One blog post which seems to be causing a lot of controversy going to jail if you don’t pay on a debt. One of our commentors said you could definitely do time for defaulting on child support, so we thought we’d investigate a little further on this topic.
A brief Google search yielded many hits on this topic:
- A Cleveland Man will spend 2 years in prison for not paying child support.
- Apparently, a warrant can be issued for your arrest for failure to pay child support. If you are pulled over for a traffic ticket, they can haul you off to jail because of this warrant.
- If you are more than $2500 in arrears on your child support payments, you cannot get a US Passport.
- A man in Cleveland, OH had to spend 30 days in jail for not paying $56K in child support.
- Iowa has a state-run program to help parents who are not making their child support payments avoid jail time.
So what is going on here? Why are non-paying parents going to jail over child support payments? You can think of child support as a court order. Anytime you refuse a court order, you are in contempt. Failing to pay child support is criminal contempt of court, and always involves jail or a fine or both. Though all states have different regulations, most do prescribe jail time for non-payment.
What if the Non-Paying Parent Can’t Get a Job?
On February 2, 1998, the California Supreme Court published the Moss opinion (Moss vs. Superior Court. 17 Cal. 4th 396 ). Prior to January 1998, many judges and commissioners were divided as to the remedies available to them when faced with a criminal contempt for non-payment for support (P.C. 270) when someone raised the issues of inability to find work.
Prior to the Moss decision, non-payment meant automatic jail time. The Moss decision made allowances for parents who were not paying only because they were out of work and could not afford their child support payments. However, if the parent was not paying because they refused to work, jail time must be served. Remember, the Moss decision only applies to California child support payments.
So what experience do you have? Have you been unable to make child support payments or had an ex-spouse who did not make their payments? Tell us about it by leaving a comment!
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My sister got divorced 3 years ago. Prior to that her husband held over 18 jobs and they filed bankruptcy twice. He was awarded custody of the 3 minor children until this spring when he hit the oldest child and was served with a protection order. In the meantime, my sister has had a difficult time finding work and is $500 behind on child support. When she was awarded temporary custody of the oldest, it only lowered the child support by $3 a month. The husband and his lawyer have submitted to the court that my sister’s wages were way higher than what she actually gets paid. This is like a nightmare that she can’t wake up from. First of all, she got a judge who has an axe to grind against mothers and doesn’t want to look like she is showing preferential treatment. So she awards custody to someone who 1)couldn’t hold a job for more than a year, and 2) has a violent temper and has previously assaulted my sister and another girlfriend that he had in-between, and now he has assaulted his oldest child. I think there needs to be laws in place for how the child support is spent – a lot of parents get the support and spend the money on “other frivilous things” and not the children.
i am currently behind on my child support not because i am refusing to pay but i was injured in an auto accident and have been out of work for 5 months. I just got to where i could get back to work but i cant find a job and child support wants me to come up with 1,500 dollars in less than two weeks or go to jail. this is crazy and unfair to even expect someone to accomplish this and the worst part about it is if im in jail hten they still arent getting paid are they?
hello slaves
this system needs to be fought and changed,there is to many of us being ripped off from this non profit bs state fed funded collection agency,i want to fight but there is no lawyer willing to help,i have 10,000 in arrears and interest of 12000,how does this make sense,
they need to get the stuff straight.i should have been in jail a long time ago…..why do they let the bill get so far behind to begin with…i say this because my daughter is 20 years old and i have been trying to get the x to accept a deal i make monthly payments and have for the past 12 years..this is just not fair.the interest is outragous i will be dead and it will still be accumulating.i need help and no one helps i want to get this paid off but i refuse to pay the full owed i will not pay the full amount so let them come take me away finnally i will get free food on their dime..i try to negotiate with the xxx but she dont care.its all about her booze and drug bill,my daughter has told me so..if their is anyone who is willing to take a stand and fight for our rights please get ahold of me.i will not back down from these slave driven people..yes we have an obligation. how can they force slavery on us…i am ready to fight…so please i need legal counsel to help take this all the way to the supreme court……….my case is in wisconsin…i am tired of paying to have my lic reinstated when they feel like suspending it …i am through…we need to stand up for our rights to………so please contact me to get this ball rolling and let the world know we are not slaves and yes some of us do care to get things paid..but not when forced into slavery…..contact me with your stories…
i am starting a nonprofit help us stop slavery company………..cdinstalls2004@yahoo.com
So I have not payed child support I have been looking for work for a wile now and no luck so now I have to go to court to see a judge about why no payments. I am going to say judge I have been looking for work I have proof of trying to find work but steal no luck. what can I do to not go to jail? So now here is a nother thing that the mother is on welfare but she dose not live with her kid she leves the kid with the her dad and the dad dose not let me even see my kid ether dose the mother and its like i dont have no cantrol over my kid so I kno that the mother is keeping the welfare money for her self and is making the dad pay for all of her stuff she should be paying for so I am thinging that this is a froud.So if she is found on froud I hope that I can tell the judge about that and maybe he can dismis my child support for welfare froud on the mother.
