08 Mar What Happens if You Fail to Pay Your Child Support
The consequences of failing to make your court-mandated child support payments run deep. The matter is taken very seriously. Consequences include:
- Arrest
- Fines
- Being in contempt of court
- Denial of tax refunds
- Wage garnishment – When the court orders your employer to withhold a certain amount of your paycheck and send it directly to the court or the partner instead
- Confiscated passport
- Confiscation or suspension of licenses
- Placing a lien on property – The court possesses the person’s property until debt is paid
A person can face one, many, or all of the above consequences for failing to make their child support payments. One alone is harmful enough, but dealing with multiple can be incredibly detrimental to a person’s quality of life.
It is one thing to purposely not make a payment; it is another thing to run into financial difficulty to make payments on time. It is urged that if a person finds themselves experiencing the latter, that they bring this to the attention of the court, their lawyer, and local authorities. They can assist the individual and alleviate the stress like revising payment plans.
A person is not on his or her own when it comes to dealing with a situation like this. The court wants to see both sides of the family succeed and they will do what they can to make it work.