CHILD SUPPORT COLLECTION

While there are some people that are extremely difficult in collection support from, all is not lost.

Typically, child support is usually intercepted from the payer’s regular pay check with what is known as an order or assignment (like a garnishment, but supposedly without the bad stigma). However, there are some people that are hard to intercept pay checks because they are self-employed, independent contractors and/or change jobs frequently. All is not lost.

By putting constant pressure on non-paying parents, the Courts can usually get compliance. This usually takes the form of continual monitoring through a series of hearings, combined with sanctions such as attorney's fees. Sometimes, stronger measures need to be implemented such as incarceration, where the payer can still go to work but must spend every night in Sheriff Joe's Tent City. In this situation, oftentimes the Court will intercept most of your pay - the thought being that you do not need the income as the State is providing your housing.

As legal fees can easily be run up fast pursing a deadbeat parent, another solution is to sign up with the Arizona Department of Economic Security. While this government service has been hit with some cut-backs in recent years due to the economy, it is still a service that is offered free to taxpayers. The biggest drawback to pursuing this line of attack is the fact that DES is very slow in going after a person. However, once they do, they do not usually go away or let go easily (I often will refer to them once that have started a full-fledged pursuit as "a pit bull in heat").

Sometime, you can use your private lawyer to start the process going, then you let the lawyer from the Attorney General's office (on behalf of DES) take over the attack once a hearing has been triggered.

There are other, non-typical, ways to try to collect child support (either ongoing or past due).

In addition to garnishing a person's paycheck with what is known as an Order of Assignment, there are other, less traditional, ways to get the support that is owed to you.

One way is to attach a bank account or investment accounts to pay the debt. This is typically does with a Writ of Attachment where you get a court order for a bank or savings institution to send you all but very little of the owing party's account.

I have had similar success in intercepting a person's share of an inheritance or an automobile accident recovery. These methods can be a bit more problematic, but they can be accomplished so long as you do not alert the paying person of you intent too earlier. In other words, do not say anything until you have spoken with your lawyer first.

Recording a judgment can also be effective if the payer wishes to ever sell or purchase real property (i.e., land and/or house) in the county. This method can also work if the owing parent started getting a loan and it was denied due to the recorded judgment. That is, if they really want to qualify for the new loan, sometimes they will pay you off so you stop messing up their purchases.

Lastly, gambling winnings can be intercepted to pay the winner's owed support. For example, the $338 million Powerball lotto winner from New Jersey recently was forced to pay off his approximately $29,000.00 in back child support before he could see any of his money. I am sure that that child's parent was happy to hear about the other parent's good fortune.