Non-Payment of Child Support
"What do I do if my ex-spouse isn't paying?"
If your ex is not paying child support that was ordered by the court, there
are several options available to you. In Georgia, judges have the ability
to levy a punishment on parents who violate the divorce agreement by failing
to pay child support. In situations where a child support agreement has
already been ordered by the court, you can choose to bring a motion for
enforcement to the court. This will give you the option to ask the order
for additional orders to be filed or to even hold your ex in contempt.
If your spouse is found to be in contempt, they may be ordered to pay
fines or serve jail time.
Help from the Division of Child Support Services
The Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) has several options available
in situations involving non-payment. One of the most common is the
withholding or garnishment of wages. This results the simple deduction of the child support payment from their
check. Another option that they can choose to pursue is the suspension
of their license, including professional and occupational driver's
license. If they are in non-compliance with the order of support and are
60 days behind in payments, the court can have their license revoked until
they are in compliance and current on payments.
Other actions available to the DCSS include:
- Tax Refund & Lottery Intercept
- Referral to Credit Bureaus
Contempt actions can only be pursued after administrative enforcement actions.
Do not withhold visitation rights!
In many cases, parents who are not receiving the proper child support payments
will make the decision to block the non-payer from visiting or communicating
with their child at all. Withholding visitation rights, however, is serious.
In these situations, it is important to get help from the courts and an
experienced family law attorney—not deny visitation.
"I can't keep up with child support. What do I do?"
Not everyone who fails to make child support payments is doing so maliciously.
If you are obliged to pay child support but are struggling to keep up,
we encourage you to contact our Marietta family lawyers as soon as you
can. Do everything that you can to remain current as failure to pay can
result in the consequences explained above; however, there are ways that
we may be able to help you find a workable solution. If there have been
a change in circumstances since the court order—such as a lost job
or decrease in income—we can file a petition to modify your support
order, which can reduce what you owe.
Get the Support You Need from Our Marietta Law Firm
At Henrickson & Sereebutra, we can handle your case for non-payment,
regardless of whether you are the one who is obliged to pay or if your
ex-spouse is in contempt.
Call our firm as soon as you can to learn how we can help during these trying times.
Schedule a free case consultation with our divorce lawyers in Marietta today!