Child Support - Non-Custodial Parent

There are no debtor's prisons in America, but even so there is still one debt that you can be thrown in jail for - Child Support.  If the Attorney General or the other parent has filed a motion to enforce a child support obligation against you by contempt, that is exactly what they are asking the Court to do - throw you in jail. 

If this is the situation that you are in, you will need someone to defend you.  Many times options are available that can keep you out of jail.   Since jail time is a possibility, you are entitled to have the Court appoint an attorney to defend you if you cannot afford one.  You must ask the court to appoint an attorney to represent you and the court must find that you are indigent.  If you cannot afford to hire an attorney to represent you, you should request one from the court, however, there are certain things that a court is unlikely to allow a court-appointed attorney to do for you.  

WHAT IF I CAN'T AFFORD THE AMOUNT THAT MY CHILD SUPPORT IS SET AT?

This is the case with many non-custodial parents that have motions for enforcement filed against them.   If you can't afford the amount because you are no longer making as much money as you were when the child support amount was ordered, then you may be entitled to a lower amount through modification.   A modification can be pled for in response to a motion to enforce, however, if you have a court-appointed attorney they will be limited on what the court will allow them to do in terms of modification because they are appointed to defend you on the enforcement only.  A court is unlikely to allow a court appointed attorney to file a modification for you while the court is paying them.  

OK, BUT IF I HAVE TO PAY CHILD SUPPORT - DOESN'T THE OTHER PARTY HAVE TO LET ME SEE MY KIDS?

The answer to this is that the other party must allow you to have visitation according to what is stated in your order independent of whether you are current on child support.  If the other party is not allowing you your court-ordered visitation, then you can file a motion to enforce visitation against them and ask that the court order them to jail.  Unfortunately, while the Attorney General may file a motion to enforce your child support against you, it will not file a motion to enforce visitation against the custodial parent.  It is not that they are against you having your visitation, it is just not what the agency was created by the government to do.  

You can retain an attorney to file a motion for enforcement of visitation in the same proceeding,  but there has to be petition filed and there are certain elements that you must prove.  You can also file a motion to modify visitation.  The court, however, cannot take any action against  the other party unless  there is a petition filed and the other party has notice of the suit and time to mount a defense.  An attorney that is appointed by the court to defend you on a motion to enforce child support will not be allowed to address the visitation issue for you because the court is paying them only to defend you against the motion for contempt that was filed against you.

If you have been hit with a motion to enforce a child support obligation, Rich can defend you.   If you need to modify or enforce visitation or modify your child support obligation because of a salary change Rich can help you regardless of whether an enforcement has been filed against you or not.   

As to modification, remember that child support cannot be modified until a motion if filed with the court.  So if you used to make $50 an hour and you lost your job and could only find a job making $12, the child support amount will stay at the number that was previously ordered until someone files a motion to change it, whether that is two months or ten years after the change in job and salary status.