What Can I Do If the Other Parent Will Not Pay Child Support?

 Posted on September 15, 2021 in Family Law

In Illinois, many divorced and single parents rely on child support to provide for their children’s needs. Unfortunately, however, many paying parents fail to fulfill their support obligations, leaving the other parent and the child in a difficult situation. If your child’s other parent is not paying court-ordered child support, it is important to take action to resolve the situation, and an experienced family law attorney can help.

Talk to the Other Parent

In some cases, it is worthwhile to try talking to your child’s other parent before taking legal action against them. If you tend to have a good relationship with the other parent and their failure to pay support seems unusual, you might simply ask them to explain what is going on. Perhaps they are going through a time of financial hardship and they intend to make up the missed payments as soon as possible. In this case, the situation may resolve itself in due time, or you may be able to agree on modifications to the child support order that allow the other parent to make payments within their current means.

Get Help From the Division of Child Support Services

The Illinois Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) provides many different services for parents who receive child support, including collecting and disbursing payments. If you are unable to resolve the other parent’s missed payments on your own, you can request help from DCSS to collect these payments. DCSS can enforce a number of consequences for delinquent parents, including garnishing wages, intercepting tax returns and casino or lottery winnings, suspending driver’s licenses, denying passport applications, and including the parent on a public list of delinquent parents.

File a Petition for Enforcement

Another option for holding a delinquent parent accountable is petitioning for the enforcement of your child support order in court. The court can use many of the same measures as DCSS for collecting and enforcing late payments, but it can also enforce more serious consequences, including charges of contempt of court. If the other parent is found guilty of this offense, they may be ordered to pay fines or even sentenced to a period of imprisonment.

Contact a Kane County Child Support Attorney

At Serrano Hanson, we understand how important timely child support payments are to you and your family. If you have questions about the best way to proceed in collecting late payments from your child’s other parent, we can offer qualified legal advice and represent you in a petition for enforcement if that is what the situation requires. Call us today at 630-844-8781 to schedule a time to speak with a Geneva family law attorney.

Sources:

https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/documents/075000050k505.htm

https://www2.illinois.gov/hfs/ChildSupport/FormsBrochures/Pages/hfs1759.aspx