Dealing with unpaid child support from your ex-spouse can be a significant challenge, especially when the missed payments start to pile up. In the context of Texas child support, persistent non-payment can severely impact your family’s finances, particularly given the rising costs of living and economic pressures. When standard reminders and requests for payment fail, you may need to take more assertive legal actions. Filing a lien against your ex-spouse could be a crucial step to enforce past-due child support in Texas. This approach helps secure the owed amount and protect your financial stability, ensuring you and your children receive the support you’re entitled to.
What does all of this have to do with child support and missed payments? Quite a bit. If you are a parent who receives child support each month odds are good that you do not think of the child support as something nice to get on top of your other sources of income. Rather, you likely look at child support as a necessity to keep the lights on and the bellies in your house fed. If your ex-spouse misses a child support payment that can cause real problems for you and your children. This is especially true if you have just wrapped up a divorce and are not yet working full-time. As a result, the child support that you receive may be a huge chunk of your monthly income.
Taking action against your ex
Therefore, when your ex-spouse misses multiple payments, you need to be serious about how you are going to address this issue. Taking these missed payments lying down is not going to solve the problem. Think of it like when a wasp gets into your house. It’d be nice to leave for the day and find that the wasp problem just went away. However, that’s not how it works. When you get back home the wasp is still going to be there. You need to deal with the insect head-on before it stings you. Same thing with missed child support. If you do not deal with your ex-spouse’s missed child support payments head-on, then you risk it becoming a problem that is even more out of control than it is now.
In today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, our licensed family law attorneys will discuss with you the mechanics of filing a lien against your ex-spouse for missed child support payments. What does it mean to file a lien, what is an enforcement case and how can this help you to get back on your feet and get your budget on the right track? After our blog post if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. Our licensed family law attorneys offer free-of-charge consultations six days a week in person, over the phone, and via video where we can answer questions and help you sort out your options in a variety of different family law-related areas.
Enforcement of child support payments
When it comes to missed child support payments you need to be able to hold your ex-spouse accountable for those missed payments. Missing these payments goes beyond mere annoyance; it can profoundly affect your family. Your Final Decree of Divorce outlines all court orders regarding child support, with the monthly payment amount being the pivotal one.
Usually, the child support you receive is based on the number of children involved in the case and the income of your co-parent. Calculating this income can be complex, especially if your ex-spouse has multiple income sources. However, the calculation involves determining their net monthly income and applying a percentage to establish your child support payment. Or you and your ex-spouse may have come up with your methods to calculate child support based on the specific circumstances of your family.
If one of your children requires specialized care due to a physical or mental impairment, you may require child support beyond the guideline levels outlined in the Texas Family Code. Doctor’s visits, therapy, specific types of food, and other daily needs of a disabled child can add up quickly in terms of cost. Therefore, it may be necessary for your co-parent to pay more than the guideline levels of support.
Managing child support in shared custody arrangements
On the other hand, if you and your ex-spouse share possession of your time on something like a 50/50 basis then you may not require a guidelines level of support due to the frequency with which both parents see your child. You may need to figure out a plan on how to divide up out-of-pocket costs or medical costs, things of this nature. However, since you are both with your child on an even basis there would not be the need for one parent to pay the other a “standard” amount of child support. In your case, the court may have determined child support based on the income disparity between you and your ex-spouse. This could be a lesser amount of support that can help bridge the gap in your income.
Fortunately, the State of Texas makes it difficult for your ex-spouse to miss child support payments. After the divorce, the court should have issued a wage withholding order. The judge signs this document and sends it to your company’s human resources department to enforce child support payments. The wage withholding order instructs human resources to withhold a specific amount of money from your paycheck(s) each month. What this does is remove a lot of the day-to-day stress associated with having to remember to send in child support. The wage withholding order operates automatically, similar to bill pay setups on your bank account website.
Attorney general’s role in child support enforcement
The Office of the Attorney General oversees this process on behalf of the State of Texas. Many people who have gone through a divorce assume that the Attorney General represents the parent who receives child support in any legal matter. However, this is not the case. The Attorney General can assist parents in paying and receiving child support payments as well as help parents collect child support payments that are past due. However, the attorney general does not represent you or your co-parent in this process. If you decide to file an enforcement case, then you would need to hire an attorney or represent yourself in the case.
One of the options that you can consider to seek relief from a family court if your ex-spouse has failed to pay child support is to place a lien on the property that he or she owns. Since Texas family law rarely covers this topic, we chose to focus on it in today’s blog post. However, it may not be the most practical option for you to choose from. Let’s walk through some of the other options that you could potentially select.
