Penalties for Failure to Pay Child Support in Florida

When a person is ordered by the court to pay child support they need to take this obligation seriously. It is against the law to ignore an order to child support. If a person is ordered to pay child support and they have failed to pay they should contact a Miami child support lawyer to help them with this legal obligation.

Failure to Pay

If a person fails to pay their child support in Florida they are in contempt of court. According to the law, a parent has a financial responsibility to the child. A judge will look at a person’s finance and this will help determine the amount they will pay for the care of the child.

There are heavy consequences if a parent fails to pay their court-ordered child support. The judge may give the parent a specific period to pay this amount. If they fail to do so they may be sent to jail.

Obligations About Child Support

If a person has not paid their child they will go before the judge. They should have a lawyer present to help with their case. They may be able to work out an arrangement with the judge to keep their client out of jail. If a person is an order to pay a specific amount in a certain amount of time this amount is called the purge.

For example, if a person has $10,000 in back child support they may have a week to pay $1,000. If this amount is not paid at that time a person may go to jail. The person owning the money may be required to pay the parent the legal fees and court costs for the repeat visits to the courtroom.

Additional Penalties

In addition to being sentenced to time in jail, a person can face other consequences if they are not paying their child support. They may have their wages garnished and their bank account seized. They may also have any refunds they would have received on their income tax seized to help them catch up with child support payments. This will be determined by a judge and they will sign a court order.

The State of Florida takes child support very seriously. If a person gets behind on their child support payments there are strict consequences. A person should contact a lawyer immediately to help them reach a reasonable solution and get back on a child support payment schedule.