Arlington Family Lawyer
After a separation or divorce one parent may be ordered to pay child support. What happens when the parent who is ordered to pay child support continuously fails to follow the child support order? One action the court may take is to issue a warrant for the arrest of the parent. If a warrant for failure to pay child support is issued for your arrest, contact a competent family law attorney from the Brandy Austin Law Firm to represent you.
What is a warrant?
A warrant is issued by a Judge and gives the police authority to arrest the person named in the warrant. There are two types of warrants in child support cases, civil and criminal. The main type of warrant you will see issued in a child support case is civil.
A judge issues a civil warrant when the primary parent (the parent who designates the residence) files a complaint against the non-primary parent for disobeying the court order for child support. This action is called a Motion for Enforcement which is a technical process that can be handled by a Family Law Attorney. The non-primary parent must appear in court, where a judge will order payment of the back child support, a fine for failing to pay the child support, and/or jail time for failing to pay the child support. Jail time is normally reserved for repeat offenders however, if a Judge issued a warrant in your case then there is a good chance that you are a repeat offender and jail time is not a last resort in your case.
How to deal with the warrant
Contact a Family Law Attorney from the Brandy Austin Law Firm, if you find out you have a warrant for your arrest because you have failed to pay child support. Do not attempt to handle the situation on your own. Our Family Law Attorneys have handled child support warrants for several clients and work diligently to help our clients pay their child support while keeping them out of jail. Understand, there may be a requirement for you to make a lump sum payment to help rescind (take away) the warrant for your arrest. The lump sum payment will be applied to your child support obligation.
How to Handle Child Support Obligation
If you have a child support obligation, make your payments on time, every time. If financial difficulties arise, do not stop your payments. Continue to make whatever payment you can and notify someone as soon as possible. You should contact the local child support enforcement agency and then contact a Family Law Attorney to help you modify your payments.
The child support obligation is taken seriously by the judicial system. Parent with support obligations need to take support obligations seriously as well. If you need help with child support modifications or avoiding an arrest warrant speak with an Arlington family lawyer today.
