When a couple who has a child divorces, and that child lives primarily with one parent, the non-custodial parent will likely be ordered to pay child support, depending on the residential schedule and both parties’ incomes. The child support payment ensures that the child will be able to enjoy a comparable standard of living as they did when their parents were married. However, many non-custodial parents dodge their legal responsibility to contribute financially to their child’s upbringing. Unfortunately, the child is the one who suffers when this happens.

Who is not paying their share of child support?

In March 2015 NPR ran a story titled Who fails to pay child support? In that piece, reporter Rachel Martin spoke to data expert Mona Chalabi of FiveThirtyEight.com about her research. What she found was that in 2011, there was $14.3 billion in unpaid child support obligations in the United States according to U.S. Census data, which also revealed that mothers were the ones who were the worst at meeting their child support obligations. Chalabi reports that in 2011, 32 percent of custodial fathers did not receive any of the child support that had been awarded to them, compared to 25 percent of custodial mothers, and the number of custodial mothers outnumber custodial fathers five to one. These numbers are quite a change from what many people expect to see.

What recourse is available to enforce child support payments?

If a parent is not receiving their court-ordered child support payments, there are a number of legal remedies available to them, which can include the following:

• Income withholding for arrears and ongoing child support obligations
• Charging 12% simple interest on the unpaid child support arrears
• Revocation of certain state issued licenses
• Holding the delinquent parent in contempt of court
• Jail time until they have paid off a certain amount of the arrears
• “Attachment” or redirecting of the other parent’s income tax refund

Under Tennessee law, income withholding can be established in order to collect child support payments from the obligor parent. This arrangement would ensure that the custodial parent does not have to go after the non-custodial parent every month in order to receive child support payments. As long as the obligor is employed, is collecting workers’ compensation or other disability payments, commissions, bonuses, pension payments, profit sharing interest, annuities and other income, the court can issue an order for income withholding.

If you have a spouse or former spouse who is not paying their child support obligation, you can get help from the experienced Nashville family law attorneys at Miller Upshaw Family Law, PLLC. We invite you to contact us to reserve an in-person or video consultation.

Are you dealing with a former spouse who continues to dodge child support payments? We can help with child support enforcement. Please take a moment to contact our Tennessee divorce attorneys at Miller Upshaw Family Law, PLLC to discuss your case and learn about your options.