Many divorced parents rely on child support payments to provide for their children. There is helpful information about how a child support order is established and what a parent can do if the paying parent does not meet their child support obligations.
Child support process
In Florida, a child support order is issued by the court and it outlines the financial payments a parent must make to provide for their child’s well-being.
The order states the amount of child support that must be paid, which is based on factors like the parents’ income and the number of children they have. It also specifies how often the support must be paid. The parent may also be required to provide health insurance coverage for the child.
It may address childcare expenses and whether those should be shared between the parents and any additional expenses for school or extracurricular activities.
Enforcement
If the parent who is ordered to pay does not meet their obligations, there are serious consequences.
The most common method to enforce child support payments is income withholding. This means that the payments are withheld from the parent’s paycheck or other source of income.
The state can also intercept tax refunds and apply them to the outstanding child support amount.
The court can also issue fines, suspend the non-paying parent’s driver’s license or in some serious cases, even sentence them to jail.
Parents who are having trouble keeping up with their child support obligations may be able to request a modification to their child support order. It’s important to do this as soon as they can after their financial circumstances change, and to seek out experienced help.