Delinquent child support is one of the leading causes of poverty and financial distress in the United States. If you are owed child support there are a variety of resources available to help you collect what is past due and help collect the regularly scheduled payment.

Seeking Help From State Agencies

Each state has a child support enforcement agency. This agency can be found in the "government" listings of your phone book or can usually be obtained by calling the office of your state's Attorney General or local District Attorney.

Your state child support enforcement agency can cause the driver's license, professional license (doctor, lawyer, etc), hunting/fishing license to be suspended or revoked from the non-paying parent as well as having any tax refunds intercepted for your benefit. The state child support enforcement agency can also provide you with a certification of the delinquency which can then be used to suspend the passport of the non-paying parent.

The state agency will usually also issue orders to the employer(s) of the non-paying parent requiring that the child support payment be deducted from the non-paying parent's paycheck before it is issued. If the employer(s) fail to withhold the money, the employer will be responsible for the payment.

Criminal Offense Under Federal Law

If the non-paying parent lives in a state other than where you (and the child) live, you may want to contact the local office of the United States Department of Justice. You can file a complain under federal law and the U.S. Government may proceed against the non-paying parent. In order to establish that an individual has violated federal law, the government must prove that:

• The non-paying parent knew that there existed a past due child support obligation.
• The past due child support has remained unpaid for longer than one year OR is in an amount greater than $5,000.
• The past due child support obligation is for a child who resides in a state other than where the non-paying parent resides
• The non-paying parent had the ability to pay.
• The non-paying parent willfully failed to pay.

The stakes increase for the non-paying parent when the past due child support is unpaid for more than 2 years OR is in an amount greater than $10,000 -- it is a FELONY! Your Rights

If you have a court order requiring that child support be paid to you, it is your right to enforce that order. Depending on your personal financial condition, this enforcement can occur through a private attorney, state agency or the federal government.