What happens if my ex stops paying for child support?

What to do about a missing child support payment

A court order for child support payments is legally binding. However, it is important to tread carefully and avoid worsening the situation. If you immediately begin with legal action, it could make your relationship with your ex even more difficult, which can inadvertently affect your children.

Work Out the Missed Payment On Your Own

The first step should be to speak to your ex-spouse. For some people, this might be difficult, and if speaking to them puts you in any danger, or if they refuse to speak to you, then skip this step. In these situations, local child support services might be able to help enforce child support orders.

However, if your ex is amicable, try to find out if they have a valid reason for missing their child support payment. For example, they may have recently lost their job or crashed their car, which may have made money unusually tight that month. If possible, try to come to an arrangement while they get back on their feet. For instance, you could accept a smaller payment this month and have them make up for it in upcoming months.

Seek Child Support Enforcement

On the other hand, if they have no good reason not to pay you and are still refusing to cooperate, then it is time to look at your legal options. An experienced child support attorney from Skillern Firm can help explain your options for recovering past-due child support payments, file all necessary paperwork, and represent you in court if it becomes necessary.

Never Withhold Visitation Because of Missed Payments

We can’t stress this enough. If your ex-spouse repeatedly misses payments, then it is understandable that you want to deny visitation as a way to punish them. However, visitation and child support are two separate issues, and the court will not look kindly upon you if you withhold visitation. It could result in you also being held responsible for contempt of a court order.

What Are the Consequences of Failing to Pay Child Support?

In Texas, both parents have a legal obligation to support the upbringing of their children, and failure to meet those obligations can result in serious penalties, including a criminal offense. Potential penalties the court may use to enforce child support orders against the delinquent parent include:

• Automatically deduct funds from their paycheck or other income sources such as unemployment benefits, tax refunds, or lottery winnings.
• The court may issue fines of up to $500 for every non-payment.
• Denial of a new or renewed passport.
• File liens against their assets.
• Reporting past-due amounts to credit agencies.
• A Texas court could issue a jail sentence of up to six months for contempt of court due to unpaid child support.
• The court could order the other parent to pay your attorney and legal fees.
• Suspending their driver’s or other professional license.

Other Penalties to Consider

In addition to the enforcement measures mentioned above, a parent can experience other negative consequences for failing to pay child support. Perhaps most troubling is the strain it can cause on the parent-child relationship. Without financial support from a parent, a child may not get the things he or she needs, which can be devastating. It can also cause or reinforce negative feelings a child has for a parent.

Further, delinquency can be embarrassing when employers, colleagues, and friends learn about it. And in some cases, the court can publicly identify a non-paying parent as a Child Support Evader.

Unpaid Child Support Doesn’t Disappear

If your ex-spouse keeps missing child support payments, then they will keep accumulating, and they are subject to interest. Even if your ex seeks a modification and the court agrees to reduce payment, they won’t reduce what they already owe you. There is no statute of limitations on unpaid child support, so it will never simply disappear. The Child Support Division can organize payments so that the parents do not have to interact with each other if necessary.

What If My Ex Wants to Modify Child Support?

We understand that it is frustrating if you are having to pay for all your child’s needs and your ex-spouse won’t take responsibility. However, sometimes things happen that are out of their control. In this situation, they may seek a child support modification with the court.

According to the Texas Family Code, grounds for modification of child support include:

• A substantial or material change in circumstances, such as job loss, changing needs of the child, such as illness, changes to the child’s living arrangements, changes in employment, or increased caring expenses for other dependents.
• Three years have passed since the existing order, and the amount in child support that would be awarded under up-to-date guidelines differs by either 20% or $100.

The court will not grant modifications for other reasons, such as disputes between parents. Either parent can request a child support modification, or it can be applied for jointly.

Agreed Vs. Contested Child Support Modification

A child support order modification will be easier if both parents agree. In which case, you can submit a motion for modification jointly with the court. It could still be helpful to seek advice from an attorney as they will ensure that everything is in order, maximizing the chances of your modification being accepted. If parents cannot agree, then a contested modification will take longer, and the court will want to see that you have at least tried to come to an agreement.

When one parent applies for a modification, the other party will be served with modification papers and they will have 20 days to respond. If they fail to do so and the judge agrees to the modification, they may approve it by default. If your ex-spouse is trying to modify child support and you do not believe that they should, then you should contact an attorney as soon as possible.