what is the longest time served for non child support payment.
I don’t know. I guess it would depend on the case.
I currently owe about 7k in child support i cant find a job and the jobs i do find tell me that they cant hire me because i have a judgement against me. The mother of my son doesnt seem to understand that i can get a job when i owe so much. I dont understand how sending a man or woman to jail is going to help any situation especially when it going to to show up on a backround check and prevent jobs even further.
I do believe that child support can be a good thing but how long has it been since anyone actually tried to change some things about child support? I personally think that they have way to much controll.
I have an ex who is now 4500.00 behind and when he lost his job last october i told him i understood……just help me when he can…….I have not seen 1 cent! Nota nothing zero help…. i still meet him half way e/o friday/sunday we have been in court since february 2009 and still no court has said a word to him our little boy started soccer and k this past week i sent him a message asking if there was any way he could help with new cleats shin gaurds school shoes school lunch or all the other stuff that kids need when they start school and still no help….. we return to court on september11 and i hope he goes to jail…..our child hates to visist him and i have done EVERYTHING to try and make the situation better but it is only getting worse . The father just purchased a new home last week then they spent the weekend at an amuesment park…. I want him to be able to have fun with our little boy when he has him and I understand that he is getting back on his feet but he did not look for a job until jan2009 after being fired in oct and then he started his new job june 1st and still no help…….. I want to be able to pay my bills and do fun stuff with our kid to!!!!!!!!!!!! So for all of you parents who are trying and getting slammed in court…..it is because of the Losers who take advantage of someone trying to be understanding!….. Best of Luck to everyone but I am sick of being nice watching him flaunt his money now I want my money for our kid……………..
I have been separated for 2 years. My ex and I have a 4 year old son. He was ordered to pay $120 a month for child support and I got laid off a year ago, haven’t been able to find a job and I’m barely making it. I have not made any changes thru court to notify the courts that I have been laid off. He’s been live with someone else now for about a year and a half and he recently told me that he wants me to call off child support because he claims he can’t afford it. I haven’t received his child support money for a year because he has been deducting it from the amount we were supposed to pay for our sons’ school. When I first got laid off I did notify him and let him know that I would not be able to pay my half of our sons school and I did tell him that we can take him out of that school and place him in a public school or something less expensive, he said “I can do it, I can do it” so we kept him in the school.. So we paid $468 a month for our sons’ school. He has been paying all of it but suddenly a year ago I received a peace of paper saying that he is deducting the child support and billing me for the remaining $114. So now he claims I owe him. Here I am totally unemployed and here this guy is charging me, can he do that? Can he not pay me child support and charge me at the same time? And then ask me to drop the child support claim?
In my case, my x owes me over $ 16,ooo in child support. He claims that he can’t pay me because the economy is bad but he’s seen all over the place on VIP clubs. How is this possible?
It is a common tale. Unfortunately, sometimes the only recourse is a legal one.
