Co-parenting can be challenging enough when everyone’s doing his part, but negotiating child custody, child support, and scheduling with an absentee parent can feel near-impossible.
So, when a parent will flat-out still not participate in either contributing what they should, or at least following instructions from the court on an appropriate amount of support, it can cause a lot of tension and hostility for the custodial parent.
What Is the Law on Paying Child Support?
In general, child support payments only become enforceable if they are determined by a judge, who decides which party must pay the other and in what amount. The child support the court will order depends on each parent’s income and other resources, and who has primary responsibility for the children (custody).
Although individual states can create unique child support laws, there are federal guidelines by which they must adhere. Your ex can’t refuse to pay the custodial parent you, if that’s you) child support just because your child doesn’t live with you.
How Do You Collect Child Support?
In some instances, there are plausible reasons why you were not on time. Maybe something’s changed, such as an unexpected drop in income that is making it difficult for a parent to pay the amount of child support they’ve been ordered to pay by the court.
Where that’s the case, the non-custodial parent should hire an attorney and discuss the alternatives for modifying the order. Lost wages is no excuse for not paying child support. They need to proactively take measures to modify their court order, or they’ll continue to suffer the consequences.
My EX Is Not Paying Child Support – What Can I Do?
If you have a deadbeat dad or mom who is not paying child support, you can go back and relitigate them. The judge has the authority to make a wage assignment that would cause the money to automatically be taken out from the other parent’s paycheck.
You also might be able to “attach” or “levy” on your spouse’s bank accounts, stocks or anything else they own, even a house. In most states, your local district attorney’s office has the authority to enforce support payments.
You might also refer the matter to the district attorney’s office or another appropriate government office to go after the obligor parent. In many courthouses, free services are available that will advise you on the best strategy.
Enforcing Child Support Payments
You probably are better off in many cases for going to the court about the other parent refusing to pay child support. You have the option of hiring a child support lawyer to work for you to demand that they pay their share of your childʻs support or you could open a case with the child support services through your state.
There are a number of consequences that a delinquent obligor parent can face when behind on child support including: contempt of court criminal charges civil penalties and in some cases — if the parent is a repeat offender — jail time or fines.
As far as child support collection goes, your state will typically take what’s known as a wage garnishment from the non-paying parent’s pay check that legally obligates the parent’s employer to send a portion of the wages to the state or county, who then forwards it on to the other parent. Also, the IRS or state authorities can garnish a delinquent parent’s federal income tax return and use it to pay off back child support.
Last but not the least is the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) which facilitate the collection of child support payments across states. Nearly all states have what are known as “long-arm statutes” that let courts that enter child support orders keep jurisdiction of cases and enforce their orders in other states.
If The Obligor Parent Does Not Pay, May Visitation Be Suspended?
Most parenting agreements say that one of the parents pays the other parent according to a court order, even if the parents have joint custody. In a perfect world, the paying parent, who is also called an “obligor” pays regularly and visits without issue.
Unfortunately, however, not all obligor parents make the child support payments that they are supposed to make. No matter what you think about why you’re not getting paid, whether it’s a valid reason, malice or BS, a parent’s initial reaction might be to withhold visitation until the money starts flowing. But that could be a bad idea.
While you might like to tell a financially unsupportive parent “no pay, no play”, that may just complicate things.
Child Support and Visitation Factors
The most useful way to think about child support and visitation is to imagine them as two separate decisions, grounded in entirely different sets of factors. As a result, in general, they can enforce the law regardless of what the other does.
Family laws determine the laws in establishing the child support guidelines and establishing the guidelines amount of rights. The parent’s income and the number of children usually play a role in that choice.
Calculating Child Support
In some states the child support payment amount is determined by a “percentageof-income” standard that is based on the non-custodial parent’s income. Most others use an “income-shares” model, which considers the income of both parents. And some states examine a minimum subsistence level for each parent before addressing the primary support needs of the children, known as the “Melson formula.”
