Failure to Pay Child Support
There are many different facets to child support. The facts and circumstances surrounding the child support case will dictate how the court will handle the case. In situations where the parties come to an agreement over the support payments, namely how much one party is to party is to pay to the other and when the payments should be made, and then no court intervention is required. However, when the parties cannot come to an agreement, then the court will take a more active role in the matter. This includes but is not limited to the court setting up a payment plan based on the information that is provided.
In California as well as every other state there are rules, regulations and guidelines that determine what the court can do and can award with respect to child support payments. These guidelines are mathematic in nature and look at how much money each party makes, who will be the primary custodian of the children, the number of children, the tax filing status of the parents, daycare expenses, health insurance premiums, retirement contributions, as well as various other factors. Once the courts work through all of this and plug the data into their formula, a child support payment amount and a payment schedule are computed.
Penalties for Not Paying Child Support
It is widely understood that child support orders have to be adhered to and payments must be made when they are due. Custodial parents may experience hardship if payments are not made in a timely manner. Failure to make child support payments can result in:
- Stiff penalties and maybe even incarceration depending on the severity of the nonpayment
- Interest payments on top of the original payment itself
- A larger payment than what the court originally ordered to make up for the missed payments
Child support is a mostly mathematical computation. Still, it helps to have an experienced lawyer on your side to state your case effectively, regardless of whether you are seeking or paying child support.
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Blog Author: Attorney Robert Burch
Robert Burch is a Board Certified Family Law Specialist at Burch Shepard Law Group.
Visit his bio to learn more about his experience as a family law attorney.
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