What Can You Do When Your Child’s Other Parent Will Not Pay Child Support?

 Posted on September 14, 2020 in Child Support

Parents who have divorced or separated will sometimes disagree on how much each side should have to pay towards child support. If the parents were never married, it can be an ordeal for the mother to prove paternity in order to require the father to pay child support. Even after proving paternity, the father may be unhappy about having to pay. Whatever the reason may be, not paying the required child support amount is harmful to the children because it takes away money that is meant for living expenses. As the parent who is supposed to receive child support, you need to make sure that your child support order is being enforced.

Start with Communication

You should try to resolve the issue with your co-parent out of court before filing a complaint about a violation of your child support order. Find out why they missed their payment and when they plan to make it up. If they could not afford the payment that month, you can try to work with them but remind them that they are still required to pay the amount stated in the child support order unless the order is modified. If they do not respond or are being uncooperative, you may have no choice but to seek legal enforcement.

Enforcing Child Support

If you receive your payments through Illinois’ Division of Child Support Services (DCSS), the DCSS has the means to legally force your co-parent to pay child support. If you do not use the DCSS, you can file a motion in court claiming that your co-parent is in violation of your child support order. The court has several ways of retrieving money from your co-parent, including:

• Wage garnishment
• Seizing bank accounts
• Intercepting tax refunds or other state payments
• Placing liens on assets

Depending on how many days your co-parent has not paid child support, the state can suspend their driver’s license, revoke their professional license, or sentence them to no more than six months in jail.

Contact a DuPage County Divorce Lawyer

If your co-parent has missed a child support payment or refuses to pay, you should talk to an experienced Naperville, Illinois, divorce attorney at Calabrese Associates, P.C., about how you can enforce your child support order. Whether you are dealing with the DCSS or filing a motion in court, it is important to work with a lawyer to make sure you receive the child support payments as soon as possible and with minimal complications. Schedule a consultation by calling 630-393-3111.

Source:

https://www.illinois.gov/hfs/ChildSupport/FormsBrochures/Pages/hfs1759.aspx