Collecting Past Due Child Support

Child support is a critical component of any divorce decree or paternity order in Nebraska. All parents have a duty to support their children financially, and this obligation does not end when paternity has been established or a marriage ends.

Nebraska requires child support to be paid until a minor child is married, turns 19-years-old, is emancipated, joins the military, or passes away. Child support includes necessary support for day-to-day care of the child, such as food, shelter, and clothing.

When a parent is ordered to pay child support and fails to pay, this can cause financial strain on the custodial parent and the child. The custodial parent suffering from the lack of financial support has the right to take action against the other parent. There are several methods to enforce past due child support:

• Enforcement by the Court: the custodial parent may file a contempt action. This allows a judge to decide whether to hold the non-paying party in contempt for a willful failure to pay past due court-ordered child support until they have paid or come up with a plan to pay past due support.
• Income withholding: this is also known as wage garnishment. The portion of past due child support will be deducted directly from the employer and sent to the Nebraska Child Support Payment Center so that the other parent may collect them. Note that the amount withdrawn is typically only a portion of the arrearage until the total past due amount is paid off.
• Passport denial: If the past due parent owes more than $2,500.00, the State Department can deny the issuing or usage of a United States passport.  This is rare in practice, however.
• Suspending License: A person can have their license suspended for violation of a support order (child or alimony) issued by the court. The Department of Health & Human Services can notify the Department of Motor Vehicles to take suspension action.
• Tax refund interception & credit reporting: Parents who have not paid support over three months and owe $500 or more can be reported to both state and federal tax agencies. The Treasury Department can then intercept a federal tax refund payment and apply that money toward past due child support. This happens frequently in Nebraska.

Please be aware that visitation time and financial support are independent of each another. The custodial parent is still required to be compliant with the divorce decree or paternity order regardless of the other parents failure to pay child support. Modifying parenting time in violation of a court order is not a valid method for enforcing child support and could result in a contempt action against the custodial parent withholding the child.

The legal process of getting past due child support is not straight-forward and is a challenging court procedure. At Berkshire & Burmeister our experienced family law attorneys are ready to help you navigate through these issues.