Child support payments are important to custodial parents. They are meant to help pay for the expenses related to a child’s life. However, when the parent who pays child support fails to do so or chooses to pay a lower amount, the parent receiving the payment might struggle to cover all their costs, and the best interests of their child might be threatened. If you are a parent in Rhode Island in this situation, you should know there are some measures the state can take to ensure child support is paid correctly.
Legal repercussions for failing to pay child support
Both federal and state laws require parents to meet their child support obligations. For those parents who do not, there are measures that can be taken to enforce payments. These measures can affect various aspects of the parent’s life and include:
• Withholding the child support amount from the parent’s salary payments
• Intercepting income tax refunds for the amount of child support owed
• Suspending the driver’s license and the vehicle registration of the parent who owes child support
• Reporting the issue to the credit bureaus
• Preventing a parent from getting a passport
• Being found guilty of contempt of court and possible having to serve time in jail
Where can you get help for enforcement of child support payments?
In Rhode Island, you can contact the Rhode Island Child Support Agency Program if you need help getting your child’s other parent to pay for support. When there is child support owed, state law also establishes that interest must be paid on the late payments of 12% yearly. Owed child support is retroactive as well.
When it comes to child support, the state does not have a statute of limitations to claim the support owed. If you believe that your child’s other parent owes you support, begin the process of collecting what is owed.