Other possible factors in child support may be part of health insurance, day-care, and educational responsibility.
For the children custody and parenting time provisions of court orders, judges will make determinations based on what is in the best interest of the child. The elements to be taken into account in the best interest’s standard differ from state to state. Courts can listen to the child’s wishes (but only if the child is old enough, and state law permits) as well as take into consideration the mental and physical health of a parent, and the need to keep the home environment stable.
Tax Refund Interception for Nonpayment of Child Support
It seems a reasonable balance that if a parent is due a tax refund, and that same parent is behind on his or her child support, the arrears should be paid off first. For that purpose, federal law allows the state child support office to intercept a parent’s tax refund for you to use to pay that parent’s back child support if you have requested such help from the state. Even if the child who was owed the child support is now emancipated, you can still be garnished for the back child support you owe.
Sign up for the Federal Tax Intercept Program
In order to be eligible to receive the tax refund from the other parent for back child support, you’ll want to double-check that you’re enrolled in a tax intercept program, you can do so by calling your local child support office or an attorney that specializes in family law While the state won’t pay child support in the event the father doesn’t, if your child or you is on public assistance, then the child support office could offer the services for free. In some cases, private lawyers can go to court to get orders directing the parent’s state or federal tax refund be put toward his or her back child support.
The federal tax intercept program could also be used if the federal government provides stimulus payments to taxpayers. That kind of tax payment can be intercepted and used to pay a parent’s child support arrears.
State Tax Intercept Programs
Similarly, several states operate state tax intercept programs, which act very much like the federal tax intercept program. State child support offices can also intercept a parent’s state tax refund and use it to reduce any overdue child support. States without an income tax would not, of course, have a state tax intercept program.
Paying Back Child Support with Tax Refunds
Any tax refund taken for back child support money will be credited to the back child support for which the state claims assignment, like a time when public assistance was used, no payments were being made. After paying any owed balances to the state, the remaining refund is used toward back child support owed to the other parent.
And, if the parent owes a few other types of government debt, such as federal student loans or federal income tax, the parent’s tax refund will be used to pay those debts before the back child support is paid. The tax intercept program also doesn’t help a whole lot if a parent doesn’t file his or her taxes, or isn’t eligible for a tax refund, for various reasons.
Retroactive Child Support
The oblige or the custodial parent can ask the noncustodial parent to pay retroactive child support, in states like Texas. The arrearage is determined based on the obligor parent’s net resources, whether the child support owing parent had knowledge of his/her support requirements, whether the owing parent would experience a substantial hardship if required to pay, and whether the owing parent provided support or necessities before the action was actually filed.
What Happens If I Can’t Pay Child Support?
Parents who refuse to pay child support have the option of being held in contempt of court, as it is a crime. For a parent who’s ignoring child support payments, the consequences would be based on the facts of each case, such as the amount of child support that’s delinquent and the duration of time that’s passed since their last payment. The greater the sum and the further from those payments, the harsher the penalty.
The court can also compel the parent who is not paying to make child support payment. Punishments vary from state to state, but many of those judges will demand:
- Wage and tax garnishments
- Seizing property
- Suspending the licenses of businesses
- Revoking of licences
If those child-support collection efforts fail, there may be other consequences, including sending the parent to jail. The more time child support is not paid, the longer the possible jail term. For instance, child support that’s two years or more delinquent may raise a contempt of court charge from a misdemeanor to a felony.
Child Support Most Wanted Lists
In Georgia and other states, you may find yourself on a public “Most Wanted List” if you fail to pay your court-ordered child support. This is to say that not meeting your parental responsibilities can not only result in financial penalties and jail time, but also ruin your reputation.
How a Child Support Lawyer Can Help?
A lawyer experienced in child support law can assist a parent to ask a court to compel the parent who owes support to abide by the court order. They can also sit through the trial with the parents keeping the income they, and especially, their child deserves.
