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Your children deserve financial stability. Unfortunately, when their other parent fails to meet their child support obligation, you may find yourself struggling to support them.
If you find yourself in this situation, a seasoned Hamilton County child support enforcement lawyer could act on your behalf to enforce the order. Our firm’s dedicated child support attorneys understand the pressure associated with unpaid child support and could work to ensure your children receive the financial support owed to them.
Parents are obligated to support their children financially, regardless of the custodial schedule. This obligation continues until the child:
A parent’s obligation to pay support also ends if a judge terminates their parental rights. In certain situations, the parents’ support obligation could extend past age 18 or high school graduation if their child is disabled or unable to support themselves. A parent questioning their financial responsibility should consult a dedicated attorney in the area.
The first step to resolving outstanding child support payments is to talk to the other parent. The parents may work out an arrangement that allows the delinquent party to catch up on the support payments without going to court.
If direct discussions between the parents do not rectify the outstanding payments, the parent owed support can file a petition for contempt in family court with a local lawyer. If a judge finds the delinquent parent in contempt, they could order any of the following forms of relief:
If a judge finds that a parent willfully refused to pay support, they could incarcerate them and require them to pay a specified amount toward the arrears before being released. In some cases, a parent may face 10 days in jail for each missed child support payment. A practiced lawyer in Hamilton County is experienced in child support contempt proceedings and could guide a parent through the process of filing a petition in court to enforce the orders.
When a parent is obligated to pay child support under a wage assignment, their employer must deduct the payments directly from the paycheck and send them to the State. The payments will then be redirected to the custodial parent. Judges often order wage assignments when a parent is consistently late on their child support payments or does not pay the full amount.
Before a wage assignment order can take effect, a court must issue an Income Withholding Order directing that child support be paid through the parent’s paycheck. Essentially, a Wage Assignment Order and an Income Withholding Order operate together to secure child support payments. A parent can learn more about using these practical child support enforcement tools from a skilled attorney in Hamilton County.
Collecting back child support can be stressful, but you do not have to do it alone. You can trust a dedicated Hamilton County child support enforcement lawyer to help ensure the financial security you and your children deserve. Call our capable legal team today to begin the enforcement process.