Child visitation and support are two separate issues in the court’s eyes, although parents sometimes withhold one to gain the other. If the custodial parent of your children is keeping you from seeing your children, ceasing child support is not the best way to resolve the problem. In fact, doing so could hurt you in the long run.
While child support payments are based on your income and the amount of time you spend with your children, child support and child custody and visitation are not linked. Not seeing your children does not excuse missed or skipped child support payments.
Unpaid child support can result in any of the following:
Instead of neglecting child support payments, you should take immediate action to preserve your relationship with your children, like contacting a family law attorney about an enforcement of your child custody order. The family court can order the other parent to let you see your children and even penalize them for any attempts to alienate you from your children’s lives.
Parents are required to financially support their children until the last day of the month that the child turns eighteen years old. However, if the child is still in high school, the parent’s obligation to pay child support terminates once the child graduates from school or turns nineteen years old. A child support order may be extended in the case of a special needs child.
While the majority of child support orders and Orders of Assignment entered after January 1, 2005, contain the date that the child support should automatically terminate, it is the responsibility of the parent paying child support to ensure that the child support order is stopped and terminated. If arrears exist, an employer may be instructed to continue to automatically deduct child support until any back support is paid in full.
If a child support order was entered for more multiple children, that order is not automatically lowered once the oldest ages out. The parent paying child support needs to file a Petition to Modify Child Support to update the children’s current ages.
Child support does not stop automatically if there is a significant life event such as a job loss or sudden disability.
If you have questions or concerns about a current child support order or need a child support modification, the experienced family law attorneys at Wilson-Goodman, PLLC, can help. Contact our office today to schedule a confidential consultation with a skilled Chandler child support attorney for practical advice you can depend on.
