We understand just how frustrating and financially stressful it may be when your child’s other parent is not meeting their end of the deal and faltering on their support payments. You may have already utilized every tool at your disposal to get them to pay, but to no avail. Plus, we may find it unjust that, all this time, you have abided by your obligations to drop your child off at their scheduled visitation times. Well, please follow along to find out whether you should refuse visitation time in response to child support getting left unpaid, and how one of the proficient St. Louis child support lawyers at Stobie Family Law Group can help you make matters right.
Can I refuse visitation time if child support gets left unpaid?
Importantly, you must understand that the Missouri family court treats child support and child visitation as two distinct legal issues and parental responsibilities. Therefore, you cannot legally withhold visitation when your child’s other parent has left their support unpaid. The bottom line is that the court prioritizes your child’s best interest, which typically entails maintaing a relationship with both parents post-separation or divorce. And this ideal applies regardless of the financial disputes happening in the background.
With that being said, should you refuse visitation time, you may unnecessarily get yourself in trouble with the court. Ultimately, this action may violate your court-ordered child custody arrangement. So, you may be held in contempt of court and even be imposed with serious fines. Further, the court may order a modification of your standing arrangement, which may give your child’s other parent even more visitation rights, to compensate for the time you deprived them of.
What should I do instead if a parent stops paying support?
We can sympathize with the desperate feeling you may experience when your child’s other parent falls more and more behind on their support obligation. But instead of withholding visitation time, we have more productive and civil options you may adopt. Primarily, you may file a formal motion for contempt in the circuit court where the child support order was initially issued. Here, you may have to present the court with evidence of your child’s other parent committing such violations.
Notably, the court may force compliance from your child’s other parent through garnishing their wages, placing liens on their property, intercepting their tax refunds, or suspending their driver’s license. Worse, if the court identifies a willful failure to pay, they may order them to up to one year in a county jail for a misdemeanor. But this may upgrade to a felony if their non-payment exceeds $5,000 or they miss payments for six months within 12 months. This means a possible prison sentence of up to four years.
If you do not know how to fix this alone, allow one of the talented St. Louis family lawyers to support you. We at Stobie Family Law Group understand that every family deals with unique issues, so we tailor our services to meet your exact needs and wishes. So please pick up the phone and give us a call today.
