Utah Child Support Your spouse hasn't paid child support in 2 months, and yet he/she still regularly exercises parent-time. Why should your spouse still get the benefits of visitation without offering any financial support. Next week you intend to give him/her an ultimatum, pay your child support or no more parenting time! Don't do it. Child support and visitation are not related, at least in the sense that a party does not lose his or her parent time due to failure to pay child support.
Enforcing Child Support
If your spouse is not paying child support you have a couple of options to enforce the child support order. The Office of Recovery Services provides child support collection services. They can implement collection services in order to force a party to pay child support. Typically they garnish wages, but that can be difficult to do if a parent is not working or is getting paid under the table. So if your employed spouse is not paying child support then ORS can be a good way to go. But if your spouse is not working or paying child support then ORS can't do much.
So what can you do if your ex-spouse is not working or at least not getting paid through normal channels? If this is the case then you'll probably have to take your ex back to court. The court has the ability to penalize the party that is violating the divorce decree. The court can hold the offending party in contempt, withhold parent-time, issue fines, or even impose jail time. So depending on the circumstances surrounding your ex's failure to pay child support, your remedies can vary.
Regardless of which avenue you choose, keep in mind you can't get blood out of a turnip. So if your spouse simply refuses to pay child support no matter what ORS or the court does, you may just be out of luck. The state can only do so much to impose their will on an individual, and there is a lot it can to, but it still can't force someone to do something they don't want to do. You would think the threat of jail time would make someone pay child support, but unfortunately that's just not always the case.
If your ex is not paying child support, contact Pearson Law Firm for a free consultation with an experienced Utah divorce attorney, Call 801-888-0991.
Regardless of which avenue you choose, keep in mind you can't get blood out of a turnip. So if your spouse simply refuses to pay child support no matter what ORS or the court does, you may just be out of luck. The state can only do so much to impose their will on an individual, and there is a lot it can to, but it still can't force someone to do something they don't want to do. You would think the threat of jail time would make someone pay child support, but unfortunately that's just not always the case.
If your ex is not paying child support, contact Pearson Law Firm for a free consultation with an experienced Utah divorce attorney, Call 801-888-0991.
Enforcing Parent-Time
Usually enforcing parent-time is easier than enforcing a child support order. Often times its just a matter of contacting local law enforcement. As long as you can provide a copy of your decree or custody order law enforcement officers will typically force a party to turn the kids over for visitation. This is one of the reasons it is so important to get a well-worded court order. If it is not clear, then it cannot be enforced.
So as you can see, visitation is much easier to enforce than child support, so if you attempt to withhold parent-time because your ex is not paying child support, he or she will likely be able to enforce it anyway, and when/if you end up in front of a judge, you could both be held in contempt for violating the court order.
So as you can see, visitation is much easier to enforce than child support, so if you attempt to withhold parent-time because your ex is not paying child support, he or she will likely be able to enforce it anyway, and when/if you end up in front of a judge, you could both be held in contempt for violating the court order.
Practical reasons to not withhold parent-time
Talk about financial issues Besides the legal ramifications of withholding parent-time, there are practical reasons for allowing your ex parent time.
MONEY ISSUES: it could be your ex is really having money issues. Maybe he/she lost their job, maybe his/her hours were reduced. It's possible that your ex is having legitimate financial problems and is simply unable to pay child support. This is more often than not the case when that parent is still actively involved in the kids' lives and trying to stay on good terms with you. Most "deadbeats" that are purposely trying to avoid child support are not trying too hard to exercise parent-time either. If it is a financial problem, neither the courts nor ORS would have any ability to help much, so its best to just be patient and sensitive to the issue, try working with your ex to solve the problem. In my experience doing so will keep the problem from magnifying and in the end, the ex is more willing to get current as soon as possible.
BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILDREN: withholding parent-time is seldom in the best interest of the children. So even if you're frustrated about the lack of child support, try to keep your kids best interests in mind. Put aside your own frustrations and do what is right for the kids. In the end this kind of selflessness is going to benefit you and your kids.
If you are having child support/parent-time issues, contact Pearson Law Firm for a free consultation with an experienced Utah divorce attorney. Your attorney has the knowledge and experience to help you deal with these issues, and determine what needs to be done. Call today! 801-888-0991
MONEY ISSUES: it could be your ex is really having money issues. Maybe he/she lost their job, maybe his/her hours were reduced. It's possible that your ex is having legitimate financial problems and is simply unable to pay child support. This is more often than not the case when that parent is still actively involved in the kids' lives and trying to stay on good terms with you. Most "deadbeats" that are purposely trying to avoid child support are not trying too hard to exercise parent-time either. If it is a financial problem, neither the courts nor ORS would have any ability to help much, so its best to just be patient and sensitive to the issue, try working with your ex to solve the problem. In my experience doing so will keep the problem from magnifying and in the end, the ex is more willing to get current as soon as possible.
BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILDREN: withholding parent-time is seldom in the best interest of the children. So even if you're frustrated about the lack of child support, try to keep your kids best interests in mind. Put aside your own frustrations and do what is right for the kids. In the end this kind of selflessness is going to benefit you and your kids.
If you are having child support/parent-time issues, contact Pearson Law Firm for a free consultation with an experienced Utah divorce attorney. Your attorney has the knowledge and experience to help you deal with these issues, and determine what needs to be done. Call today! 801-888-0991
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