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How Many Child Support Payments Can Be Missed in Florida?

Published at May 26, 2021 by administrator.

Understanding the child support laws can help you avoid a lot of stress and aggravation. The first thing you should understand is how many child support payments can be missed in Florida.

In the state of Florida, both parents are required to help support their children financially when possible. This includes allowing for the garnishment of wages and other income benefits to ensure children are cared for. Once a child support order has been established, it is a legally binding agreement subject to the courts. Penalties can include both fines and incarceration if a parent does not maintain their court-ordered child support.

Actions and Penalties Associated with Missed Payments

You can receive a notice of delinquency as soon as 15 days after a single missed payment. For cases that are handled by the child support enforcement office, this delinquency notice can be added automatically to an account.

If continual payments are missed or late, the court may enter into a judgment to obtain income deduction from the parent’s paycheck. Although pay garnishments can lessen delinquency, they don’t work in all cases.

Penalties and Actions for missed payments include:

Late fees
Court costs
Driver’s license suspension
Recreational licenses suspension
Contempt of Court charges
Liens on motor vehicles and boats
Seizing tax returns
Garnishing paycheck
Collecting directly from your bank account
Credit reporting

Reasons for Missed Payments

Man sitting at his desk with a computer in front of him and his head in his hands. — There are a limited number of reasons for missing a child support payment.

Some people willfully choose not to pay child support once it is ordered. These individuals believe they should not have to pay the child support and, in defiance of the court order, choose not to make their payments.

There are many other reasonable answers for why a parent may have missed payments. Contacting a lawyer or getting in touch with the court as soon as possible is essential to minimizing penalties associated with a missed payment.

Some reasons for missed payments might be:

Moving
Changing jobs
Illness
Accident causing missed work
Financial hardships

If you come upon a situation where it looks like you will miss a child support payment, it is your responsibility to take action. The court will not be lenient if you have made no effort to notify anyone of difficult circumstances you have encountered.

What to Do if You Miss a Payment

If you are worried about how many child support payments can be missed in Florida, then you should contact your lawyer as soon as possible. A lawyer can walk you through the process of notifying the court of any change in your circumstances that is preventing you from making your child support payments.

You can also have your child support amount adjusted if needed. The state of Florida allows for child support changes to be made when there is a financial change of at least 10 percent in either parent’s life. No parent should be financially impoverished by their child support, so it’s vital to seek help if you have missed payments.

Avoid Missing Payments

Man in a suit sitting across a desk from a woman and shaking hands with her. — Skipping payments can result in severe consequences.

Missing payments carries severe consequences, and you want to avoid it at all costs. If you tend to forget to make payments, you can arrange for automatic payments to be taken from your bank account. Work with your lawyer to help arrange the logistics and ensure you never miss a payment.

If you struggle to save money for your child support payment after you are paid, then you can ask for a court order garnishment of your paychecks. Although this seems scary to some people, it can be the easiest way to ensure your child support payments are made on time and reduce a lot of stress on your part. If payments are missed because of financial difficulties, you can apply to adjust your court order. You can do this on your own, through the clerk of courts, or via a lawyer.

There are legitimate reasons that can result in late payments. If you prepare yourself ahead of time and ask for help as soon as possible, you can help avoid long-lasting penalties or actions.

Get Help Today!

Navigating the world of child support can be very stressful and overwhelming. At The Stafford Firm, we are dedicated to helping you every step of the way. The first step is to call or come in for a free consultation.

Our family-owned law firm prides itself on responding as quickly as possible to every client. We will return your call within 24 hours, and we can get started on your case right away if there is an emergency situation.

We will review your case and let you know our professional opinion and how we can help you. It doesn’t matter how far along your child support case is; we can still help you get your order adjusted and make provisions if missed payments have occurred.

Reach out to us today by calling (561) 540-4533 today!