It probably goes without saying that there are consequences to not paying child support – and none of them are fun. All across the country law enforcement is cracking down on parents who are not paying their child support payments. Take Somerset County in New Jersey, where local law enforcement enacted a program which led to over $6 million being collected and the arrest of 44.
Not paying child support is clearly no laughing matter. But this isn’t just an issue of parents refusing to pay. The system itself is so difficult to understand, and payments so hard to make, that many get behind on child support without even realizing that they’re behind. Coupled with the fact that exes may not wish to communicate with one another, and it’s a recipe for disaster.
Parents looking for help often turn to the state for guidance. But there have been dozens, even hundreds, of examples where states and counties lose payments, make faulty claims against the payer, or even outright fail to track payments. In these cases, fines, arrests, and worse are made even when the payer is paying their child support on time and never doing anything wrong. Here are some of the ways in which you can be punished – rightly or wrongly – for failing to pay child support:
- Garnishment of wages
- Liens against property or real estate
- Reporting the debtor to credit bureaus
- Freezing bank accounts
- Suspension of professional or driver’s license (in some states)
- Contempt order
- Jail time
- Arrest
And these are just the tip of the ice berg.
This is precisely why SupportPay was formed. We understand that many parents are looking to do the right thing and make their payments on time, but simply need an easy way to make the whole child support process possible. But simply looking for information on child support in your state? Then visit our resources section. And also take a look at our child support calculator for help calculating payments.
We do get it – the child support process is frustrating, confusing, and at times painful. But it doesn’t have to be.