Your ex-spouse isn’t letting you see your children as much as you’d like. The entire situation makes you feel upset, so you decided that you’d take control. You decided that you’d stop paying support unless your children came to see you.
Unfortunately, that’s not a great decision. You can get into a lot of trouble for failing to pay child support.
What happens if you don’t pay child support but are ordered to do so?
If you are supposed to pay child support but don’t, then you can get into trouble. A judge could find you in contempt, and you may be ordered to pay fines. Some people are even put in jail for failing to pay support.
It is more likely that your wages will be garnished if you refused to pay child support. This means that the support will be taken from your paycheck before you ever receive it. Some other things that the court can do to resolve the situation include:
- Suspending your business license
- Taking away your driver’s license
- Seizing your personal property
- Suspending your occupational license
- Withholding your federal tax refunds
- Denying you a passport if you owe over $2,500
Is it likely that you’ll go to jail if you can’t pay support?
It isn’t very likely because it is harder for those who have been to jail to get a job, and they won’t be able to work while in jail. Both of those factors make jailing someone who isn’t paying less attractive to the courts, though it is possible in worst-case scenarios.
