Dealing with Overdue Child Support Payments in Boston, MA
No matter the financial situation of parents, they have a financial responsibility for their children, until they turn 18. Sometimes, child support orders may last until a child turns 21, depending on the financial support their education requires. Child support covers a child’s housing, health care, food, and clothing costs. But studies have shown that non-custodial parents fail to pay their support properly.
Child support orders in Boston, Massachusetts are legal obligations and those who do not fulfill these will face severe penalties. If your ex is not paying child support as ordered by a family court, the law can help you enforce payments. Turco Legal P.C. family law attorneys can help you pursue such payments.
What Does the Law Say About Child Support Enforcement
If a parent does not pay court-ordered child support willfully, they face legal issues if the child lives out of state, if unpaid support is more than $5, 000, and has been unpaid for more than one year. Those who violate this law will be charged with a criminal misdemeanor, which can leave them facing fines and spending time in prison for up to six months. If the unpaid support is more than $2, 500, the passport of the parent can also be denied or restricted by the U. S. State Department.
If your ex leaves town and moves to another state to avoid paying child support, their job can be tracked down using resources such as the IRS and Social Security Administration. The unpaid support payments will then be garnished from the tax refunds of your ex.
But things get harder if your ex leaves the country. But a family law attorney can help you jump through the legal hoops in this situation.
Enforcing Child Support in Boston
To take advantage of the law and compel your ex to pay child support, file a Complaint for Contempt. With this, you may have to take your ex to court. The court will then take various actions through the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) division of the Department of Revenue (DOR).
Not paying child support can result in license suspension. Also, the DOR can take insurance claims through the parent’s policy to pay past-due support. Another action that can be taken is to secure a court order that directs employers to take such payments out of the wages of the delinquent parent and send them to the custodial parent. No matter the method the court will take, successful legal action can have the paying parent ordered to also cover your legal fees.
What If Your Ex Is Jobless?
What will the court do if it cannot garnish wages from your ex’s paycheck? Your ex can be compelled to pay child support and find a job if they want to avoid jail time. Also, the court can order them to do community service or complete an employment training program and get a job.
What Happens if Your Child No Longer Requires Child Support?
If your child has aged out of child support, they are still owed payments from earlier that your ex has not paid up. In this case, the CSE can withhold a portion of your ex’s paycheck until they have fully fulfilled their past-due payment obligations.
Although the government provides a lot of resources to help you pursue payments for child support your child is owed, seeking assistance from government agencies by yourself may not be the quickest route to take. But if you hire a family law attorney to handle your case, you can expect faster success. Reach out to a family lawyer who specializes in child support cases as soon as possible. The attorney can answer your questions and handle your case effectively.
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