Does anyone know what to do when a parent stops paying child support?

I am in florida if that helps, and i meant state not country, sorry, he lives in new york, I am in florida.

See if there is a legal aid office near you where you can get free legal advice. (That’s all the help I can offer, sorry.)

Don’t want to bum you out; but, you’ll probably Never see a dime out of him. Good news is that, since he’s moved out of the country that he will probably NOT be contacting you. I suggest that you go on with your life without depending on him being a good dad!!! Just be the best Mom that you can be & don’t bad mouth him to your children.

In all honesty, he’s NOT much of a man to begin with; so, I think you & your children are better off without him!!!

Make sure your divorce is finalized so he can’t come back looking for money when you win the lottery or you could end up paying him half your windfall!!!

Courts are completely useless when it comes to child support. IF the dad doesn’t pay, they have 120 million excuses as to WHY they didn’t know what was happening!!! Use your energy on loving your children & write him off as “NOT worth the trouble”!!!

Oops, just remembered that you might report him to the IRS as they will sometimes put a lein on expected refund; but, I think even that takes an act of God & since he’s out of the country he probably isn’t filing a tax return either!!!

Good luck on your journey!!!

I actually meant out of the state oops,sorry hes in new york now, I am in florida but thank you! and no he did give me custody without timesharing but he was still court ordered to pay child support in our divorce, its been finalized for 2 years now, he was paying on time but has just completely stopped the past 2 months but I have no communication with him, and he hasn’t contacted the courts or anything so I assume he’s just decided he no longer wants to pay anymore.

Does, or was, your ex paying through a child service department in the government? I know in Texas that is the way it is set up. They send the money to the state and the state sends the other parent a check for that amount. If they don’t pay then the state goes after them BUT there are hoops that have to be jumped through so it is usually about six months before anything happens and that anything is that they either garnish wages or send out a sheriff to find haul the offending party into court by way of jail. I know this doesn’t help you there in Florida and I am sure his being in NY will complicate things BUT since the child support payments were court ordered they might be able to do something and he is probably in violation by not telling them he was relocating and leave a new address. The courts can take away the deadbeat parent’s driver’s license, grab any tax refunds, garnish wages and, yes, throw the person in jail. That doesn’t get you the money you need however but it might scare him straight.

I found this article on Penalties for Failure to Pay Child Support in Florida perhaps this will give you an idea on where to go from here.

And, here is a link to the National Child Support Enforcement Association who can help put you in touch with agencies who can help you out.

thank you so much, its court ordered, however, he doesn’t have it automatically deducted from his check or anything, he has to go onto myfloridaremit to pay it himself, and hes set to pay a certain amount weekly, I am going to the court house tomorrow to have them basically send out a letter stating he has 30 days to pay or they will suspend his license, The only problem is he will likely never see the letter because it will go to his elderly mothers house who wont open his mail. Another problem the court said might happen is he may of gotten a NY license and if he does they cannot help me and I’d basically have to go through the state which I was told would take forever. Its really a bummer, I never thought this would happen and its sad its not easier to enforce someone to pay their court ordered child support for their own child.

Do you have his Social Security Number ?
Maybe you can get the court to garnish his tax returns or find him and where he is working now.

I don’t, I don’t know if its written in our divorce documents somewhere but I will try to find it, Thank you so much.

Did you file income tax returns ?

Joint returns ?

You are assuming that he has run out…perhaps accident or in hospital?
Check this out before going after him.
In Canada Social Services will get the person paying immanence to pay THEM on time and Social Services pay you, that way the children are always cared for without the caretaker having to track them down.
Check if your Social programs have this option.

I file my own taxes, we’ve been divorced 2 years now, and he’s been with someone else for the past year, not sure if they file together.

He just bought a new truck, he posted it on his Instagram.. I know he’s not in the hospital or anything.

You need to get an attorney to file charges against him, then start attaching his paychecks.

@Roadtodebt did you file jointly when you were married? If so, look back that far.

Also, the courts should have his ssn on file in their paperwork.