Child Support Guidelines

Each state has their own set of child support guidelines and laws for establishing and enforcing child support orders. The guidelines that will be applied to your case are determined by state in which your child resides. This further complicates child support cases because you must learn and understand the guidelines for the state in which your child lives regardless of your state of residence. Many states now enforce orders for other states which means you must pay your child support on time every month. Falling behind in your payments will cause you to face contempt of court charges for failure to comply with a court order even if the order was issued in another state. You can find a copy of your state's guidelines by visiting their CSE Agency website. For a listing of this information, please visit the CSE agencies page.

Since each state has different guidelines, here we will discuss some of the federally established enforcement laws. Regardless of what state you or child resides, failure to pay child support payments on time can result in federal charges. The penalty for failing to pay child support while residing in another state is punishable by up to six months in prison and/or a fine for the first offense. Second and subsequent offenses are punishable by up to two years imprisonment and/or a fine. There are certain critiria that must be met before a case is referred to federal authorities. The non-custodial parent must have failed to make payments for a one year period, owe more than $5,000 in arrears, have a history of moving from state to state in order to avoid paying child support, used a pattern of deception such as false names and social security numbers, or failed to make payments after found in contempt of court for failure to pay child support obligations. Furthermore, state authorities must have exhausted all available remedies for enforcement prior to referring the case. As you can see, child support enforcement is taken seriously in the US. Make sure you understand your rights and the guidelines for your state by speaking with a family law attorney about the specifics of your case.