How to Recover Back Child Support

Child support enforcement and collection helps to ensure your child is financially provided for by both parents. This aligns with the court’s desire to support your child’s best interests after divorce.

When one party fails to uphold a child support agreement, the recipient can seek back child support, or arrears, through the courts.

The first step in recovering child support arrears is contacting a family law attorney. He or she can help you request enforcement of your child support order. Your attorney can review your child support order, calculate the amount of arrears owed to you, contact the enforcement agency, and proceed with the desired next step to facilitate collection. 

Child support enforcement, and the ensuing collections process, can take a variety of forms, such as wage garnishment, intercepting tax refunds, putting liens on property, holding the payer in contempt of court, or utilizing a collections agency. 

Wage Garnishment 

You can garnish your ex-spouses wages to effectively collect child support arrears if they refuse to uphold their financial obligations. To request wage garnishment, you and your attorney will seek a court order that directs the payer’s employer to automatically deduct the child support payments owed to you from their paycheck. This is accomplished by filing a motion with the court and proving that the payer has failed to pay the amount due. Pursuing wage garnishment helps to ensure your child is provided for fairly, while limiting your battle with the other parent.

Tax Refund Interception

Back child support can also be collected by intercepting the payer’s tax refund. This method requires collaboration with state child support agencies. These agencies can request interception through state or federal governments, allowing them to withhold the noncustodial parent’s tax refund. The withheld funds will instead be applied to the child support arrears. This method can be preferred in situations where a lump sum payment is needed more than the smaller, incremental payments. 

Property Liens

Property liens are another option for parents seeking back child support. A property lien is a legal claim against the noncustodial parent’s real estate or personal property, such as a home, land, or vehicles. A child support lawyer is an essential asset in pursuing this method of collection. To place a lien on the noncompliant payer’s property, paperwork must be filed with the local courts and property records office. When a lien is in place, the noncustodial parent is prevented from selling, refinancing, or transferring the property until he or she pays his or her child support debt. 

Property liens can motivate non-compliant parents to settle their arrears to clear the lien and regain full control of their assets. This method is effective when the noncustodial parent owns substantial property, but recovery of the amount due may be delayed compared to other methods. 

Contempt of Court

Holding the payer in contempt of court is another way to enforce child support arrears. When the noncompliant, noncustodial parent fails to comply with the previously enacted child support order, the intended recipient can file a motion for contempt. Both parents will need to appear in court, so the noncompliant payer can explain his or her reason for failing to meet child support obligations. If he or she is found in contempt, he or she may be placed on a mandatory payment plan, forced to pay fines, or required to do jail time. 

The threat of contempt can be a strong motivator for delinquent parents to pay their arrears to avoid more severe consequences. Additionally, courts may order other remedies, such as the suspension of licenses or other methods of collection. 

Collections

Using a collections agency to recover child support is another option. This involves hiring a private agency specialized in collecting overdue payments. These agencies use various methods to track down noncustodial parents and enforce child support orders. Upon successful recovery, they typically charge a percentage of the collected amount as a fee. To initiate this process, the custodial parent must provide the agency with the court order. While this option can cost more than others, it can be effective in cases where other enforcement methods have failed.

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