What Happens If I Don't Pay My Child Support?

What happens if I don't pay my child support? What can you expect to happen if you've got a child support order in place and you don't pay it? Well, first off, it depends on what the other side does.

Ultimately, there's an order in place. If you violate that order, that is contempt of court, but the court does not police its orders. Somebody else has to bring that to the court's attention by filing a motion to get it before the court and pushing that forward.

If DHS is an interested party in your case and you're not paying, they may do that rather than the other parent having to do that. It could get done that way. Otherwise, the other parent has to file with the court that alleged that you're not paying.

What happens? Somebody could file an application for a contempt citation against you, alleging that you're intentionally violating the court's order, and request that you be thrown in jail for six months and pay a $500 fine. That is what can be done. Other things that can be done to collect are garnishing your wages and levying your bank account.

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