Getting Your Spouse to Pay Child Support FAQ

Questions:

• My ex-spouse is refusing to pay court-ordered child support. How can I have the order enforced?
• My ex-husband moved out of state. How can I force him to continue to make child support payments?
• What happens if a parent falls behind on child support payments?
• Can I be excused from the child support debt I accumulated while I was temporarily out of work?
• I just filed for bankruptcy. Can I discharge my child support arrearages?
• My spouse and I separated a year ago. Can I file for child support now and get an order that covers the last year?
• My spouse is in charge of our household finances but barely provides me with enough to keep the cars running and buy food and clothes for the kids. Can I sue for child support?

Answer:

My spouse is in charge of our household finances but barely provides me with enough to keep the cars running and buy food and clothes for the kids. Can I sue for child support?

Not unless you and your spouse live apart. Courts cannot, and will not, intervene in a family's lifestyle unless the children are being abused or neglected. Parents aren't legally obligated to provide material goods other than food, shelter, clothing, and education (up to a state's required age of attendance).

Turn to Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce, by Emily Doskow, for further information on enforcing child support payments.