What Happens If You Don’t Pay Child Support In California?
Experienced family law attorney Sina Mohajer of Mohajer Law Firm looks at the consequences of not fulfilling child support obligations. As a seasoned legal professional practicing in Greater Los Angeles County since 2012, Sina Mohajer offers valuable insights into the legal implications of failing to meet child support requirements and provides guidance on navigating this complex issue.
If you have child support orders in your family law case, you may wonder about the potential consequences if you cannot make your child support payments. In this video, attorney Sina Mohajer explains the basics of child support, why it’s ordered, and what happens if payments are missed.
Discover the consequences of not meeting child support obligations, depending on whether the case is managed by the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) or through the family court system. Sina Mohajer outlines the potential actions taken by DCSS in California, such as suspending driver’s licenses and intercepting tax refunds, as well as the accumulation of arrears in the family court context.
Gain clarity on the relationship between child support and custody arrangements. Sina Mohajer dispels the misconception that non-payment of child support can result in a loss of custodial time. Understand that child support and custody decisions are evaluated separately, with the court prioritizing the child’s best interests in custody matters.
If you’re facing challenges with your child support case, it’s essential to consult an experienced family law attorney like Sina Mohajer. For personalized legal advice and assistance with your specific case, don’t hesitate to reach out to Sina Mohajer and Mohajer Law Firm. With their dedication to advocating for clients’ rights and navigating complex legal matters, you can trust their expertise in guiding you through your family law journey.
If you have any questions or would like to speak with a skilled attorney about family law, contact Mohajer Law Firm today at (626)569-5200.
Transcript:
If you have child support ordered in your family law case, I get asked a lot of the times, what happens or what are some consequences if I end up not being able to make my child support payments? Well, I’ve got other videos that talk about how child support is ordered or what factors are used to determine the amount. But in this video particularly, I want to talk about briefly, what is child support? Why it’s ordered. What happens if you don’t make your monthly payments? What you should do if you’re unable to make your payments, as well as, can you lose custody if you do not make your child support payments?
Hi, I am Sina Mohajer. I’m a family law attorney practicing in greater Los Angeles County since 2012. I’ve been a contributing member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and I’ve been rated by Super Lawyers since 2019.
What Is Child Support?
So what is child support? Well, child support is an order that makes one parent pay money on a monthly basis to the other parent in order to help facilitate or aid that financial burden that comes with having a child, whether it’s for food, shelter, clothing, or what have you. Now, you can’t dictate what your money is used towards, so that means the other parent can use it on rent, can use it on gas, can use on whatever, it’s to help financially support the kids. It’s not dictated onto what it can be used.
Why Is Child Support Ordered?
But why is child support even ordered? Well, child support is ordered because the child is between you and the other parent. The state has no financial obligation to support that child. But if you end up not making enough or not paying enough and that other parent is unable to financially support that child, what happens is that they go to the government and seek aid. At that point, it’s taxpayer dollars paying for a kid that they do not help bring to this world.
What Happens If You Fail to Make Your Child Support Payments?
So what happens if you fail to make your monthly obligation for child support? Well, that depends.
DCSS In California
If it’s going through the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS), where they’re that entity that’s collecting this monthly payment, or they can do certain things to ensure that you pay your child support payments. For example, they can suspend your driver’s license. They can revoke your passport. Or they can even intercept any money that’s coming back from the IRS for tax purposes or any way that they can get their hands on your money, they are allowed to do it and they have the authority to do it.
Family Court System
But if it’s going through the family court system, then it’s a little different.
What happens is you basically end up building up arrears, which means it’s backpay of what you have to pay to the other parent and that doesn’t go away. And backpay can be as little as a $1,000, $2,000. But I’ve seen as high as $100,000 where people are paying it after the kids have gone to college, gotten married and they’re grandparents. So it’s very important to try to limit the arrears or even prevent it altogether. Which leads to the next question.
What Should You Do If You Are Unable To Make Your Support Payments?
What should you do if you are unable to make your monthly support?
And this happens more frequently than anything. I’ve got clients who have a child support order that they’re required to make every single month, but then they lose their job or they get laid off or their hours are decreased and they do nothing. So what happens is, you would think that your child support would automatically adjust, but that’s not true. In fact, the court requires you to keep making that court ordered monthly payment until the court modifies that order. So what that means is, if your income changes, meaning going down or the other parents income increases, going up, that’s a change in circumstance which would adjust the amount of child support you would have to pay.
Or if another factor has changed, for example, your custodial time has increased. Then that’s another reason why child support would also decrease and you would need to step back into court.
Filing an RFO
You would need to file a motion, what’s called a RFO, or a request for order, requesting the judge to modify the prior order of the child support to reduce it based on your current situation. Until the court does that, you are legally obligated to keep continuing to make that same payment regardless if you can afford it or not.
Can You Lose Custodial Time If You’re Not Making Child Support Payments?
Lastly, can you lose custodial time simply because you’re not making your child support payments? Well, the answer is super easy. No, you cannot. Why? Because child support is a separate issue than custody and visitation. You do have a legal obligation to support your child. Yes. But under the Family Code for custody and visitation, you have to remember, courts look at what’s in the best interest of the child in determining the frequency of time that you have with that kid.
And what is in the best interest, presumably, is that the child has frequent and continuous contact with both parents.
So, regardless if you’re unintentionally or intentionally not paying your child support payment, it would actually prejudice your child and be not in their best interest to take away that time that they already have with you.
Contact an Experienced California Child Support Attorney Today
If you’ve got questions about your case or you like to discuss things in more detail, particularly child support or any other matter in family law, feel free to give our office a call. I’ll be happy to schedule an initial consultation with you.