Monday, January 6, 2014

Visitation and child support

"He's never on time with his child support payments."
"She's always forgetting to mail my child support check."
So, the question follows, can I withhold visitation?
The answer is no.  Visitation and child support payments are two separate and distinct concepts; you cannot withhold visitation in order to enforce timely and complete support payments.  There are actions to take if child support is an issue: seeking a wage withholding order (commonly referred to as a garnishment); seeking contempt relief; etc.   You should consult with your attorney if your child support payments are not being made according to a court order so you can weigh your options.  Withholding visitation, unfortunately, could just subject you to a show cause/contempt proceeding and not result in receiving child support on time or in full.