Understanding what child support arrears mean is pivotal, particularly in the context of divorce or child custody cases. These arrears denote past-due child support payments, representing a critical aspect of family law proceedings. Whether you’re the payer or recipient of child support, comprehending this term is essential. It signifies the accumulation of unpaid support, which can significantly impact both parties and the well-being of the child involved.
As long as you make payments on time and in full, child support operates smoothly. Typically, courts order child support amounts as part of child custody or divorce cases. Often those orders begin in the temporary orders phase of a case. Paying child support can take some adjustment for a family. Therefore, courts incorporate the temporary order segment of a family law case. This helps your family adjust to the process of paying and receiving child support. Let’s spend some time discussing that subject in greater detail.
How is child support calculated?
Child support typically is a calculation based on one parent’s net monthly income. Wages, salary, commissions, rental income, unemployment insurance payments, and similar types of payments contribute to calculating net monthly income. If you are navigating a family law case and worry that you might overlook aspects of your co-parent’s income, discuss this with your attorney. During the discovery process, you can often inquire about various income streams that your co-parent may have but might not disclose.
Otherwise, the calculation of child support is fairly straightforward. The court will assess a percentage of your Co-parent’s net monthly income, starting at 20% for one child. In typical cases, the court may allocate up to 50% of your Co-parent’s net monthly income for child support. If your co-parent is financially responsible for other children, the court may adjust the support percentage for your children, reducing the amount they receive.
What happens once child support is calculated?
After calculating child support, the next concern is how to transfer it from your Co-parent to your bank account. Many parents assume they will make payments directly to each other, either by writing a check or paying in cash. However, as you are about to see, this is not the recommended method of paying child support.
Rather, the only way to get official credit for making child support payments is if the payments flow through the office of the attorney general child support division. The Child Support Division of the Texas Attorney General’s Office is the state body that administers child support payments. The judge from your child custody or divorce case will sign off on a wage withholding order. This order allows the attorney general’s office to receive money directly from your employer each month to fulfill your child support obligation.
Streamlining Child Support Orders: The Role of Attorneys
If you are the parent receiving child support, you and your attorney need to prepare an order after your divorce or child custody case. Typically, our office’s attorneys submit a wage withholding order for a client on the same day we seek to finalize the final order in a custody or divorce case. This method allows the judge to review all documents at once. It helps them identify any additional information needed before concluding the case.
The wage withholding order lists your spouse or co-parent’s employer’s name and the exact amount to withhold each month for child support. As circumstances may change, it is up to you and your Co-parent to update this wage withholding order. If you have questions about this situation, you should contact an attorney with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. We can discuss how your child’s needs may change over time. Additionally, we can explain what you should do if you need to update a wage withholding order. If your child support obligation ends, we can also guide you on how to have the order terminated.
Monitoring Child Support Usage: Accountability and Transparency
The attorney general’s child support division will channel the Child Support payments directly into your Co-parent’s bank account. Your Co-parent will then have the discretion to use the Child Support as they see fit. Clients frequently inquire about ways to track spending of support money or hold the co-parent accountable for any misuse.
Depending on your viewpoint, it may be unfortunate. But, there is no system to audit the spending of child support payments. In such cases, you must largely trust that your co-parent is using the funds responsibly. However, if they spend the money irresponsibly, they cannot demand more from you. This is unless they succeed in modifying the Child Support order.
Additionally, your Co-parent cannot withhold Visitation or possession of your children from you if you fail to make child support payments as agreed to or as ordered.
Beware: Direct Child Support Payments May Not Count
I will mention that you do not get credit for direct payment of child support to a Co-parent. I realized that writing a check or giving cash to your co-parent may seem easier. However, this approach avoids the trouble of following a wage withholding order or making payments through the Attorney General’s website. Still, you run the risk of not having these payments count. For example, theoretically, your Co-parent could allege to a family court judge that you failed to pay child support if the payments do not go through the attorney general’s office. This puts you in a position where you may have to defend yourself even if you made payments in full and on time, just not through the attorney general’s office.
On the bright side, making payments through the Attorney General’s office prevents your co-parent from arguing that you missed or partially made payments. You can easily check on payments by visiting the website for both you and your co-parent. The site clearly displays child support payments. This makes it simple to see the ordered amounts and the amounts received in full.
What could cause child support to be paid late or not paid at all?
Even though child support has a much more noble intent attached to it, we can look at the payment of child support much like any other bill or obligation as far as finances are concerned. There are a host of reasons why child support could go unpaid or underpaid this month. The reality is that most Americans lack an emergency fund or money set aside to pay for issues that come out of the blue. So, something as simple as a car repair could result in your child support payment coming late during the month.
Balancing Child Support and Immediate Needs
Your Co-parent could figure that they could not get to work without a car and pay child support anyway. Therefore, it is justified to pay for child support later and pay for the car now. These are realities that families face on an everyday basis. Given the unexpected occurrences of the past year, it’s not unusual to see child support payments missed for various reasons.
