Parents are obligated to provide financial support for their children, even in cases where they do not have visitation or custody rights. In some cases, obligations are covered through monthly child support payments.
When you are facing a dispute over child support, a skilled child support lawyer could help you enforce a court order. You have many options, and a Lincoln County child support enforcement lawyer at Addair Law could advise you on the best path forward.
Resolving Disputes Outside of Court
Hiring a Lincoln County attorney for a child support enforcement case offers many benefits. While they can help with various legal maneuvers and provide sound counsel, one of the most important things they can do is attempt to resolve the dispute amicably.
Often, a parent’s failure to make child support payments is a matter of necessity instead of an intentional act. In other situations, it may be a misunderstanding. In these cases, a lawyer might be able to work with the co-parent to ensure they pay what is owed and meet their obligations under the current custody order.
Filing a Motion to Enforce an Order
The reality for many parents is that legal action may be necessary to resolve a support dispute. A compassionate Lincoln County child support enforcement attorney could file a child support action with the court in these cases.
The court has several options available when it comes to delinquent child support payments. The judge will typically set a hearing to determine why the payments have not been made. In some cases, they might consider all the circumstances and provide the parent with additional time to get caught up. In other situations, the judge might amend the terms of the order moving forward.
When a judge determines there is no viable reason for missed payments, they have a few tools they can rely on to punish the delinquent parent, including:
Putting them in jail
Placing a lien on their property
Levying their personal bank account
Ordering the garnishment of their wages
Suspending the non-paying parent’s driving privileges
However, a judge will typically avoid these extreme measures since they could make it harder for that parent to catch up on their payments.
Child Visitation Is Different Than Support Payments
It can be frustrating to have a co-parent refuse to comply with the terms of a child support order. That said, it is never a good idea for a parent to take matters into their own hands. This is especially true regarding withholding child visitation over support disputes.
This might seem like a fair response to some people, but the court will disagree. A judge could find a parent who refuses access to the child in contempt of court, even when the other party is also out of compliance with the order. This could result in steep penalties and complicate the dispute over missed support payments.
Each parent must comply with the existing court order. When modifications to that order become necessary, a skilled Lincoln County child support payment enforcement lawyer could help.
Rely on a Lincoln County Child Support Enforcement Attorney
You have many options to resolve a child support dispute. In some cases, these issues could be resolved by both parties compromising with the help of legal counsel. In other cases, a lawsuit becomes necessary.
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