So you've gone to court and the judge ordered child support for your children, and yet you are having difficulty getting that support in full, month after month. What can you do? There are a variety of actions that a parent or the Arizona Department of Economic Security can take to compel a parent to make child support payments, including:

  • Wage collection: DCSE will send an order to an employer to withhold current support and may order an additional amount for back support that is owed
  • Interception of funds: If you are owed $50 or more in back child support, DCSE can intercept the other parent's state tax refund and send it to you. Federal taxes can be intercepted for a parent on TANF when more than $150 is owed. Lottery winnings, unemployment insurance benefits, workers' comp benefits, social security payments and veteran's benefits can also be taken. (The amount of benefits that can be diverted varies depending upon the type of payment. Talk to a child support lawyer for details.)
  • Liens on property: A parent or DCSE can put a lien on personal property like houses and cars owned by the parent who owes back support, making it hard to resell.
  • Bank account and other asset seizure: You can get a court order to take money from bank accounts, trust companies and mutual funds.

Each of these enforcement actions has its own rules regarding how much money and how long the money has been owed before action can be taken. Your child support attorney can explain which options are available in your specific case. There are also non-financial actions that can be taken to put pressure on a non-paying parent, which we will discuss in our next post.

If you are a parent behind on your child support, don't ignore the problem. Talk to an Arizona family law attorney who can help you get support reduced or develop a payment plan to move forward without the risk of asset seizure or arrest.

Source: Arizona Courts website and Arizona Department of Economic Security website