We all know that our actions have consequences. One of those consequences of our efforts regarding the missed child support payment is the possibility that you may wind up back in court due to a child support enforcement case. An enforcement case seeks to hold A party accountable for violating their final decree of divorce or child custody orders. When a party violates a court order in a family law case, the court may punish them by either ordering them to pay attorneys’ fees or imposing fines for each violation of the court order.

Child Support Enforcement: Risks and Penalties

You need to know about enforcement cases because they allow a family court judge to assess penalties that are pretty diverse in terms of a typical civil case. For instance, In certain circumstances, a judge can order jail time for missed child support payments. This is a highly significant penalty and can result in missed time from work, unpleasant experiences, and additional legal costs. There are few penalties that I can think of that are more significant in a Texas child support case than jail time.

Another potential consequence of your failure to pay child support would be the taking away of your hunting and fishing license. Texans are avid outdoors people. We enjoy being outdoors when the weather permits. As a result, hunting is quite popular across the state in the cooler months of the fall. It is illegal for you to go hunting in Texas without a valid hunting license. When hunting just about any animal, it is unlawful in Texas without a hunting license. There are some exceptions, but for the most part, we must hunt with a request. There are a variety of hunting licenses that you can obtain. Today, we need to answer how you can become eligible to have a hunting license revoked or suspended for failing to pay child support.

Missing child support payments means Risking losing your hunting license.

If you skip a child support payment, the attorney general’s office can suspend your hunting license or deny you the ability to purchase a hunting license. We need to determine when the risk of having your hunting license suspended is triggered. Does the suspension occur after the first instance of missed child support, or are multiple infractions required?

Easily Manage Child Support: Access Your Ledger Online

The attorney general’s office allows you to view you are child support ledger online whenever you wish to take a look. Create an account for yourself, and you can consider the child support circumstances for your account. As a result, you will be able to tell how much child support you have paid, how far behind you are on payments and other information about your child support. In this way, you can avoid misunderstandings and other problems associated with the subject of child support. Specifically, you do not need to keep track of child support yourself or refer to a phone number to contact and reach anyone regarding child support in the future. All the information you need will be found online.

If you find yourself behind on child support payments, you should not necessarily expect the attorney general’s office to contact you immediately. As it happens, issues occur where he may become delinquent in paying child support for several reasons. For example, you may lose your job and then need time to find new employment. This would be an understandable circumstance where you would not have the ability to pay child support for a period. I am not saying that losing your job is an excuse not to pay child support. I am saying that it will be foreseeable that losing your income would mean not being able to pay child support.

Handling Job Loss in Child Support

In a situation like this, you can reach out to your co-parent to ensure that they know about your circumstance of losing employment. You would not have to keep something like this a secret. Instead, it is in your best interest to be direct and honest with your co-parent about what has happened. From my experiences working with parents in your circumstances, you have a much better chance of working something out with them if you are honest. On the other hand, if you try to hide what is going on and avoid directly acknowledging the problem can lead to issues with your co-parent on many levels. Instead, directly addressing the problem and working with them to understand how to solve the issues that have led to the inability to pay child support or your best options.

Typically, it takes the attorney general’s office three months to act against you if you consistently miss your child support payments. Failure to pay child support can lead to the suspension or revocation of licenses, including driver’s licenses and recreational licenses. You may be able to contact the office said the attorney general to work out a payment re-schedule with them and with your co-parent. However, failing to adhere to the terms and repayment schedule can also result in the suspension of your license.

What can you do to keep your licenses from being suspended for the failure to pay child support?

Ensure that you make scheduled payments to your co-parent to prevent the suspension of your hunting license due to missed child support payments. You can verify payments on the website of the Office of the Attorney General by creating an online account. Ensure that you make scheduled payments to your co-parent to prevent the suspension of your hunting license due to missed child support payments.

Options with the Attorney General’s Office

The office of the attorney general has local offices near to you. These are not courtroom buildings and do not have attorneys inside. Instead, these are employees at the office of the attorney general. I can work with you and your Co-parent to negotiate a settlement. A settlement is any viable repayment plan between you and your Co-parent. If you cannot work out a payment plan between the two of you, you also have the option of going to court to address these matters in front of a judge.

The key is that you all have an opportunity to sort these issues out between one another before going to court. It is not a given that you will have to go into the courthouse for a contested hearing. Instead, there is the ability for the two of you to work out these problems between each other even if you do have to work with someone from the attorney general’s office to get there.

Addressing Missed Child Support Payments in Court

As we have discussed enforcement lawsuit involves you and your co-parent going to court to address the issue of the missed child support payments. In general, this would be like any other hearing or case involving child support. The contention from your co-parent would be simple. You would have been accused of not paying child support as ordered to do so, and as a result, the enforcement case would have been filed to address this.

You would then present evidence of your own to show Huawei there is a defense for your not paying child support. That defense could be an inability to pay or a court order which is unclear that made it impossible for you to pay or abide by the terms of your child support orders. Either way, it is recommended that you have an attorney by your side to assist you in this endeavor. Going through a child support case on enforcement without representation would not be wise. This is especially true given the possibility that jail time could result from the case.

