Buffalo Child Support Lawyer Looks at Not Being Paid Court Ordered Child Support

As a knowledgeable Buffalo Child Support Lawyer I am consistently asked about what one should do if the other spouse is not paying the court ordered child support.  It’s very difficult when court orders are in place and you need to seek enforcement from the court. When it comes to child support, you can seek enforcement in a couple different ways. If child support is paid through the Child Support Collection Unit, you may be able to obtain enforcement through the unit themselves. You can call the Child Support Collection Unit who is handling your case. They may be able to obtain an Income Deduction Order against the other party and they may be able to take collection actions in terms of taking the other parties tax refunds, putting liens against vehicles, and taking the other parties driver’s license in an effort to obtain compliance with the child support order.

If your child support order is not payable through the Child Support Collection Unit or if those means are not working, you can also at the same time seek intervention from the court. You would be filing through your attorney a petition called an Enforcement Petition and the court generally is going to enforce the court’s own orders. If you have an existing order of child support, the other party would have to bring a defense as to why they have not been paying the support. The petition you’ll be filing is going to be seeking enforcement and so the other party is going to be asked to comply if they’re not able to give a reason as to why there has not been compliance. It has to be a substantial reason that the court finds as reasonable to make it such that enforcement isn’t required. Your attorney may also decide to file a Violation Petition on your behalf to ask the court to find the other party has willfully violated the order of the court. In that case, there can be penalties under the law for having failed to comply with a court order.

Is your spouse not paying their court ordered child support?  If so, contact skilled Buffalo Child Support Lawyer Rebecca Talmud.

This educational legal blog was brought to you by Rebecca Talmud, an experienced Buffalo Child Support Lawyer.