Supporting their children emotionally and financially is the desire of most parents, regardless of whether they are divorced or not. However, some parents go against the order of the court by refusing to pay child support. For custodian parents to collect past due payments and enforce child support orders, there are specific remedies and resources available for each state. If you want to know how you can enforce a child support order in Florida, you are in the right place.
You can consult Board Certified Boca Raton Child Support Lawyer, Attorney Tina L. Lewert, of The Lewert Law Offices, to assist you in navigating this challenging experience by offering legal representation and counsel in your child support case.
How is Child Support Determined in Florida
Not all parties in a custody case or Florida divorce have a clear grasp of the calculation of the precise amount of child support even when most of them understand the child support concept. It is common for a divorced father of four to pay less in child support than a divorced father with one or two children.
Some parents tend to feel cheated, angry and confused when they know about the amount of child support the court is requiring them to pay, particularly when parents with the same condition don’t pay as much child support. A perfect illustration is the possibility of the parent of one that pays more than a parent of three in child support.
However, divorcing spouses don’t have to be surprised about the amount the court ordered them for child support, and child support calculation doesn’t need to be a mystery. When the necessary information about the income of the parties is known, some child support calculators can estimate child support obligations. Parties can help remove some of the confusion and uncertainty associated with child support orders when they understand how these calculations are made.
Enforcing Child Support in Florida
Florida has stringent laws compared to other states to guarantee that noncustodial parents fulfill responsibility for child support.
Motion for Civil Contempt
It is when someone violates a court order that civil contempt is used. And to enforce a child support order, filing a motion for civil contempt is the most common way of doing that. Through a written request motion, the court will know that a valid child support order is in place and that the noncustodial parent is due for payment.
Through an attorney’s help, you can file a motion for civil contempt. You can make the process easy and seamless for yourself by consulting a top Boca Raton child support lawyer at The Lewert Law Offices, and their experienced attorney will help you file the motion. You can use this form if you want to file the motion for civil contempt on your own.
You must show the following to prove your child’s other parent is in contempt of the child support order:
- You have signed and approved valid child support order
- The other parent refused to pay child support according to the order
- The other parent can pay child support
Both parties have to attend a hearing where the judge will decide whether the other parent is in contempt. The judge will issue an order stating when and how the parent should pay overdue support by holding the noncustodial parent in contempt even if the judge believes you have proven your case. Also, there may be a penalty for the delinquent parent as included in the order by the judge, such as fines or even jail time.
Using Court Order to Collect Child Support
The judge may order a variety of remedies for collecting overdue and future support when there is a contempt of the child support order has been established for the other parent. The order of the judge may:
- Incarcerate a delinquent parent for about a year until overdue child support is paid
- Intercept workers’ compensation funds owed to a delinquent parent
- Freeze a parent’s home equity line to prevent possible child support money from being spent
- Claim and sell unclaimed or abandoned property of a delinquent parent
- Forcing the sale of real or other property
- Force the sale of vehicles by placing liens on them when $600 or more is owed
- Take money directly from financial accounts if more than 4 months or $600 of child support is owed
- Intercept lottery winnings of over $600
- Intercept state or federal tax refunds when $500 or more is owed
- Withhold income from the paychecks of a delinquent parent
- Other parents must follow an established payment plan
Other penalties for child support’s nonpayment in Florida include punishing the parents for default and directly obtain child support from delinquent parents. If a parent is behind payment by $2500 or more on child support, Florida will report them to the US Department of State to have their passport application denied or passport revoked.
Boca Raton child support lawyers at The Lewert Law Offices give you a free consultation and answer all your questions concerning how you can enforce child support orders and get paid for any overdue payment.
