Deadbeat spouses are those who fail to pay any court-ordered child or spousal support after a divorce. If these payments were required by the court, then a recipient spouse who has been cheated is able to take legal action against the deadbeat spouse. There has been a nationwide crack-down on deadbeat spouses recently, and this has made it more difficult for a non-custodial parent to shirk financial obligations to their kids by failing to pay.
State laws govern how child support is established and most states use the parents' incomes, their time spent with each child, the number of children, and each parent's employment history as ways to govern how much child support needs to be paid. After the child support and/or spousal support is established, the orders must be obeyed. If not, custodial parents must ask an attorney to help them encourage the delinquent parent to pay.
A deadbeat parent who is not paying child support may be subject to wage deductions, federal income tax intercepts, license suspension and revocations, contempt of court which can result in fines or jail times, or passport restrictions. These penalties will restrict the deadbeat parent and help to motivate them to cover payments as expected.
If your spouse fails to pay support for over one year, then the federal government may choose to get involved. The federal government can also get involved when the amount owed is over $5,000 and when a non-custodial parent travels to another state or country in order to avoid paying any spousal support or child support.
The federal government can force a fine or six months in prison for a first offense, and up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine for a deadbeat who hasn't paid any mandatory child support for over two years. If you want more information about deadbeat parents and enforcement, then you need to contact a San Fernando divorce lawyer at Cutter & Lax today!
