Man Failing To Pay Child Support Faces Possible Jail Time
Posted on Jan 7, 2013 12:00am PST
For divorced parents in Georgia and elsewhere, it may be difficult to
make monthly child support payments because of unexpected circumstances,
such as job loss or a medical emergency. If parents are unable to meet
their financial obligations, they may have to file for a child supportmodification.
In some severe circumstances, parents who fail to pay their child support
obligation may face consequences. Recently, a man owing over $1 million
in child support and failing to attend child support hearings has been
apprehended and may face serious penalties, including jail or prison time.
A man on the federal list of parents failing to pay child support compiled
by the Department of Health and Human Services was arrested in California
and faces possible time in jail. According to reports, the man stopped
making his required child support payments to his three children with
two previous wives and left the country after a child support arrest warrant
was issued against him. Federal authorities were able to track the man
down in Thailand; he was later arrested in another country for carrying
false documents. U.S. authorities subsequently arrested the man at an
international airport in United States after he was deported from the
Philippines. The man faces prosecution for failing to fulfill his child
support obligations after a combined child support enforcement effort
by federal and state agencies.
While some parents may find making their child support payments difficult
each month, Georgia parents may have several options to modify their monthly
obligations. To modify a child support order, a judge must approve or
order a change to the initial child support order. The parent requesting
the modification may seek an agreement with the other parent to lessen
the amount of child support payments, but the requesting parent must still
receive a judicial order before the modification may occur. Depending
on the circumstances of a case, modifications may be ordered temporarily
or permanently. If the original child support included a cost of living
adjustment clause, the couple may not need to go before a judge to modify
the order.
Sometimes unforeseen circumstances that are out of the control of a parent
may make it difficult for the parent to pay the ordered child support.
In these times, parents should consider acting quickly and informing the
other parent of the changed circumstances and need for modification.