Non-custodial parents are legally required, in most cases, to offer financial support to the custodial parents of their children. The child support obligations of the non-custodial parent will be laid out in either a court order or a court-approved settlement agreement. If the parent fails to pay his or her child support obligations each month, he or she could get in serious trouble with the law.
Enforcing a child support order has always been challenging for the Texas criminal justice system. However, a new way of enforcing child support orders could help. The state of Texas recently implemented a program that requires parents to be up-to-date on their child support payments before they can renew their vehicle registrations.
According to a spokesperson from the Child Support Division of the Texas Attorney General's office, the program has so far been successful. The program has collected more than $1 million in child support payments since its implementation.
Texas has other ways of enforcing child support orders. In extreme cases, a non-paying parent may be arrested, but this does little to actually solve the problem. An imprisoned parent is less likely to pay child support than one that's free to work and earn a living. Wage garnishment is another strategy to get child support paid, but if the parent is self-employed, it could be difficult to tap into his or her wages.
If you're owed late child support in Texas, the law is on your side. By reaching out to a family law attorney, you can learn about the various legal strategies at your disposal to get the money you and your children are owed.
Source: CBS DFW, "Texas To Withhold Car Registration If Child Support Is Owed," accessed April 25, 2017
