Enforcement of Child Support Obligations

If you owe unpaid child support, your child's other parent has a number of ways to collect the money from you.

• First, the other parent may go to court and ask a judge to issue a judgment for the amount of the arrears. This is called a judgment for child support. Once the parent has a judgment, a whole host of collection methods become available. (To learn about ways to enforce judgments, see our Creditor Lawsuits area.)
• Even without a judgment for past-due child support, there are other options for collection, such as automatic wage withholding. 
• Finally, both the federal and state governments are also involved in enforcing child support orders -- and they can use aggressive tactics to get the money for your kids.