It is important, for the care and support of the child, that child support is paid and that the recipient parent receives the child support that is due. If the paying parent is having difficulty paying child support, other options, such as a child support modification, may be possible through the family law court but simply failing to pay child support is not one of them.
Child support enforcement methods
There are several methods that can be used to help enforce child support orders and collect child support that is due including:
- Income assignment which can be commonly thought of as wage garnishment of the paying parent’s wages to meet child support obligations;
- Interception of any state or federal tax returns headed to the paying parent;
- Interception of any lottery winnings that the paying parent wins;
- Suspension of the paying parent’s driver’s license, occupational license, professional license or hunting or fishing license;
- Suspension of the paying parent’s motor vehicle registration;
- Denial of a passport to the paying parent; or
- The paying parent may be considered in contempt of court for failure to pay child support that is due.
When the paying parent fails to pay child support, any one, or multiple, of these child support enforcement methods may be used to ensure compliance with the child support order and that the child support is paid. Child support needs to be paid for the good of the child and for the support of the child which is why child support enforcement options are available for both the recipient parent and paying parent to be familiar with.