The courts fix child support based on various factors like income, health insurance costs, applicable deductions, and parental responsibility. Any change in child support must be approved by the court. If your ex has stopped paying his/her share, you can enforce child support with the help of the court and a child support attorney Fort Lauderdale. Follow these steps to enforce child support.
Secure the child support order: Make sure that you have the original child support order signed by a judge. This is the legal document that sets the condition for your spouse to pay and it ensures that you have the law on your side.
Secure all proof of non-payment: To ask for the enforcement you must first prove that your ex is not paying. Your ex must have been paying child support by check, money order or online transfers. To prove non-payment, you need to pull your bank records to show that regular payments are missing.
Request for enforcement: Once you have all the documents, meet with your child support attorney Fort Lauderdale to prepare your case for the court. Non-payment of child support in Florida is an illegal act. Once you file a motion for non-payment the district attorney can impose various measures to penalize for non-payment, such as garnishing wages, suspending an occupational license, seizing property, revoking a driver’s license, and using tax refunds to pay for back child support.
When your ex lives in another state: Don’t worry if you ex lives in another state. You can ask the court to forward the order to your ex’s state’s court. Alternatively, your child support attorney Fort Lauderdale can himself/herself file for enforcement of child support in the state where your ex now resides.