Severe Penalties For Unpaid Child Support Can Anchor Parents In a Cycle Of Poverty.
The purpose of child support is to help ensure the custodial parent has the means to provide a stable and comfortable home where all their child’s needs can be met. If the non-custodial parent fails to pay support, naturally this can have a serious impact on the child’s quality of life. Unfortunately, in many cases legal provisions for child support enforcement actually end up making it more difficult for the parent paying support to fulfil their obligations. This makes it extremely important for parents paying child support to understand the consequences they may face for falling behind as well as the options available for preventing these consequences.
Consequences of Unpaid Child Support
If you have a court order requiring you to pay child support, the local child support agency handling your case can take a variety of steps to punish you for late or missed payments:
- Passport denial
- Property liens
- Drivers license suspension
- Suspension of any state-issued professional licenses
- Income tax refund intercepts
- Unemployment or disability benefit intercepts
- Jail time (if a court determines you are willfully not paying support despite having the means to do so)
Many of these penalties only serve to make it even harder for parents to pay the support they owe. For example, losing your drivers license or a professional license can severely limit your ability to find and hold a job. Perhaps the most devastating possibility is for the parent receiving support to turn to CalWORKS for help. While this program is very helpful in providing for the immediate needs of the children, the non-custodial parent will get billed for every dollar in support that the custodial parent receives. They will end up owing a debt to the government that carries an interest rate of up to 10 percent and is virtually impossible for a low-income person to escape. Currently, 44 percent of California’s $7.95 billion in outstanding child support debt is owed to the government.
What To Do If You’re Falling Behind
If you are having trouble keeping up with your child support payments, do not hesitate to contact your local child support enforcement agency. You may be able to work out a temporary payment plan that will help you get back on track. You should also consider filing a request to modify your child support agreement to reduce your payments to amount you can afford. This is typically only possible following some sort of life change that affects the child support calculation, such as losing your job, an increase in the supported parent’s income, or changes in the child’s needs. It is highly advisable to contact an attorney for help with child support modifications, as filing through your local child support agency can take as long as 180 days.
