Time in prison is just one of many possible consequences of failing to pay your child support. Recently I came across this on the U.S. Department of State website which states that if you are behind on “child support payments in excess of $2,500, you are ineligible to receive a U.S. passport. If this applies to you, Passport Services strongly recommends that you contact the appropriate State child support enforcement agency to make payment arrangements before applying for a passport.” While I was in a sporting good store recently I witnessed a man being turned down for a hunting license, thanks to a new State mandated computer system that all licensees must adhere to. He was denied the hunting license because he is behind on child support. So you can’t hunt, fish, or even leave the country. It’s also been brought to my attention that the government can withold child support payments from your tax refund! Feel free to leave comments or questions at the end of this article.
In research for this article I interviewed my Aunt, whom was a Child Support Enforcement Officer. Since 1985 she was an Employee of the State of Mississippi but her position is funded by a Federal Program which insures that parents receiving government aid are financially assisted by the state mandated wage garnishment, of the non custodial parent. These were time limited positions for child support enforcement.
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Polybabydadic
The majority of her time was spent in determining paternity. This is how it works. The mother gives a name, or five names (in some cases), and child support enforcement sets off to locate the potential fathers. Once an address is obtained for these men, a letter is sent instructing them to come to the appropriate location for a paternity test. Sometimes married men (or their wives), received these letters. Once in the office the potential father could accept paternal responsibilities. This was a rare occurrence. Normally the potential father would ‘deny’ that he is the father.
DNA Testing
DNA testing used to require the withdrawing of blood, but more recently ‘swabbing‘ has been used. The baby, mother, and potential are all swabbed to obtain a sample of their DNA. The DNA is then sent off to a laboratory and analyzed. The mothers DNA ‘markers’ are noted and then subtracted from the DNA of the baby. The remaining DNA should be a match with the real father.
Once Paternity is established, the father’s wages were assessed. There were guidelines for how much a father will pay. It’s based on a percentage of his income per child. If the father doesn’t have a job then the judge would set the child support based on a minimum wage job, at 40 hours per week.
Divorces
Mississippi passed a law in the 1990′s (which is often ignored) which states that all divorces involving children must have a child support withholding order. A form would then be filled out by a Child Support Enforcement Officer and mailed to the employer of the non custodial parent. This was a wage garnishment form designed to help the government insure that babies in Mississippi are being taken care of. Also, if the custodial parent is on some form of government assistance like Medicaid or Welfare, there is a state law which mandates the withholding order. This one is strictly enforced.
Licenses
Besides not being able to obtain a hunting or fishing license. You could also be denied a Drivers License when you stand in line for one of these. My Aunt relayed a story about a certain lawyer that would never pay his child support. The only way they could get him to pay was to threaten to remove his license to practice law. The Child Support Officer could use the same threats with a medical doctor. The ability to disrupt the lives of the non custodial parent seems to have no boundaries.
What if you leave the state?
Leaving the state won’t help you avoid paying child support. You may prolong it, but you can’t avoid it by skipping the state. Thanks to the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement and Support Act, your arrest warrant for failure to pay child support follows you anywhere in the United States. For example, one of the arrest warrants my Aunt had issued resulted in a man being arrested in California. He was driving a tractor trailer loaded with produce. Although this was a routine traffic stop, once the man’s license was entered into the police computer, his warrant for failure to pay child support in Mississippi popped up. He was arrested and his employer’s produce sat in the hot California sun, spoiling before making it to market.
How you are tracked
The government tracks its citizens thanks to a few interconnected circumstances. This tracking is made possible by your Social Security Number, which is really how the government sees its citizens. Using your Social Security Number to obtain employment, results in a W-2 being issued to the I.R.S.. Large companies have to report this information every three months. Smaller companies may only report this information at the end of the year. Thanks to the Homeland Security Act, this process most likely alerts them as well. But the end result is that a Child Support Officer knows where you are, and if they’re aggressive, you’ll be arrested.
Time in jail
Time in jail is only pursued if the Child Support Officer has a father or mother who refuses to cooperate. You won’t go to jail if you are trying to pay your child support (actually paying, not just talking about paying). Once the Officer feels that they have wasted enough time trying to get you to pay, they have a warrant issued to bring you before a judge. Sometimes they may just lure you to the court with a subpoena, without mentioning that you’re going to be arrested when you arrive. My Aunt relayed a heart breaking story of having to place a mother in jail who wouldn’t keep a job and pay her child support. Since the split with her previous husband this woman had given birth to another child. Inside the courtroom, the mother was placed in handcuffs and escorted to jail, leaving her one year old behind crying.
