When a parent stops paying child support, it can create a stressful situation for the custodial parent, who relies on these payments to help cover the costs of the child’s basic necessities.
While you may feel desperate to resolve this issue immediately, you shouldn’t contact your ex’s employer. His boss isn’t going to get involved in your child support dispute or force your ex to pay. But making a complaint like this could harm your ex’s reputation at work and even put his job at risk, which is the last thing you want to do. If your ex is unemployed, he can’t pay child support.
Since he’s not responding, it may be time to contact an attorney or local child support agency. This article will provide some information about the different options for enforcing a child support order.
Child Support Is Not Optional
In all 50 states and the District of Columbia, divorced and separated parents must continue to financially support their children. Typically, the parent with less custodial time and/or who earns more income pays child support to the custodial parent. It’s assumed that the custodial parent will contribute to the child’s expenses while the child is in the custodial parent’s care. Judges calculate a specific amount of support by using their state’s child support guidelines, or they can accept the parents’ agreed-upon amount, as long as it meets the child’s needs.
In your case, a judge determined that $800 a month is in your child’s best interests and necessary to provide for your baby’s living expenses, including food, clothing, and shelter. When parents like your ex fail to pay support, single-parent households often find themselves relying on federal and state financial aid. As a result, state and federal governments have enacted strict laws to enforce child support orders and crack down on “deadbeat” parents.
Contact Your Attorney
If an attorney represented you in your child support case—and you can afford additional fees—you may want to ask your lawyer to contact your ex (or your ex’s attorney). Sometimes, an email or letter from an authority figure is all it takes to encourage a parent to pay overdue support.
If your ex claims he can’t pay, you may have to negotiate a payment plan, modify the child support amount, or head back to court. If a parent suffers a job loss or reduction in income, a court may recalculate child support based on the lower wages. But before you agree to reduce child support, you should confirm that your ex’s claims are legitimate and not just an attempt to avoid paying.
If you suspect your ex is trying to shirk his obligation, you may want to involve the court. When considering a child support motion, a judge will require both parents to provide proof of their current income and assets. If your ex is intentionally reducing income to avoid support, for example, by quitting a high paying job for a lower paying one, or by taking fewer shifts to reduce wages, a judge can impute income to him and order that he continue paying the original amount of support—in this case, $800.
Local Child Support Agencies Can Help
If you can’t afford an attorney, contact your local child support service office (typically referred to as the “Department of Child Support Services” or the “Office of Child Support Services”), which helps parents establish, enforce, collect, and modify child support.
These government agencies act on behalf of the state to make sure children receive financial support. Local offices can also establish paternity, obtain medical support orders, locate deadbeat parents, and find assets from which child support can be paid. You can locate your state child support agency by visiting the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement website and clicking on the “Find a Child Support Agency Near You” link.
Enforcing Child Support
If a noncustodial (paying) parent fails to follow a child support order, the custodial parent may ask an attorney or local child support office for help. The most common enforcement tools judges can use include the following:
- Wage Deductions – the custodial parent, his or her attorney, or child support office can request an income withholding order or wage assignment. If a court issues a wage deduction, it’s sent to the parent’s employer, so child support is taken directly out of the parent’s wages.
- Federal Income Tax Intercepts – the state can intercept a tax refund to cover late or missing child support payments.
- License Suspensions and Revocations – the state can revoke a delinquent parent’s driver’s and/or professional license(s).
- Passport Restrictions – passport agencies may refuse to renew the delinquent parent’s passport.
- Contempt of Court – this is a court order, which can result in a fine or jail time for the parent who failed to pay child support.
In your case, you may want to ask for a wage garnishment, rather than contact the other parent’s employer. If a judge grants your request, you’ll automatically receive child support directly from your ex’s employer. This removes your ex from the process, so you won’t have to contact him in the future to find out when or if he plans to pay.
Federal Enforcement
The U.S. Office of the Inspector General (OIG) can also get involved in child-support cases where the noncustodial parent lives in another state, and:
- refuses to pay child support for over 1 year
- owes more than $5000, or
- where the noncustodial parent leaves the state or country to avoid paying child support.
Under federal rules, the delinquent parent can receive a fine and up to 6 months in prison (or both) for a first offense. For a second offense, or where child support hasn’t been paid for more than 2 years, or the amount owing is more than $10,000, the punishment is a fine of up to $250,000 or 2 years in prison, or both.
If any of these situations apply in your case, you can visit oig.hhs.gov for more information about the OIG’s child support enforcement division.
Child support disputes can feel overwhelming. If you need help collecting overdue payments, look for a family law attorney with experience in child support enforcement or contact your local child support agency.