What To Do If You Stop Receiving Support Payments

There are several occasions when parties require professional help so that the financial judgment that were declared in their favor could be enforced either in paternity or in divorce cases, most of the times a court declares its financial judgments based upon issues like split of marital properties, alimony, spousal support or child support.  After the judgments have been entered, it is expected that the recipients should be depending on the awarded monies for their daily expenses. Hence, when a person stops getting support payments, the outcomes could be difficult for both the parties.

How does the court take actions on the motion?

A court may not regard issues like these as emergencies most of the times. Plus, you go to the court, filing a motion to get your hearing date can take 2 to 6 months of time. At times, one may receive the hearing date even after six months based on the calendar of the said court and the complexity of the issue. After you do get a hearing says for the motion, you have to make a formal request to get all possible types of relief typically available for such enforcement actions. These may include provision of repaying all back support along with interests applicable.

The defaulting party may also have to pay fine as a penalty for non-payment as well as coercive fines that are means to compel making payment once again. In extreme cases, the defaulter may be put behind bars. However, the court might not grant all types of relief that were requested for. That is because some relief may be inappropriate in certain cases. But it is suggested that that the plaintiff offers all the available choices to the concerned court to enforce the past orders.

What happens when the defaulting party is unable to pay due to genuine financial hardships?

The court may act differently when the presenter financial position of the non-paying party is actually going through tough times. Some reasons of that could be being unemployed all of a sudden, suffering a severe medical condition like a chronic illness or physically invalid so that they are unable to discharge their normal responsibilities at the workplace. Thus, if the non-paying party can produce valid reasons for not being able to make sport payments, the court may take a lenient view and may regard that individual in contempt. On the other grand, when flimsy excuses are given for non-payment or reasons produced are not substantiated with proper documentation or supporting documentation, the court may hold the defaulter in contempt and take sterner actions as applicable.

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Gerald A. Maggio is an experienced Orange County divorce and family law attorney and family law attorney located in Irvine, California, serving the Orange County and Riverside areas. Mr. Maggio assists clients with legal issues including divorce, legal separation, divorce mediation, child custody, prenuptial agreements, stepparent adoptions, and other family law issues. Mr. Maggio has practiced law in California since 1999, and founded The Maggio Law Firm in 2005, focusing exclusively on divorce and family law matters.