Non-lien options for enforcing past-due child support
To retrieve back child support, the simplest method is income deduction via a wage withholding order. The court will set the specifics, such as the amount to be withheld, based on the owed support and your ex-spouse’s income. The court can also intercept funds such as income taxes or lottery winnings and direct them to you. For instance, if your ex-spouse is due a federal tax refund, the judge can redirect it to you with help from the Office of the Attorney General.
If your ex-spouse owes you child support, the court can suspend various licenses they hold. This could include a driver’s license, a professional license (such as to practice law), or even a hunting or fishing license. The inability to perform job duties or recreate on the weekends is a good motivator for most people to pay back child support. Once your ex-spouse pays the full amount of child support owed, the court will reinstate their suspended license.
There is also the possibility that your ex-spouse could be let’s test a penalty of having to spend time in jail for failing to pay child support. Bear in mind that the sentence could be no longer than six months depending upon the amount of child support that is owed. Additionally, many times a judge will instead put your ex-spouse on deferred adjudication or probation to allow them to work and pay back the Child Support. However, in many cases, even the threat or possibility of having to go to jail for missing child support payments is enough to keep many people from falling behind in that important responsibility.
Modification of child support
Modification of a child support order is another option that could be available to you or your spouse. In a child support modification scenario, you would be asking the judge to increase or decrease the amount of child support that your ex-spouse has to pay each month. A material and substantial change in circumstances would need to have occurred since the last time that you were in family court to justify a request to modify a court order.
In the context of child support, this usually means that someone’s income would have increased or decreased or the needs of your child would have changed over time. Maybe your son needs mental health counseling regularly which is not covered by health insurance. Or your daughter may require regular visits to the doctor for a type of infusion that helps treat an autoimmune condition that she has recently been diagnosed with. Whatever the situation it is important for you to be aware of what those needs may be and to have the evidence to prove to a judge that a modification is necessary.
How does it work to have a lien placed on your ex-spouse’s property?
A lien is a legal instrument that uses the property as leverage for the enforcement of a debt payment. Here is how it works in the context of child support. Your ex-spouse owes $10,000 in back child support. You would like him to pay that child support back to you as quickly as possible. You can file an enforcement case and ask the court to consider placing a lien against some item of property that he owns. Car, boat, or even a personal injury settlement that he won from getting hit by another vehicle while driving home from work. A lien can attach to these assets, and they cannot be sold or accessed (in the case of a personal injury settlement) until a judgment or deal is reached regarding child support.
If he does try to sell the specific item of the property then a portion of the sale from that asset would go towards paying the child support arrearage. You can negotiate with your ex-spouse to reach a settlement that resolves the outstanding child support, potentially leading to the removal of the lien. Remember, a lien on property can block its sale. Many people prefer to avoid the hassle of dealing with such issues, as it could lead to selling the property at a discount or keeping it on the market until the lien is removed. This situation often motivates ex-spouses to settle the child support debt to avoid the complications and financial drawbacks associated with the lien.
Exploring options for retrieving back child support
A child support lien freezes your ex-spouse’s assets, but there are other tools available to collect overdue support. For example, a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) can access funds from specific retirement plans. Typically, retirement plans do not distribute benefits to anyone not named as a plan participant. However, a QDRO, established during divorce proceedings, can direct funds from your ex-spouse’s retirement account to you. Unlike a lien, which only prevents the distribution of retirement funds, a QDRO enforces the actual transfer of these funds.
Keep in mind that placing a lien on your ex-spouse’s property or assets is just one of several strategies to recover overdue child support. This situation, though unfortunate, occurs with some frequency in Texas family law cases. Being prepared for such scenarios can help you manage the challenges of enforcing child support effectively.
Dealing with delinquent child support: Seeking solutions in Texas
At the end of the day, trying to get back child support from an ex-spouse will take some time. If you truly are in a position where you need that money without any time to spare it would be best for you to investigate options where you can earn some extra income for a short period before you can go to court or negotiate a settlement with your ex-spouse. Nobody would say that this is the best option for you or your family, but it is the current situation that you find yourselves in.
Navigating the enforcement of unpaid child support in Texas can be complex. When your ex-spouse fails to meet their child support obligations, it’s crucial to understand the available legal remedies. Filing a lien against your ex-spouse is one effective method to ensure compliance with Texas child support orders. This process can be intricate and challenging without professional assistance. Consulting with an attorney experienced in family law, such as those at the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, can provide the expertise needed to handle these cases effectively. Our attorneys focus on explaining your options and guiding you through the enforcement process to secure the financial support your children need.
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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.
