can help parents obtain and enforce a child support order. For more information about CSED, visit their website.
Services Provided by CSED:
- Establish child support
- Withhold wages for child support payments
- Provide location services
- Establish paternity
- Enforce child support orders.
- Enforcing Your New Mexico Child Support Order
Once a court or CSED has established child support, the parent who does not have custody must pay the parent who does have custody. When a parent refuses to comply with a child support order and pays the full amount of child support owed, that parent may be found in contempt of court. Or the parent may be subject to other penalties designed to force him or her to pay child support owed.
You can either hire a lawyer to represent you and your child in court, or you can ask CSED to pursue the case.
To pursue the case in court, you must file paperwork with the court asking the judge to enforce your order. The forms you need will vary by New Mexico county. Some courts will have Child Support Enforcement forms available at the courthouse or they are available online. Please see New Mexico Self Help Forms for more information and access to basic child support enforcement forms.
Once you file your paperwork and serve (or give) the other parent copies of the paperwork, the court will schedule a hearing. Both parents must attend the hearing. If you have questions about what forms to fill out, you may want to consult with a New Mexico family lawyer.
If you choose to let CSED help you enforce a child support order, an attorney or representative from CSED will file all the necessary paperwork and pursue the case on your child’s behalf.
What happens if a Parent Stops Paying Support?
CSED and New Mexico family law judges can use several methods to enforce your child support order and collect past due support. Methods include:
- Wage garnishment
- Taking or placing liens on real or personal property (including cars and houses)
- Suspending or revoking occupational or professional licenses
- Suspending someone’s driver’s license and/or passport
- Tax refund interception
- Reporting delinquent parents to credit agencies.
One other method a judge can use is to hold a parent in contempt of court. If a parent willfully refuses to pay child support, a judge can find that parent in contempt of court. If this happens, the parent not paying their court ordered child support may have to pay fines and/or serve jail time. A finding of contempt is the judge’s way of pointing out that the parent has disobeyed the court’s order.
Child Support Enforcement Resources
If you still have questions about enforcing child support orders in New Mexico, you can contact an experienced New Mexico family law child support attorney like the ones at The Law Office of Anthony Griego LLC by clicking here.
