Divorce and child custody are difficult in the best of times, but what happens when your ex is ordered to pay child support but doesn't come through?

2. You’ve gone through the stress and sadness of a divorce and you’ve
started to move forward with your life. The outcome of the marriage
dissolution, division of assets and the custody concerns were fair and your
tension is starting to ease. You’re feeling ready to move forward to the
next stage of your life as a parent and as a survivor of the life altering
experience that is divorce.

3. Jump forward a few months and you’re actually feeling truly human again with happiness on
the horizon. You realize that you haven’t received this month’s child support payment from
your former spouse; you try to contact them to assess the situation, but they seem to be
dodging your calls and are unresponsive to your messages. When you finally speak to them,
they initially try to play it off and then start to make excuses. When they realize you aren’t
willing or able to wait for them to follow through with their court mandated responsibilities,
they become belligerent or even aggressive. What is one to do? Wasn’t getting away from this
sort of nonsense a primary catalyst for ending your marriage in the first place?

4. First, it is important to realize that this scenario plays out countless times
every day all over the world. You are not alone and all competent family
law attorneys have some level of experience in dealing with it. California
law provides guidelines for courts to use in determining and setting child
support payment amounts. As you probably learned during the original
court proceedings, these guidelines are based on each parent’s monthly
disposable net income and the amount of time spent by each parent
caring for the child.

5. The court takes all income into account. In addition to wages, tips and bonuses they also
consider unemployment and disability benefits, dividends, interest, self employment, Social
Security/pensions, rental income, and even prize winnings. They also take taxes, insurance,
union dues, mandatory retirement contributions and funds owed to any other dependents.
Another California guideline states that child support typically ends when a child turns 18
unless that child is still a full-time high school student living with the custodial parent.

6. If that is the case then it ends when that child either turns 19 or
graduates from high school, whichever occurs first. This is, as the name
would indicate, a guideline, but if it is not followed, there must be a
proper legal reason. To sum it up, the number and term are not
selected arbitrarily and are based on all of the data provided to the
court by your former spouse and their attorney. It is an amount that
they should be able to manage, afford and that they need to produce
to fulfill their responsibilities as a parent.

7. To be fair, sometimes circumstances arise that would justify a change (modification) in the
amount being paid. If the amount is below or above that which is called for in the guidelines,
either parent can seek a modification. Other circumstances such as involuntary loss of a job
resulting in a loss of income and health benefits are a legitimate reason.

8. Sometimes the need for a change is the result of other events such as the
birth of an additional child with a new partner or when a parent is
sentenced to time in jail. It is also important to remember that if there is a
shift in “time-sharing” or the amount of time a parent spends caring for
their child, that can cause the amount of support payments to go up or
down respectively (this modification has to be done through the courts).
Once a parent asks a court to modify a child support order, the court will
analyze the new and existing data previously outlined to make a
determination.

9. So you’ve played by the rules, gone through the procedure laid out above and now your
spouse has stopped paying for whatever reason. Under the Child Support Enforcement Act of
1984, district attorneys (D.A.s) and/or state’s attorneys are required to help you and your
attorney collect child support. The D.A. can serve your former spouse with papers compelling
them to meet with the D.A. and set up a payment schedule. These papers typically state that if
your ex refuses to meet with them or pay, jail time can be assigned to them.

10. Federal Laws also afford the D.A. the power to intercept tax refunds,
seize or place a lien on property and garnish wages. If your ex’s
employer doesn’t follow through or comply with the wage garnishment,
they can then become liable for the funds owed as well—but as you
might imagine, making this happen also requires legal intervention. In
more drastic situations, suspension of business or occupational licenses
can be used for legal leverage. Some states even allow the revocation of
a deadbeat spouse’s driver’s license and the State Department may
refuse to issue a passport to anyone who owes more than $2,500 in
child support.

11. Circling back to the “jail time” solution, this should always be a last resort option. The
primary goal is to get the money that you need to support your child; your ex being jailed
doesn’t accomplish that— even if your level of anger at them makes it sound like a good
solution. That being said, if nothing else is working, the threat of incarceration could serve
as a motivator for them. Most jurisdictions are understandably reluctant to exercise this
option specifically for the previously listed reasons; but it exists as an option for it may be
the only one that delivers results.

12. Child support is one of the largest financial obligations that can result
from a divorce. Depending on the age and number of children being
supported, the payments can last for multiple decades and cost tens or
even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Regardless of how you and your
ex feel about each other, the ability to work together in the best interest
of the children is essential to your happiness and well being, as well as
that of your children. The key to this is having the proper expectations,
knowledge and legal council.

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