Once in jail, you’re stuck there until you get a job. Now I know this sounds crazy, but my Aunt said that you couldn’t leave jail until you could prove that you had a job. Normally family members took care of this obligation for their incarcerated loved ones. The Child Support Officer actually does the legal writing. They have a lawyer at their assistance that really does nothing more than just sign whatever gets placed in front of their face. So your life of freedom is really in the hands of the Child Support Officer.
The squeaky wheel gets the oil
My Aunt said she averaged carrying around 800 ‘cases’ at any one time. Also, she would only make appearances in court once a month. So she would try and accomplish all she could on that day. She made it very obvious, in our conversation, that the custodial parents who were the most assertive with her, took priority over people who compained little. So if your Ex loves the idea of harassing you, expect to hear from the Child Support Enforcement Officer often.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, it’s of no consequence for the female to have you in court as often as she’d like. The judge always makes the man pay the court costs.
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I am a single mom also…. I have 2 kids and 2 jobs and in college… I understand where the single moms are coming from but there are a MAJORITY of moms who get support and state assistance and ride around in expensive cars , etc… and the kids look like they live in an orphanage… and mom’s who can’t decide wether tom, dick, harry, larry, michael, rahjid, on and on is the father… THATS SICK.. if you have more than 2 guesses on the dad i think you should be thrown out the child support system and be required to take an HIV test and notify all the men you named to get one as well…. WHY NOT WEAR A CONDOM???? THEY HAVE THEM AT THE STATE OFFICES FOR FREE!!!!!!
I also would like to add on to the fact that I hav a open door policy with my childs father, he doesn’t show, she doesn’t know him, he calls every now n then, she has no siblings, she is 10yrs old. When I got pregnant with her I had been on birth control for 4yrs, I got very sick and was on anti biotics, I had no idea that they canceled each other out. Me n him was best friends b4 we even got 2gether, we was 2gether for a long time b4 I got pregnant. I do not smoke, I do not drink I don’t get my nails done or my hair, and I hav stayed single for my child so I can concentrate on her. I homeschool my child, and I do not receive state assistance. so lets stop stereotyping all the single moms out there, come up with something better. And im not the only one, my best friend works 2 jobs, and is a single mom and gets child support, but no state assistance either. If I didn’t work I would hav state assistance. Lets all grow up and realize that when u hav a child with some1 its both people at fault, and both should do their part, and whoever doesn’t should get locked up till they change their mind. the custodial parent shouldn’t hav to pay bcuz they support the child on everything. use ur brains people.
Wow u wanna know y I don’t pay child support for the child I raise? Its because I pay her for the food, I pay for the housing, I pay for the bills, u know water, electricity, cable. I am a single mother of one. And her father doesn’t pay anything I hav never asked for anything but with times the way they are I am thinking about it. Why should I be the only one supporting this child, and u know what I know exactly who the father is, its crap that there is stereotypes on single mothers that they don’t know who the father is. I was actually n a very long relationship with him until he went to jail when I was 4 months pregnant. so ya know yes I think that men should hav to pay child support, they should pay a quarter of the bills the mother has and half of all the clothing cost. And if he doesn’t pay then yes put him n jail, if he isn’t going to take care of his responsibility then jail him till he changes his mind, and I also agree the exact same if the father has custody and the mother has to pay. I might sound like a horrible person to everyone who has to pay child support or who doesn’t want to pay, but seriously a child is both parties responsibility not only the womans. Lets get real around here I cant even believe that this is a debate. And if im paying all the bills and clothing and everything for the kid y should I also pay child support that is pretty ignorant, I mean im already doing my part, think bout it!!!!!!
Lets talk about the history of Debt in America *( Starts 1977 Texas), because when we talk about court ordered funds, we are really talking about abuse of power. In Missouri. Kate Steinmetz-Chair, Children Youth and Families Cmte, 1990 complained to me that she worked 10 years to get a “Joint Custody” bill out of committee, but a hand full of state judges lobbied it to “Prefered Joint Custody” to control the conflict of parents legal war over the child for money and revenge. The Judges now have created child abuse in the hundreds of thousands *(rootlessness and restlessness of children in broken homes), violated the civil and human rights of over 588 thousand Missouri citizens and created a warped welfare system for lawyers so when they need money, they sink into the emotional pit of litigation that they have created to fleece or extort money from poor families. Access to enforcement of court orders were only for the collection of money, not visitation or custody *(violation of due process and equal protection under the law), The Un-American activites to target the nations social foundation, The American Family, with little justice and more likely, abuse of rights, has destroyed our nation. A handful of judges that should have been forced into federal court by an injunction whereby they were held accountable for establishing chilkd abuse policies for conspiracies and collusion with RICO attornies. To use children as the excuse of using debt as a crime is part of foreign espionage activity to engage in “Anti-American ” and “Anti-Family” police as part of a criminal enterprise. Shame on the FBI/DOJ for allowing this type of tyranny!
