When a non-custodial parent is ordered by a court to make child support payments, they are mandatory and must be paid on a schedule to the custodial parent of a child. When a parent in California fails to pay, there are methods that the state can use to recover the amount owed. These efforts to collect child support payments can be successful and use methods such as wage garnishment and other measures.
When a parent who has failed to meet their child support obligation leaves the state, collection can become more difficult. This is due to the fact that some states do not have the resources to search for non-paying parents outside state lines. In addition, there is a limit to the tools available to even locate a non-paying parent once outside state lines.
One of the ways that a person who has failed to pay child support can be found is when they come into contact with law enforcement for other offenses or investigations. Databases and other tools can be used to determine if a person being charged with another offense has warrants issued against them pertaining to child support from another state. When this happens, non-custodial parents can be forced to face their overdue bills for child support in the state that they fled.
As many in California likely know, child support payments can be essential to a family’s well being. For a custodial parent, the costs of raising kids alone can be very high. Without the help of child support payments, purchasing even the basics for kids can be a challenge. This is why state agencies and others work diligently to assist those owed back child support with recovering what is owed to their children.
Source: Enterprise News, “Once across state lines, deadbeat parents long gone and hard to find,” Justin Graeber, Sept. 2, 2012