The most significant reason child support payments might be missed is typically due to job loss. Many parents must budget their monthly expenses, including child support, alongside their other responsibilities. If your Co-parent were to lose their job or have their hours cut back, this could impact their ability to pay child support. As I mentioned earlier, even child support can take a back seat to bills like the cable bill. The same can happen with child support payments during a job loss. When someone loses their job, they often need to make cuts to their budget. Unfortunately, child support may become a casualty of that reality.
Strategies for Coping with Unexpected Setbacks
The real question we need to ask ourselves is this: what can you do when an incident like this happens to your family? If your parent encounters financial difficulties, is there anything your family can do to prevent extreme financial issues in the short term due to the inability to pay? Additionally, what can your family do to avoid filing a lawsuit to ensure proper child support payments?
The most obvious solution to this problem that I can think of would be to make sure you have money in reserve if you have a reduction in pay, and hours or lose your job outright. Losing your job is not an excuse for not paying child support. At the same time, it is understandable that losing your job would mean having difficulty paying child support, which in and of itself does not absolve you from paying child support. A trip to the courthouse to listen to enforcement cases on child support will cause you to learn that a person is responsible for paying child support regardless of their finances. If a court order says you have to pay child support, then that is what you have to do.
The Importance of a Rainy Day Fund for Child Support
Maintaining a rainy day fund is crucial, especially if you pay child support. The potential consequences of failing to meet child support obligations make establishing a financial safety net a wise decision. By setting aside a few dollars each month while employed, you ensure the availability of necessary funds for child support during a month-long income drop. Losing your job requires immediate and upfront communication with both the attorney general and your co-parent.
Proactively discussing any child support payment issues with your co-parent can help prevent an enforcement lawsuit. Generally, if you keep your co-parent informed about child support matters, they are less likely to pursue immediate legal action for a missed payment. Conversely, surprising them by failing to pay without prior communication and lacking a cooperative co-parenting relationship increases the likelihood of facing an enforcement lawsuit.
How can you recover past-due child support?
If back child support begins to pile up, there are several ways for you to enforce The Child Support order to recover the money owed to you. For example, you can issue child support lien notices to banks where your co-parent holds an account. You and your attorney can work with the court to freeze a bank account to ensure proper payment.
Enforcing Child Support Orders: Using Liens on Property
You may also enforce your child support order by putting a lien on your Co-parent’s real estate or personal property. Placing a lien on a property ensures that you have an enforceable interest in that property if it gets sold. It is even possible to seize personal property or real estate for sale if the child support arrears are large enough.
Surprisingly, the government can seize your co-parent’s federal tax refunds to cover unpaid child support. The IRS checks for any owed child support and can withhold refunds to pay off the debt. The attorney general may assist you with this, as would an experienced family law attorney.
License Restrictions and Legal Remedies
Additionally, authorities can deny or withhold your co-parent’s licenses, including driver’s, professional, hunting, fishing, and passport renewals, if they owe child support. Again, these are types of relief you would need to seek from the court in your enforcement case. The family court judge would assess the situation and make it a termination about what types of relief are possible and most readily fix the situation you find yourself in.
To enforce a child support order, authorities can send your co-parent to jail for failing to pay back child support. This severe step applies if your co-parent persistently refuses to pay a significant amount of child support. While the court may order jail time, they might also grant deferred adjudication, allowing the individual to work and begin paying off the overdue support.
Conclusion
Grasping the significance of what child support arrears mean is crucial in navigating family law matters, especially divorce or child custody cases. These arrears signify unpaid child support, serving as a pivotal aspect in ensuring the welfare of the child and upholding legal obligations. Whether you find yourself in the position of the payer or recipient, understanding this term empowers you to navigate the complexities of family law proceedings with clarity and awareness. By addressing child support arrears proactively and in accordance with legal guidelines, both parties can work towards ensuring the best interests of the child and fostering a fair resolution to their financial support needs.
Child Support Ebook
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Frequently Asked Questions
If you fall into child support arrears in Texas, it means you have unpaid or overdue child support payments. This can lead to legal actions such as wage garnishment, property liens, or even potential incarceration.
No, child support arrears do not disappear on their own in Texas. They continue to accumulate until fully paid, and legal actions may be taken to enforce payment.
In Texas, owing a significant amount of child support, often several months’ worth, and consistently failing to make payments could lead to the possibility of being jailed for contempt of court.
In Texas, the interest on child support arrears is set at 6% per year. This interest is applied to the overdue amount and accumulates over time.
Child support arrears are typically not forgiven in Texas. However, you can work with the court to modify your child support order based on changes in circumstances, which may affect the arrears owed.
The length of jail time for not paying child support in Texas varies and depends on factors such as the amount owed, the duration of non-payment, and the court’s discretion. It’s important to address the issue promptly to avoid legal consequences.
In Texas, child support obligations typically end when the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever occurs later. However, any arrears that have accrued prior to the end of the support obligation remain due and must be paid.
In Texas, a child cannot directly sue a parent for back child support. Child support matters are typically addressed through legal channels involving the state’s child support enforcement agencies and family courts.
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.