If you are the custodial parent of a minor, and the non-custodial parent has not made the corresponding payments to Child Support, in today's blog we will be explaining what you can do to enforce the non-custodial parent's obligation regarding Child Support payments.
The first prerequisite for making the non-custodial parent comply with the payment obligation is that this obligation must be established by a court order. Extrajudicial agreements between the parties, without the ratification of the court, cannot be executed, without first not going through the due process in the corresponding court.
Once you have a court order in which one of the parents is obliged to pay Child Support there will be two alternatives to enforce it. The first one it is to go to the Florida Department of Revenue's Child Support Enforcement, or FCSE, and ask for help. This is an administrative procedure in which the department will be able to check if there are bank accounts, wages, tax refund money, or any other asset that can help satisfy the debt. The hearing of this process will take place in front of an administrative officer, who can give recommendations to the judge.
The other way, and the one most used, is by appealing to the judge who heard your case and asking him to find the father who is delinquent in contempt of an order given by the court. During this procedure, other issues related to the minor may also be discussed, such as whether the non-custodial parent is complying with the obligations established in the parenting plan, whether it is necessary to modify the time the minor spends with each parent, or whether it is necessary to decrease or increase the amount of Child Support to be paid. The custodial parent may also ask the court for penalties to make the non-custodial parent meet their payment obligations, including the sanction of paying attorney's fees and procedural costs if necessary. Visit our blog and our YouTube channel to find out what are the consequences of non-payment of Child Support or alimony to minors.
One topic that I would like to touch on briefly, as it has happened in everyday life, is what to do if the non-custodial parent moves out of state and stops making the corresponding payments. Moving out of state does not relieve you of your payment obligation. There is a federal law called the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, which is in force throughout the country, that establishes that if the non-custodial parent changed his habitual residence outside the state where the order that forced him to pay Child Support was issued, no state can modify this order, as long as the custodial parent still resides in the state where the order was issued. There are exceptions to this rule, but generally speaking, the new state will have to accept what the court says and force the non-custodial parent to pay the required amount.
If you need help asserting your rights to Child Support, call us today. The first consultation is free. At Y. Morejon we have helped many families solve their problems, let us help you with yours. In Y. Morejon Attorney, P.A. your problem is our problem.
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Any information made available by the lawyer or law firm is for educational purposes only, as well as to give you general information and general understanding of the law, NOT to provide specific advice. This does NOT create a relationship attorney-client between you and Y. Morejon Attorney, P.A. This information should NOT be use as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.