I have been paying child support for for 4 years now. I use to reside in California, and i had to move to missouri in which my family is. i worked in california making close to 2000 a month. well i had to move to missouri because of certain financial hardships. I now work work in missouri making 978 dollars less. I’ve been trying to get them to set my child support to the state in which i live. My missouri wages, but they rescently told me that i would be pay 38 dollars more right now 344 is my current which is more then i can afford. Can they really do that? I am all ready having trouble making ends meet. they told me I am at poverty levels, but they cant go by that. is this right? I feel like i am being taken advantage of.
I say to heck with the judges and the courts. The system is broken and the lack of concern is obvious. I have 100% contempt for the court system.
I agree with Frost… I am a single mother with 2 small children and me and their father opened up a “child support” savings account for our boys and we match what goes into it each month. Now we don’t take money out of it for ourselves or for day to day crap, this money is strictly for the kids. Birthdays, Christmas, Easter, ect… and when they need money for their own things in the future it’ll be there for them. I get so sick of hearing about people taking the other parent to court. Its just money! MANY women took cae of their kids without state assistance before you did which means that your fully capable of doing the same. It just takes a little bit of efrfort on your part!! And also, children support shouldn’t be usedfor you the get your hair or nails done, to buy cigarettes and alcohol, gas for your new boyfriends car, or anything like that… ITS FOR YOUR KIDS!!!
I agree with bill and caleb. Worse yet Father paid child support all along then she wins an appeal and they retro back child support to 2010 and raised it $600.00, from the original court ordered support of 302.00, do the math, it is a huge amount of money that he does not have.. This mother filed bankrupcy, stated on the paperwork that she had no one else’s belongings, listed him as a creditor so the civil suit was dropped,she had all his things after 5 years of living together, she knew it, she lied on the paperwork, she sold, threw and kept what she wanted and now wants more. her intention is to destroy his life and disable him financially to keep the child away from him, and he has 2 other children to think about. This is a monster, but how do you stop a person like this, we have already paid over $30,000 in attorney fees and she was pro per. an and all advise is needed.
For all you moms that keep your kids from the father and talk about about the father in front of the kids you all have your spot in hell waiting for you
Here is my story. I took my x to courts cuz I found out he had businesses and never mentioned anything to anyone about them for years. Even thou he was supposed to. So back in October of 2009 we filed papers to increase the child support. I am talking about millions of dollars businesses. With all the papers we had against him, the judge ordered him to pay $3000 a month in 2010, going back to the date we filed. As soon as the judge ordered that, x filed a petition to decrease the child support. We have been at it since then. I contacted the Health and Family Services and told them everything. They put a lien on his property and a red flag to IRS. He even got his driver’s license suspended and still driving, with my child. Now, the judge in this case is not doing anything for some reason. All of my friends are laughing at me, they don’t get it, why he is still out and not in jail. The judge is letting him get away with everything! He tells him to pay, x ignores it, he tells him he will lock him up and that never happens!!! Where is the truth of courts???? Where is the justice? The x has been hiding his income for the last 10 years and no one can find it? He is a crook and lies to the judge and the American Government!! The child is with no support from her father. My current husband and I take care of her. What else can I do? Please help
Hmmm.
Here’s my story from a non-parent helping out.
Neice and bf have child. Seem happy, so have second child. After bf sees he can’t provide as best he “wants” overnight he bails on family. She is without job and working on education. He leaves back to mom and stepdad’s where they charge him to even open the refridgerator.
Before that they lived with her uncle; rent free, utilities free, car provided by uncle to get around. I was helping and hoping they would get on their feet well enough to get themselves a place to live and raise family.
He files for childsupport, she gets the forms and mails them in.
Appear at hearing and he’s bent over with no lube ( mind you, he went to child support office and said he wanted to pay).
He was ordered to pay back pay and keep current monthly payments. A total of about 1800 to start.
He’s paid 500 of that, but not any of the monthly payments. He gets his visitations as ordered and initially was doing good, now he’s missed several visits due to poor excuses or even no calls /no show, but kids are always ready and waiting but times he dont’ show.
He quit his job that was paying his support after 2 months and has not reported new job or phone number to CS office. He still gets visits when he feels like exercising that right. However, those times are getting fewer and farther between.
He’s now sporting a new gf and I think that’s why he fails to show up. New gf has children of her own. Feelings are he’s impressing that mother and her children long enough to bed her.
Funny thing about all this, if there is such a thing, is that he posts everything on facebook and I screenshot save it all; even the time he posted that “pool sex is great this early in the morning,
”
Yea, I know, I thought the same thing when I read it.
