What are the Consequences Relating to Father's Rights When Past Due on Child Support?
Often times, fathers bear the brunt of the financial responsibility for supporting children when a marriage ends. There are a variety of issues regarding father's rights that are important for you to understand. One of these issues is child support. Before your divorce is finalized, work with your attorney to ensure you have a plan that works best for you and your children. Child support payments usually cover:
- Medical and health care expenses including insurance
- Basic necessities: food, clothing, shelter, childcare
- Education related expenses
- Extra-curricular activities (if specified in divorce decree)
There are times when you may fall short on child support for a month or two. Unfortunately, failure to pay child support ends up the norm for some fathers. Know that there are stiff and strict penalties that occur when you do not pay child support as directed by the court. If you do not pay, the following can occur:
- Issue of criminal or civil warrant resulting in jail time
- Spend up to a year in jail
- Pay up to a $2,000 fine
- Back-pay any child support on top of large fine
- Inability to see children resulting in loss of relationships
- Garnishment of wages (some states garnish up to 50%)
- Denial of tax refunds
If you are having difficulty making your child support payments, contact us to seek possible modification of your agreement or if a warrant has been issued on your behalf. Your modification may be changed if the following occurs:
- Change of employment resulting in at least a 10% decrease in income
- Changes to child custody or visitation (i.e. full-time custody changes to joint custody)
- Medical emergency of child
- Changes in basic necessities of child( i.e school or childcare expenses)
- Medical/Economic Difficulties