Handling Child Support Arrears

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Brett Pritchard Law

Whether you are divorcing or were never married to your children's other parent, both parents are expected to support their children financially, and child support is the legal mechanism for ensuring this happens according to the state’s guidelines. If your ex pays you child support, it is a critical component of your budget that allows you to take care of your children’s basic needs and to provide them with all the opportunities that you can.

If these child support payments have stopped or are behind, it leaves you in a considerable financial bind – after all, you can’t backburner your children’s needs. If this is the situation you find yourself in, an experienced Waco divorce attorney can help.

How Does Child Support Work?

Child support in Texas is calculated according to exacting state guidelines. Generally, the parent with whom the children reside primarily (the primary custodial parent) receives monthly child support payments from the other parent. It is important to recognize, however, that – even if you and your ex split your parenting time evenly – a child support obligation is very likely to land on the higher earner among you. This is because child support is calculated in relation to each parent’s ability to pay it.

Your Ex’s Reasons for Being Behind

We have been through quite a year, and we have all experienced a financial hit or two. Further, life has a way of throwing unexpected expenses our way, and anyone can get into a financial jam from time to time. Child support, however, is different from a car payment or a utility bill. Child support is a legal obligation to one’s children that cannot be denied or delayed. Parents who owe child support are responsible for paying it on time, and if a valid reason for failing to do so arises, it is that parent’s responsibility to obtain a child support modification (and to meet his or her child support responsibilities until he or she can receive a modification – if eligible).

Reasons that a Child Support Modification May Be Granted

Those situations that may move the court to grant a child support modification include significant financial changes such as the following:

  • A sudden job loss

  • A sudden significant downturn in income

  • Failing health or an injury that leads to lost earnings

  • A significant increase in the child support recipient’s earnings

The court is well aware that some parents who are required to pay child support are not above being voluntarily underemployed or unemployed in a bid to reduce their financial responsibilities to their children. With an experienced divorce attorney on your side, you can help ensure that you receive the arrears you are owed and that the child support you need to provide for your children is not artificially reduced.

Do Not Delay Consulting with an Experienced Waco Divorce Attorney

Brett Pritchard at The Law Office of Brett H. Pritchard – proudly serving Waco, Texas – focuses his impressive practice on helping clients like you obtain child support terms that uphold their children's best interests (and on ensuring these terms are consistently upheld). To learn more, please don’t wait to reach out and contact or call us at 254-501-4040 today.

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