What Recourse Do I Have If The Other Party Fails To Pay Child Support?

What Recourse Do I Have If The Other Party Fails To Pay Child Support?

If the other party fails to pay child support and if there’s a court order in place, then you can file a contempt action against them. You can simply fill out a form or you can get an attorney. What that form or petition will require is for you to say when this order requiring them to pay was issued, what amount, and when they stopped paying, and then that person will be served a show-cause order. They will have to set a hearing at which time you just have to prove when they stopped paying, what they stopped paying and the court would either require them to pay by a certain date or make additional payments, whatever it is. If the payee doesn’t file a motion for contempt then if it’s a child support case, a case with the office of child support, then they have the authority and power to do a lot more. They can suspend the payor’s license, intercept funds, tax return money, or funds in a bank account; those such things.

What Happens If There Are Paternity Issues Involved In A Child Support Case?

If the parties are married, it’s presumed that is the child of the marriage. Most of the time, they do have to pay support if there is a divorce or a legal separation and that child was born in the marriage. Of course, the dad can always contest it but most of the time they have to pay it. If they’re not married and let’s say the dad is not the father, requesting a paternity test is something that I see often. Sometimes the court, despite the fact that the male is not the father, may deny the motion to establish paternity or get a DNA test because it’s not in the best interest of the children to be without their parental figure, the dad. Sometimes men act like the dad and have held themselves out like the dad and the children feel like it’s their dad. In that case, the man may end up continuing to pay support for children that are not his biological children.

How Do The Courts Verify The Financial Records Of Both Parties Prior To Determining Child Support?

Many times if the parties are W2 employees you just have to have tax returns, W2s, and the last pay stub, and it’s easy to calculate child support if you just look at those documents. Sometimes parents are self-employed and that can be a little tricky because tax returns don’t really tell the whole story. In those cases, it’s very important to also obtain, if there is a business, the business tax returns; if there are bank accounts, bank account statements and just proof of all the expenses that the person may have that is not a W2 employee. It’s very difficult to show income from someone that’s self-employed just with one document. You really have to look at various other documents to figure out what the actual income is.

If I Was Previously Ordered To Pay Child Support But My Children Now Live With Me, Will I Still Have To Pay Child Support?

If you were previously ordered to pay child support but your children now live with you and if it’s a situation where there’s a court order in place, you have to continue to do what the court order requires you to do until you move to modify. If you stop paying and the children are with you, you could be held in contempt but sometimes the court will consider those situations where the children are no longer living with the other parent and may not hold the person in contempt. While there is a court order, it’s very important to modify it if the situation has changed so that way you’re not on the hook for paying child support. As long as there is a court order saying that you do it, you have to do it.

What Are The Most Common Issues Encountered In Child Support Cases?

The most common issue encountered in child support cases is self-employment. That’s a tough one because the person that usually wants child support doesn’t have a lot of money but the payor is self-employed. In those situations, they will have to spend a lot of money in order to have the proof that we need to try the case. We need to engage in a lot of discovery. If the person is not getting child support, it’s very difficult to come up with that kind of money. I run into those situations a lot where the person requesting child support doesn’t have the money to litigate or to do discovery. Another situation that actually we’ve had more often than not recently is cases where dads are not the biological father and the court has ordered that they continue to pay support; those situations I run into a lot.

How Long Do Child Support Matters Typically Take To Get Resolved?

Like any other case, child support matters could take anywhere from five, eight, nine months to get resolved. It’s just as long as any other case because it goes through the same procedure. There is a motion or petition filed, then the other party gets served and the other party’s given time to answer. Then there’s a scheduling conference and dates are set. It’s about the same amount of time as any of the other cases like custody. It’s not quick.

Additional Information On Child Support Issues In Maryland

Records are very important. Sometimes parents pay a relative or pay a friend to take care of the children and they pay cash. It’s very important to buy a receipt book and make sure that the person receiving the money is giving the parents a receipt. Those are very important to have when you are trying to include daycare expenses in the child support request.

For more information on Non-Payment Of Child Support, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (301) 340-1911 today.

Contact Now To Discuss Your Options

    Schedule an Appointment

    Set up a Consultation with the Family Law Offices of Sandra Guzman-Salvado in Rockville, Maryland!

    fwd

    Call Now To Discuss Your Options (301) 340-1911

    Office Locations

    11 North Washington St. Ste 500 Rockville, MD 20850
    6301 Ivy Lane
    Ste 700 Greenbelt, MD 20770
    3 Bethesda Metro Center, Suite 700 Bethesda, MD 20814
    5100 Buckeystown Pike Ste 250 Frederick, MD 21704