Whether you owe child support or your child’s other parent misses payments, back child support creates many different hardships. Custodial parents often struggle with their finances when the non-custodial party fails to pay and those who owe child support could have to deal with a number of enforcement actions if they fall behind.
It is crucial to understand the repercussions associated with missing child support if you have to make payments and do everything in your power to stay current. Moreover, you should familiarize yourself with the consequences that can come with failing to make payments on time.
How does California enforce child support orders?
According to California’s Child Support Services website, parents who do not pay child support on time could face various penalties. For example, you could have your tax refund and lottery winnings intercepted and you could also face a lien on your property or bank account. Moreover, parents who miss child support payments sometimes lose their driver’s license as well as occupational licenses.
Missing child support payments can cause a parent to face contempt of court charges and lose their passport privileges as well.
How can you avoid falling behind on child support payments?
In order to avoid becoming delinquent, there are different strategies that could help you stay current on the child support you owe. You might benefit from establishing a payment plan in order to ensure that you have the financial means to pay support. If you lost your job or experienced significant financial changes, you could have the ability to modify your child support order to make payments more reasonable.
