Child Support

How Your Attorney Can Be Your Best Ally When It Comes To Child Support

Divorce can be an emotional and angering ordeal to go through and it only gets worse when there are children involved. It is required by law, in most states, that the non-custodial parent must provide some form of child support and often the amount is calculated during the finalization of the divorce. Should that payment ever stop, legal action can be brought against them, and there are ways to collect back support, if necessary. We will look at divorce and the ordered payments from both sides of the fence and examine how your attorney can be your best weapon in cases like these.

Want to know more about your rights regarding child support and how it can be enforced? Philip Averbuck is an experienced attorney who has handled delicate negotiations in the family court for years. Call today for expert advice and the best strategy to get you what you deserve.

During the Divorce

When the details of the divorce settlement are being hammered out, either in court or outside of it, it is at this time that the physical child custody is also settled. Your attorney should file the appropriate claims for child support with your state’s agency that enforces it, even if there is a shared custody agreement already signed. In Florida for example, this claim is filed with the Florida Department of Revenue, which can then withhold money from the pay of any spouse making a monthly child support payment, if necessary.

This method of collection will only become necessary if the person paying their fair share of monetary support defaults, and it falls to the state division of child support to get the arrearage taken care of. Seizure of bank accounts, garnishment and imprisonment are some of the means necessary. The one thing to keep in mind, however, is that you must be able to prove the amount of support owed, when the default occurred and that contact with the ex had failed. This is where the lawyer can be your best ally, because he will be doing all the legal work to get those papers filed, and get you the money you deserve.

The Other Side of the Coin

If a person actively no longer wishes to pay the required child support payment every month, they can get creative in avoiding doing so, up to becoming unemployed or working off the state’s records to show that they have no income. But what would you do if you have been paying your support and your ex begins demanding more or they claim that you have not been paying it because they feel it is not enough? Simple, you talk to your lawyer immediately, and petition the family court for a review on child support enforcement. To protect your rights and keep you out of jail, do what is necessary to clear your name and keep your visitation ongoing.