Anywho, almost 3K dollars behind on support; he’s never been denied visitations, it’s his choice to show or not.
Sooner or later it’s gonna catch up to him. We pray for him and his situation(s), whatever they may be. But to date, God has helped me help my family stay intact.
Speaking of the spiritual. When he lived here we would all go to church so it’s not like he “didn’t ” know what was happening. He chose to leave.
One of the kids, under 3 y/o goes up to the altar and kneels to pray, It breaks my heart to even guess what he’s thinking, but it warms my heart that he knows where he need s to go
my fiance has another child that he had while I was pregnant with our first child, and i totally agree regardless of the situation the money should be used to support the child. Eventhough my childrens father and I are together he is still legally obligated to pay child support fo the child he had while I was pregnant, and he should regardless of the situation there is no reason why a child should have to suffer because the parents are stupid and were irresponsible, but I do have a problem with a lot of these women using the fact that they don’t get enough or what they feel like is enough financial support for their children and saying because of that the non custoial parent can’t see the child, my fiance pays a pretty adequate amount of money for child support, he loves all of his chirlren, and the fact that these young woman think it’s right to use financial obligation as a means to try and dicatate weather the child should be able to see their parent is ridiculous, I really feel like the whole child support system should be revaluated personally!
I have seen women cast aside men for other men and still charge the first for child support. If she chooses to have someone else or be alone, then it should be her responsibility to support the child. I grew up in a single parent household where my father did not contribute. My mother took me with her when I was very small and raised me alone without help from him. Not because she did not want to ask, but because it was her choice to leave. I knew this stupid woman who kicked out her husband because he did not get along with her side of the family. The couple had a 5-yr old daughter. She said she never wanted anything from him. Then, came back ten years later and claimed back-CS for all those years. He is now in over $20,000 for arrears and has trouble paying every month. She never let him see the child either or would screw around with his head that she was going to, then didn’t show up. I thought this was supposed to be a justie system…
Jaime, your ex might be a loser. Why did you spread for him? Does not say much about your character either. Take some responsibility next time and breed with a winner.
AND I think both men and women should have to pay child support regardless of who the custodial parent is. If the issue is really about the best interest of the child… the custodial parent should be OK with paying into the system just as the non-custodial parent does AND both parents should have access to how the money is used when the custodial parents draws funds from it. Again, most of you single moms don’t want that to happen because you know you would lose custody within a few months. LOL If you don’t agree with me… tell me why you think the non-custodial parent should not have access to how child support for the CHILD is spent?
There needs to be reform. Period. I see all these women complaining about their ‘deadbeat’ exs and the ‘best interest’ of their children… but if you ask them, “Do you think the child support payer should have access to how the money is spent?” they almost always say NO. Why is that?
I can tell you why… most of the single moms I’ve known use the money to ‘reimburse’ themselves for money they have spent on the child (child support is NOT a reimbursement) OR they use it to support themselves and their boyfriends/husbands. They may not do it all the time.. but I’m willing to bet that most are guilty of it at one point or the other… and if men had access to that info they could potentially end up with custody. That is why women hate the idea.
Ooo and for all the ‘he abused me’ moms. You can get an emergency OP (or whatever it is called in your state) on someone easily (and with NO evidence of abuse) if you are in a relationship with them. In fact, a lot of women abuse that in order to put the ball in their court from the get-go. The judges hand them out like candy because they don’t want to end up sued if real abuse is happening and occurs again after denying the victim.
I live in the state of MA, they do take your lic away if you are behind in child support. I go to court next Wed. with 2 other mothers that the father of my 7 year old has children with. The DOR asked for 30 days a parent and the courts are going to give him 10 days. He is telling us not to show up to court because he is screwed anyways. I think NOT we will be there, he has screwed our children out of things they need and want. He leaves it to us and our SO to support the child. He tells us he will not get a job because it will all go to child support. If he was not such a loser and tried to help even a little it wouldn’t be so bad, but for him to demand we buy things for our children but won’t give us the money to buy it that really pisses us off. The least he could do is buy things for his children! I can not wait to see him put in cuffs. It will not get us the money we are owed but it will prove to him he is not invincible!
To all you rotten single mothers that keep the children from the father and then blame him for abandoning the children: You should be so ashamed for what you have done.
My daughters biological father is abusive and has beat both myself and our daughter when she was 3. We are now divorced and still going through a custody battle even though it has been proven there was DV and your last “Oh, yeah” comment really pisses me off. If you are going to write an article on an issue so serious at least get your facts straight. I have had to pay all my court cost and he has not had to pay any when he is the reason we are in court. The court however sees it as my choice to go to court and pursue protecting my daughter so I have to pay the cost!!!