Getting too many points on your driver’s license is not the only way to have it suspended. In fact, if a parent who owes child support consistently fails to pay that support, the arrearages (or back pay) owed can lead to a variety of license suspensions that include his or her driver’s license. The State of Texas recognizes how important child support is for the children in the recipient’s household, and because it is every parent’s responsibility to support his or her children, it can impose harsh penalties, such as license suspensions, in response. If your children’s other parent is behind in paying the child support you are owed, reach out to an experienced Copperas Cove family law attorney today.
The Time Limit
Every state in the nation has license suspensions on the books for parents who fail to pay child support that is ordered by the court. In Texas, the trigger for tripping a license suspension of any kind is when a parent is more than three months past due with his or her child support payments. Going without the child support you need to provide for your children for a full three months can be extremely difficult, and addressing the matter with the court is well advised.
Licenses at Risk
When it comes to the state’s power to punish nonpayment of child support, the driver’s license of the parent is not the only license that is at risk, and the state can impose more than one suspension, revocation, or cancellation. Consider the following:
Professional licenses, such as medical, real estate, and law licenses
Business licenses, such as sales tax licenses
Occupational licenses, such as teacher, therapist, and counselor licenses
Recreational licenses, such as handgun, fishing, and hunting licenses
There Is More to the Story
Again, the State of Texas takes the welfare of children very seriously, and toward this end, it can impose any of the following additional actions against a parent who is in considerable arrears on his or her child support, including:
The parent who is in arrears may be held in contempt of the court’s orders, which means that he or she can face jail time, community service requirements, and fines.
After entering a judgment for past-due child support payments, the court can impose financial levies and/or liens – against non-exempt personal property or even against personal tax returns – on the parent who is in arrears.
The court can order that the child support owed be withheld automatically from the paycheck of the parent who is in arrears.