How Do You Enforce a Child Support Order?

If you need to enforce your child support order, you have a number of options available to you. Child support is critical for many families. It allows families with children to cover costs such as child care, health insurance, healthcare costs, and other expenses of raising a child. So, it can be problematic when a parent responsible for paying child support fails to do their share.

You have several options if you need to enforce your child support order. Whichever of the following routes you choose, however, it’s always helpful to discuss your situation with an experienced local child support attorney for guidance.

Legal Methods for Enforcing Child Support

A child support order is a court order. If the parent paying child support fails to meet their obligations, they are in arrears. Laws allow the court to enforce the order using various methods to combat arrearages for child support obligations.

Role of Child Support Enforcement Agencies

Your local child support enforcement agency engages in various child support services to help in child support enforcement actions. They have a variety of methods to help you in enforcing payments. A parent receiving child support can get help from a child support agency with the following:

• Intercepting a parent’s income tax refunds
• Seizing casino and lottery winnings
• Placing liens on real estate and vehicles
• Driver’s license suspension or revocation
• Suspending fishing and other recreational licenses
• Suspending professional and business licenses
• Personal property seizure, including freezing bank accounts

Sometimes, a parent who refuses to make child support payments on time can be found in contempt of court or face other sanctions. Past due child support can lead to jail time for failing to comply with a child support order. While incarceration is rare, it is a remedy that courts will use to encourage parents to comply.

Wage Garnishment & Income Withholding

An experienced family law attorney can provide further information on legal methods for enforcing child support based on your situation. However, wage garnishment and income withholding are two common ways to enforce a child support order issued under state law. Automatic income withholding, wage garnishment, and other similar options may not be the best route if the obligor – or the paying parent – is self-employed.

Automatic Income Withholding

Automatic income withholding is commonly set up in many states during the initial court action for the child support order. A court can issue an income withholding order. Automatic income withholding automatically deducts child support payments from a noncustodial parent’s paycheck.

Wage Garnishment

Wage garnishment involves taking someone’s wages with a court order, without their consent. In the case of child support, this can mean that the noncustodial parent pays the custodial parent an amount of child support. This payment comes from the paying parent’s income. Wage garnishment is effective when past-due amounts cannot be collected through automatic income withholding.

The parent owed child support receives a portion of the noncustodial parent’s income, which is deducted by the owing parent’s employer. Wage garnishment has limitations. Title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act limits the amount of an employee’s earnings that may be garnished, as explained in FAQs discussing the Consumer Protection Act.

Help From Your State’s Child Support Enforcement Agency

Your state’s child support enforcement agency can issue an order to garnish or withhold directly. The employer must comply. Depending on your state, the court itself can issue the order. If you don’t know where the other parent works, your child support enforcement agency or child support office can often access this information. Sometimes, your state’s Attorney General’s office is the umbrella agency for local child support services.

Enforcing an Out-of-State Child Support Order

If the parent who owes child support moves out of state, you can still get your child support order enforced. Most child support enforcement agencies will work cooperatively with other agencies. However, complications can arise when trying to enforce an out-of-state order. It’s best to consult a local child support attorney for legal advice concerning enforcing your child support order.

Steps for Custodial Parents to Ensure Payment

Child support is a critical means to help custodial parents cover the costs of raising a child. The noncustodial parent typically pays child support to the custodial parent. Whether your ex-spouse has recently refused to make court-ordered payments or pays less than the child support order dictates, there are steps you can take.

No one can guarantee that a party will comply with obligations in a child support case. Some parents may not make payments even when there is a court order to do so. However, you can increase your chances of receiving payment.

You may file the initial paperwork with your local family court instead of hiring a lawyer, but you may find greater success with the weight of an experienced attorney behind you. In any case, all states have a child support enforcement agency where you can get help with child support enforcement for free or pay a small fee.

Overcoming Challenges in Enforcement

If you encounter problems enforcing an order entered by the court, you may need to take action. First, it is critical to locate the obligated parent. Personal information that will help a caseworker or your lawyer includes the following:

• Social Security number
• Date of birth
• Current address
• Phone number
• Employer’s name and address
• Names of friends or family members who may have information about the parent who owes child support

Your lawyer, the child support authorities, or caseworkers can use the information to locate the parent in arrears. Many states require parents receiving public assistance to open a child support case. A child support agency can use their access to credit reporting agencies, the United States Postal Service, and other sources to locate a parent.

Get Legal Help

If you need help enforcing payment based on your court-ordered child support order, you have options. In many states, you can submit this paperwork on your own. However, in most cases, getting help from an experienced child support lawyer will give you peace of mind, knowing you have explored all options regarding child support enforcement.