If you recently divorced your spouse and have children, you understand how important it is to receive your child support payments to adequately care for them. Child support is a matter family courts treat seriously, so if your former spouse stopped making payments, you should act as soon as possible to ensure the order is enforced and your children are cared for. Continue reading to learn more about what you can do to enforce child support.

Enforcing Your Child Support Order

Whenever possible, it is a good idea to speak to your former spouse about an issue before taking it to court. If you find that your former spouse still refuses to pay child support, however, reach out to an experienced attorney as soon as possible. There are several child support enforcement tools that can help make your life easier.

Here is a list of some common child enforcement tools:

- Wage reductions or income withholding

- License revocations and suspensions

- Federal income tax intercepts

- Contempt of court

- Passport restrictions

If your former spouse is in contempt of court, this may result in a heavy fine or jail time, depending on the severity of the situation.

Additionally, if your former spouse lives in another state and owes more than $5,000, refused to pay child support for over a year, or traveled outside of the state or country to avoid making payments, the U.S. Office of the Inspector General may intervene. Under these circumstances, a first offense would be punishable with a fine and up to six months in prison. For a second offense, or if your ex owes more than $10,000, your former spouse may face a fine of up to $250,000 or two years in prison.

Reach Out to Our Family Law Team to Schedule a Free Initial Case Evaluation

If your former spouse stopped paying child support, the experienced legal team at Labovitz Law Firm can guide you through the process of taking your case to court and ensuring the child support order is enforced. Our team is backed by 16 years of experience and a history of successful results, so you can feel confident in our ability to effectively represent you and your children's interests.

Call our law office today at (817) 374-4056 to set up a free initial case review with a member of our team to discuss your child support enforcement case.