Can I withhold visitation if my ex isnt paying child support?
In moments of desperation, with the process of divorce still fresh in clients minds, many parents take contempt of child support payments into their own hands for the sake of avoiding court and legal fees. While many people feel it is a good idea to withhold visitation if they are not receiving custody payments, this is one of the worst decisions you can make.
While you may think this will force your ex to pay up, the truth is that it can be used against you and can be turned into a contempt action against you!
The fact is that the legal system views child support and visitation as completely separate issues. Just like your ex can be held in contempt for not following the child custody rules set forth in your settlement, you can be held in contempt for not following the visitation rules. The court views visitation as your childs right and thus withholding it would not serve the best interest of your child.
Additionally, as financial support is the responsibility of each parent, the court will take very seriously any action filed due to contempt of custody payment. So much so, contempt can sometimes be punished with jail time.
If your ex is continuously late on payments or is withholding payments, you should either ask your family law attorney to write him a letter detailing what he/she owes and by when you expect the money to be paid back, or you should contact your local office of child support enforcement, who will place sanctions on your ex until he or she repays the amount owed.
Either way, you should make sure that you meticulously document the payments your ex-spouse makes as well as the ones he doesnt. If you are not able to get the money even after you try to contact your spouse through your attorney, you should file a contempt action and let the court system handle it. If he/she is found in contempt of court, you will not be responsible for any of the fees incurred by filing the action, including attorney fees. You will also most likely receive back payment for the unpaid support and your ex will receive some sort of punishment for contempt to ensure the payments are not delinquent or default again.’
0 Comments