The Motion to Enforce Child Support is a pleading that is filed in the same case in which child support was originally ordered.  A Motion to Enforce Child Support will request the court to confirm the unpaid child support as a Judgment, which is required before assets can be levied or seized to satisfy the child support judgment.  In addition, most Motions to Enforce Child Support will request that the court hold the nonpaying obligor parent in contempt for violating a court order.  In Texas, if a child support order is violated the Judge can place the nonpaying obligor in jail for up to 6 month for each violation subject to a maximum of 18 months in jail.  However, if the court determines that the obligor parent currently has money to pay some or all of the child support arrearages, the court can indefinitely keep the parent in jail until they pay a specific amount.  Our Child Support Lawyers almost always seek contempt because it is a very effective tool in getting the obligor parent’s attention.  In many cases, the court will not sentence a first time child support violator to Jail, but instead will place them on probation.  This is okay because in order to place the parent on probation the court will first hold that parent in contempt, sentence them to a number of days or months in jail, and then suspend that sentence and place the parent on probation and normally order that they fulfill a number of obligations such as staying current on child support and making certain lump sum payments to satisfy the Child Support Judgment.  If they fail to satisfy the requirements, the court can revoke probation and order that they complete their sentence.  A Motion to Enforce Child Support is normally a necessary step in pursuing child support because a formal Child Support Judgment is required before assets can be seized and liquidated.

In Texas, Wages are normally exempt from being garnished by a Creditor.  However, Child Support and Spousal Maintenance are exceptions to this protection.  Our Child Support Enforcement Lawyers can help prepare wage garnishment orders and include not only garnishments for current child support but also and additional amount for Child Support Arrearages.  In Texas, up to 50% of the Obligor Parent’s pay check can be garnished to pay for child support arrearages.  

To Learn More about your ability to collect Child Support Arrearages in Montgomery, Harris, Grimes, Waller, Walker, Brazos, Washington & Surrounding Counties
contact our experienced Texas Child Support Enforcement Lawyers in The Woodlands | Magnolia, TX and Bryan | College Station to begin the process.

Once a Child Support Judgment has been obtained, a Writ of Execution can be obtained to have the Sheriff in the Texas County of the obligor parent seize any property in possession of the obligor parent except for the homestead and then sell the property at a sheriff’s action and turn the proceeds of the sale over to you after the sheriff’s expenses have been deducted.  In theory, this option sounds great, but in practice it should only be pursued if large assets are seized because the expenses of the Sheriff’s sale can sometimes exceed the property that was sold.  Nevertheless, in some cases, this tool can be very effective especially against the nonpaying obligor parent that has a number of recreational vehicles.   

To Learn if your case could benefit from pursuing a Writ of Execution to satisfy your child support judgment in Montgomery, Harris, Grimes, Waller, Walker, Brazos, Washington & Surrounding Counties
contact our experienced Texas Child Support Enforcement Lawyers in The Woodlands | Magnolia, TX and Bryan | College Station to begin the process.

The Texas Child Support Lien is a very powerful tool.  These can be filed at any time that a child support arrearage exists.  These liens freeze the asset they attach to preventing the obligor parent from using them.  It is common practice for our experienced Child Support Enforcement Lawyers in The Woodlands | Magnolia TX and Bryan | College Station, Texas to immediately file a child support lien even before a Motion to Enforce is Filed in order to freeze bank accounts, retirement & brokerage accounts, as well as real estate.  The great thing about these liens is that the obligor doesn’t receive immediate notice. Imagine the impact it has on the nonpaying obligor parent when they receive a copy of the Motion to Enforce Child Support from a process server and then they go to the bank to either withdrawal money to hide it or to hire an attorney to defend the case and the bank refuses to give them money.  This is a great way to increase pressure on the parent and significantly limit their legal options.  

If a parent has failed to pay child support and has previously been given the opportunity to repay child support arrearages by the court, our Child Support Enforcement Lawyers can file a Petition to Suspend any and every Texas issued license they have such as a professional license, drivers license, hunting or other recreational licenses.  

After a Child Support Judgment is obtained following a successful Trial on a Motion to Enforce Child Support, our experienced Child Support Collection Attorneys will serve a levy on the obligor parents bank accounts and other financial institutions ordering that institution to surrender all funds to satisfy the Child Support Judgment.  The process for receiving money from a bank for a child support judgment is much faster than the typical method for collecting on a regular civil judgment.  

Does the obligor parent have a potential Personal Injury claim or an interest in a Business or other similar assets? If so, the experienced Child Support Enforcement Lawyers at Nick Davis Law in The Woodlands | Magnolia, TX and Bryan | College Station, Texas can request that the court turn those assets over to you.  For instance, assume the obligor parent has a claim for personal injury from a car wreck, that claim could be turned over to you to pursue and any settlement from the suit would go directly to you.   

If you have ever been involved in a divorce in which retirement accounts were divided, you will probably be familiar with the term QDRO which refers to a “Qualified Domestic Relations Order” which is required to divide certain retirement accounts like 401Ks and Pension Plans. It seems that very few family law attorneys realize this, but a QDRO can also be used to take retirement & pension funds to satisfy a child support judgment since retirement funds are not exempt from satisfying a child support judgment.  

As previously discussed, most obligor parents are not immediately sentenced to jail.  Most judges will opt to place them on probation first and give them the opportunity to redeem themselves especially since they are more apt to make child support payments if they can maintain a job, which is difficult to do if they are in jail for weeks or months.  The experienced Child Support Enforcement Lawyers at Nick Davis Law tend to prefer probation over an immediate jail sentence because it continually forces the obligor parent to comply.  If an obligor immediately goes to jail, the threat of jail time is gone once they are released.  To be sure, some obligor parents are more than happy to sit it out in jail and get it over with, especially if they are already unemployed.  In a scenario like this, it’s much better to have the obligor on probation and having to report to a probation officer and fulfill certain requirements such as applying for jobs and making some amount of child support repayments.  Sooner or later they will want to get the government out of their life.  Perhaps this will still end with them going to jail, but we often find that the obligor parent will make more efforts to comply the longer the probation period is because the threat of jail time will continue to bother them, especially when they pursue other relationships, have children, or obtain another job.