Making Your Ex Pay Child Support
Historically, child support payments have not been taken seriously, and most commonly were not paid or not paid in full. Strong efforts have been made over the last two decades to improve the situation. The situation has improved, but there are still many families living in poverty as a result of unpaid child support.
The most common way of ensuring your ex pays child support is through a wage deduction order. This order requires an employer to send a portion of the obligor-parent’s wages to a state agency. That agency then forwards the funds to the custodial parent.
Current law makes wage deductions the standard for all child support orders. The wage deduction can be waived by the court or by agreement of the parties. Even with a waiver, if payments become thirty days overdue, wage deductions must begin. Employers must support the system by notifying the state when employees are hired or terminated.
One downside of wage deductions is that they are not effective against obligors who are self-employed. This is one reason why other tools exist to collect support. The state can intercept federal and state tax refunds to pay past due child support obligations. Almost every state has made it impossible for nonpayers to receive driver, professional, sporting, and other licenses. Additionally, the state can place liens on the obligor’s property, such as real estate and automobiles. The court may also hold an obligor in contempt of court as a result of ignoring the court’s order. A finding of contempt can result in a fine, a jail term, or both.
Third Parties to Turn to:
The federal government has mandated that states create a child support enforcement agency, which can assist with collecting unpaid child support. Additionally, attorneys can assist with child support collection. Unlike in most family law issues, an attorney may be compensated for work done in collecting past due child support through a contingency agreement. This means the lawyer retains a percentage (typically one-third) of any funds collected. The client pays nothing for the lawyer’s time if the collection effort is unsuccessful. If making your ex pay child support still continues to be an issue, a private debt collection firm can also work to collect unpaid support and also will do so on a contingency basis.
