ABA Family Legal Guide

Family Law

3.4 Separation, Annulment, and Divorce

Child Support

How is child support enforced if a parent does not pay?

The state and federal governments have a variety of techniques for enforcing payments of child support. The most common is a wage deduction, by which the employer sends a portion of the parent's wages to a state agency that then sends the money to the parent who has custody of the child. A federal law requires that after 1994, all child support orders must provide for an automatic wage deduction unless the parties have agreed otherwise or unless a court waives the automatic order. The state also can intercept the federal and state tax refunds of persons who have not paid support. Liens can be placed on property, such as real estate and automobiles. A parent who has not paid support can be held in contempt of court, which may result in a fine or a jail term. In addition, a parent who has not paid support can lose his or her driver's license or professional license. Government lawyers may help with collection of child support, though their efficiency varies from state to state.

Child support enforcement is a matter of increasing federal concern. Under the Child Support Recovery Act of 1992, it is a federal crime to willfully fail to pay child support to a child who resides in another state if the past-due amount has been unpaid for over one year or exceeds $5,000. Punishments under the federal law can include fines and imprisonment. States also have criminal penalties for failure to pay child support.

A parent may not reduce child support payments without a court order: The unpaid amounts will accumulate as a debt, even if a court later decides that there was a good reason for the reduction.