There are many reasons a parent might stop paying custody. For example, their financial situation may have changed, making them unable to honor the payment arrangement. Regardless, a custody order is a legally binding action that must be upheld. If your former partner has stopped paying custody payments, you can take legal action.
Establishing Child Support
A child support order is only enforceable if it is part of a court order. For example, if you and your former partner have a strictly verbal agreement, there is no legal claim to any payments, and you can’t legally enforce it.
Enforcing a Child Support Order
Colorado has strict guidelines regarding child support orders and offers several ways to collect past-due payments:
Motion for Contempt
When a judge decides to hold someone in contempt, it means they have determined that the person has violated a court order. A judge can either hold a person in remedial or punitive contempt. Remedial contempt is when the court places a person in jail until they pay the past due sum.
Punitive contempt is when a judge sentences the non-paying party to time in jail and/or pay a fine, regardless of whether they pay the delinquent amount. For the judge to sentence the paying parent to jail or a fine, you must be able to prove that the paying parent could afford the payments but chose not to do so.
Order to Collect Support
Once the court holds the paying parent in contempt, there are a few additional orders a judge may enforce to collect the payment. These orders include:
- garnishing wages;
- garnishing bank accounts;
- placing liens on homes or land;
- placing liens on vehicles; and/or
- forcing the paying parent to sell real property.
Helping Our Clients Enforce or Defend Against Court Orders
Whether you are a parent seeking to enforce a child support order or defending your inability to pay child support, our enforcement attorneys are on your side.
To schedule your complimentary consultation, call us at (719) 212-4227 or contact us online.