Ok, so I’ve always paid my child support on time, Then I decide to go to school to better myself and my kids. The job that I had wouldn’t work with my school schedule so I had to quit. In the mean time I’m going to school and paying my child support until I couldn’t anymore. I haven’t paid since February but I’m still looking for another job through the school, so I can go to school and work to pay my child support. I haven’t been able to find one yet and now my child’s father is telling me that he’s gonna throw me in jail. This guy has made it as tough as he can for me to see my child. He doesn’t want me to see my child and if I died tomorrow he would be very happy because my child would never see me again.
I lost my job and been looking every day every wheres for a job. I don’t own a car so to tell you makes odds worse for me I am not in the county the support was order at. And Even if i am looking for work begging for money to pat the support. they are still wanting to issue a warrant. i have request a modification no luck feels like nothing can be done. So, How long will I stay in jail if I have no money and my family is not living to help me out. I spend life in jail? once they put me there I be homeless alos there now in about 15 days any ways. What can I do STATE OF Florida
State trooper called today. I’m going to jail next week. I’m a local contractor that has struggled with finding work for the past year. I have past debt from the previous marriage. As usual also finances to just maintain what I have.I have my kids all summer and every other weekend. How is it that I can’t afford to live in my apartment pay my utility bills or my child support the court wants to know. Well times are tough I guess they are only going to get tougher with me in jail. Now the kids can’t see there dad or get child support. I think there should be some other alternative for these type of situations.
Are you sure it’s a real state trooper? There are collection firms who pretend to be law enforcement to scare you. Call up whatever court or office they say they are calling from to find out if it’s a real thing.
My ex owes $30,000 has not seen his child for 6 years my child is now 16 and I didn’t file for support until he was 10 years old. The Father wants me to drop the case so he can get his passport to travel and have the judgement removed because his credit was perfect before this. I understand that a lot of Father’s try to have a relationship with their child and pay what ever they can to support that child. If that were the case in my situation he wouldn’t owe me this much money. He has never wanted a relationship with my child and has always put himself first and doesn’t even care if there is food on the table. I have managed to hold a job provide for my child and it just makes no sense that a parent would not do everything they could to help support that child. When I filed he said they were requesting more money because he had to provide insurance, my company pays a portion and I pay the difference which is 400.00 a month for us both. I should have filed for the insurance and made him pay on top of his current support. I did check into finding a child support company that collects the money and uses hard tactics like harassment of the non-custodial parent and the families at the cost of 34% of the total amount they collect. After looking into this further it was not something that I would do to collect the money. He quit his job in 2005 to avoid paying the support, so I am now the bad person because it’s ruining his life.
I don’t understand girls !!! I’ve been there for my beautiful daughter since day one and also given her mother money ($300.00) enough for a one year old. One day she decides not let me see my daughter for two months. I tried calling her and texting her but refused to call or text back. I had no choice but to file for custody and visitation got 12%. Once she was served, she goes and files for child support. Now I’m ordered to pay $800.00 bucks. Why do girls do this?? All I was doing was trying to do the right thing, be part of my daughters life. I do the right thing but then get screwed at the end. ” i will fight for my daughter till I die”
Not paying child support is not exclusively a man’s realm. I have a friend who raised his three daughters all on his own when his ex deserted him.
I work for DCS and it’s very clear that a lot of parents seem to lack the position of being a responsible parent. It’s true there are cases that the parent that left was the Mother, it’s very rare but it happens. Once child support sets order on a Non-custodial parent such as $800.00 it’s based on income and visitation with that child. If the NCP is being taken to court and all the sudden wants 50% custody it’s not going to happen. Order will be set from the last two years which will show a clear pattern of the parents visitation, given that the custodial parent is telling the truth. What I don’t think crosses the mind of most parents is that it is child support is meant solely for that child to include shelter, child care, medical/dental, food and clothing. If a parent has the income to support the child on their own I really don’t think anyone in their right mind would want to deal with DCS and problems that arise with a non-compliant parent. That just doesn’t happen that often and for an NCP it sometimes isn’t the outcome they would like but according to the courts they can afford what has been set. I have reviewed many cases that a parent is disputing the amount but 99% of the time it’s justified and they just have to accept that they have a legal and moral responsibility to that child and not make it a personal issue with the custodial parent. It’s heart breaking to see that a parent would fight the support but not blink when they purchase that 50,000 car.