Next, let’s consider what it means to try and modify a child support order. Modifications, in general, occur when the circumstances of you, your co-parent, or your children change overtime a period. In that case, it may become necessary to modify a court order. In that case, you or your co-parent would file a modification case to change an order that no longer is suitable. To close out Today’s blog post, let’s walk through what a modification case looks like in the context of a Texas family log case.

Modifying a child support order

A material and substantial change must be the backdrop for modifying a Texas family court order. Additionally, we can see that material and significant changes must be in place to modify a court order. Still, a judge must also determine that modifying the Child Support order is in the best interest of your child. This is a different burden to consider and must be Considered regarding several other factors in your case. Even if you can prove that a material and substantial change has occurred, it is a different story to show the best interest decision backed up by the facts of a case. Namely, reducing the child support you must pay is not always in your child’s best interests.

Addressing Significant Life Changes in Court Orders

Modifying a child support order means that you must be able to show the material in substantial changes that occur in a party’s life since the last time a court order was issued. From your perspective, probably the most significant change that could happen is a job loss. If you lost a job that paid better than your current job, your child support is likely based on the net monthly income that is out of line with what you currently earn. In that case, it would make sense for you to Speak with an attorney about filing a modification case.

All your family’s circumstances would need to be considered before considering filing a modification case for child support. For example, well, you may have lost a good-paying job, your child may have developed an impairment or other medical problem over those intervening years that require consistent medical care or additional costs. If this is the case, then a judge may well rule that it is not in your child’s best interest to have child support decreased at this time.

Gathering Evidence and Facing Counterarguments

Next, he will likely have to produce evidence to prove that your income has gone down to the degree that you say it has. Your Co-parent will be able to create counterevidence to show that it has not decreased to that extent. You may have other sources of income, but you did not make the court aware of them. You can expect that requests for Discovery from your Co-parent will be forthcoming.

Next, You should consider the possibility of even more significant consequences for the failure to pay child support other than simply not having your hunting or fishing license for some time. Specifically, you can face jail time as a consequence of paying child support. This is a reality for many people. The end is a potentially harmful aspect of child support cases. Where you can go and what you can do regarding this subject are essential for enforcement cases. Specifically, we need to address the possibility of jail time as a part of your child support case.

Worse than losing your license as a part of a child support case, you may be going to jail.

I don’t mention this to intimidate you or to make you frightened. However, you can go to jail as a part of your child support case. Specifically, the extended failure to pay child support may find you on the receiving end of a verdict from a judge result in jail time. It is not as if every child support enforcement case winds up with jail time being ordered, but it is nonetheless a possibility. For that reason, there are some things that you need to know.

Legal Representation in Child Support Enforcement Cases

First of all, jail time is that issue you become eligible to have an attorney appointed to you by the court. Generally, in a family log case, the court does not have to set you an attorney. It is only in circumstances where jail time is possible, and you cannot pay for an attorney on your own, that the court would make a point representation for you. Bear this in mind as you prepare to defend yourself in an enforcement case. Of course, it would probably be better for you to have an attorney you can select on your own, as the quality of representation is likely higher in that sort of circumstance. However, it is nonetheless beneficial for you to have an attorney either way.

Even if the court orders you to serve jail time, there may be alternatives such as deferred adjudication that you can pursue to avoid incarceration. This means that he would go to jail if you do not abide by the terms of the repayment schedule created because of the enforcement case. Paying back child support is something that the court takes very seriously. Frankly, being behind bars does not make it easy for you to pay back the child support that you owe. As a result, most family court judges will only send someone to jail if they fail to live up to their end of the bargain in a child support enforcement matter.

The Importance of Legal Representation

As you can see, there are significant consequences to not paying child support. The possibility of having your hunting and fishing license suspended is just one of the possibilities as far as outcomes in a child support case. Therefore, we at the Law Office of Bryan Fagan certainly recommend that you consider hiring an experienced family law attorney to help you in this time. Navigating an enforcement case can be stressful and anxiety-inducing, given the potential severe penalties involved. However, it is possible to defend yourself while prioritizing the well-being of your children. Having an experienced family law attorney by your side can make this process more manageable.

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Bryan Joseph Fagan( Attorney )

Bryan Fagan, a native of Atascocita, Texas, is a dedicated family law attorney inspired by John Grisham’s “The Pelican Brief.” He is the first lawyer in his family, which includes two adopted brothers. Bryan’s commitment to family is personal and professional; he cared for his grandmother with Alzheimer’s while completing his degree and attended the South Texas College of Law at night.

Married with three children, Bryan’s personal experiences enrich his understanding of family dynamics, which is central to his legal practice. He specializes in family law, offering innovative and efficient legal services. A certified member of the College of the State Bar of Texas, Bryan is part of an elite group of legal professionals committed to ongoing education and high-level expertise.

His legal practice covers divorce, custody disputes, property disputes, adoption, paternity, and mediation. Bryan is also experienced in drafting marital property agreements. He leads a team dedicated to complex family law cases and protecting families from false CPS allegations.

Based in Houston, Bryan is active in the Houston Family Law Sector of the Houston Bar Association and various family law groups in Texas. His deep understanding of family values and his professional dedication make him a compassionate advocate for families navigating Texas family law.