Fort Lauderdale Divorce Lawyer Blog
This January, an Ohio father who was behind on his child support payments in an amount over $96,000 was ordered to stop having children. This type of judicial mandate, although rare, has been issued twice by Wisconsin in the past year.A father of four was first indicted in August 2011 when he was in arrears of close to $80,000. In 2013, with his unpaid child support closing in on $100,000, Judge James Walther extended his probation by an additional five years and issued this unique mandate.
Judge Walther described the need for such an extreme controversial condition: “It’s your personal responsibility to pay for these kids.” The terms became part of his probation and are not intended to be permanent, but violation of such order could lead to jail time.
An appeal is already expected as his lawyer has been arguing that the judge overstepped his boundaries, and such an order is a violation of his constitutional right of privacy. A court date for the man to reappear is schedule for July, 2013.
Individuals with children going through a divorce must be prepared for their eventual child support order. The best advice is to hire a competent family law attorney at the onset, since the initial child support order acts as a theoretical anchor for future modifications.
In Florida, neither parent may waive child support by the noncustodial parent as child support is meant for the child and should not be bargained away by parents.
Some possible punishments for failure to satisfy child support payments:
Loss of driver’s license. Oftentimes, the revocation occurs without immediate notification to the nonpaying supporter.
Interception of tax refund. Florida can and has “intercepted” tax refunds to defaulting parents.
Liens and wages. Like taxes, Florida may attach liens or garnish wages in order to satisfy outstanding debt. These methods place the debt of the child support away from the child’s needs and onto the nonpaying parent. Not only does this method affect the nonpaying parent’s cash flow but can also harm their relationship with their employer.
Bank savings. In some rarer instances, the State of Florida has been able to reach certain bank funds, and freeze others.
Harm to credit score. Different orders, defaults, or delinquency notices all appear on credit reports and harm the offender’s credit score.
The Law Office of Sandy T. Fox is experienced at providing dedicated and zealous representation for those in the Fort Lauderdale area to resolve their family law issues. The practice of Sandy T. Fox focuses on all stages of domestic relation cases including: child support orders, child support modification, child custody, spousal support, prenuptial and post-nuptial agreements, divorce, division of property, child support and custody, spousal support, and more. Those in the South Florida area in need of child support advice can reach the Law Office of Sandy T. Fox by calling our toll free number at (800) 596-0579 or through our website to schedule a confidential free consultation.
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