Child support arrears question?

Question

I have to be in court next week for child support....my ex currently owes 2,000 dollars in arrears and has only made payment of 123.00 in 6 months. I was told by someone I should request a money judgment on the arrears. I'm not exactly sure what that is so my questions are:

What is a money judgment for arrears?

How long does a judge typically allow for paying the judgment?

What happens if he does not pay the money judgment as ordered by the judge?

Answer 1

A money judgement is a statement by the court that he owes such an amount to you. There is no specified time period for payment - it is due immediately. If he does not pay it, the judgement will allow you to garnish his wages. The process for that would depend on your state.

Answer 2

If you had an attorney for the divorce, go visit him and let him know what the situation is and he will give you advice on what to do at this point.

Each state does have a division that enforces child support, find out who to contact in your state and let them know of your trouble.  Remember you'll probably be one out of hundreds that this person is assigned so getting on the good side of them may help them remember you and to be persistent on collections.  Some states will suspend any and all driving and professional licenses that person owns until he has reached an agreement with the state on how to pay you this money.  If you haven't received anything in over 6 months they will suspend his license on a national basis, meaning he wouldn't be able to go to a different state and start up with a new license until he clears up the situation with you.

Sometimes the judge will order garnishment of wages, that is why to contact your attorney on what would be the best methods to get cash and how to expedite it.  

Don't feel guilty about his suspended license as most of these people who suddenly are faced with losing their license some how come up with enough money to pay to keep their driving privileges. If he asks how am I supposed to make money without a license, tell him you weren't seeing any money anyways when he had a license so why should this be any different?

Answer 3

It means he will have to pay what he owes plus make payments on what he hasn't paid yet.Request that his wages be garnished too or you won't see a dime of it.If he's one of those guys that get paid under the table or doesnt hold a job have him thrown in jail.