What Should I Do If My Ex Will Not Pay Child Support?

A divorce or separation can worsen or trigger financial challenges for many families, especially for custodial parents who are responsible for rearing their kids. But separated or divorced parents are still responsible for their children’s health, safety, and financial expenses. This applies whether or not non-custodial parents have joint legal or physical custody of their kids. Fortunately, if your ex doesn’t want to pay child support, you have options to force them to pay.

You Must Have a Child Support Order

You must have a court order for child support before you can initiate any enforcement action. If you just have an oral child support agreement with the other parent, you will not be allowed to enforce it in court. If you and your ex can agree on a child support amount, you must have your Ventura family law attorney draft an agreement and then get the judge to approve it. If the judge determines that the agreement is in the best interests of your child, they will issue an order for child support.

If, on the other hand, you cannot agree on a child support amount, you must take your case to court and request a child support order.

You Can File a Motion for Contempt

Judges can enforce child support orders by holding non-paying parents in contempt, which means the judge finds that they intentionally disobeyed the support order. They can also issue various criminal and civil penalties, depending on the severity of the situation, which usually include the following:

• A fine not exceeding $1,000
• Pay the legal fees and other expenses related to enforcing the support order incurred by the custodial parent.
• Jail time of five days
• 120 hours of community service for a first or second charge of contempt or 240 hours of community service for a third charge.
• Withhold the wages of the non-paying parent until they pay child support.
• Place a lien on the non-paying parent’s property, such as land or a house.
• Order the non-paying parent to sell their property, so they can have money to pay support.
• Seize the non-paying parent’s tax refunds.
• Garnish the non-paying parent’s bank accounts for past-due support payments.
• Order the non-paying parent to source funds to pay for child support from their retirement plan, disability benefits, veteran’s benefits, workers’ compensation insurance benefits, lottery winnings, unemployment benefits, and other income sources.
• Revoke or deny the non-paying parent if their past due payments exceed $2,500.
• Suspend the non-paying parent’s driver’s license and professional certifications or licenses.

Take note that the non-paying parent will also pay interest on unpaid child support payments. The interest rate is 10% yearly.

Get Legal Assistance From a Seasoned Ventura Family Law Attorney Today

The Ventura family law attorney at Bamieh & De Smeth understands how essential child support is and is here to guide you through these challenging times. To learn the options available to you, please send us an online message or call 805-643-5555 and set up your free case review with our Ventura family law attorney.