What Happens If Your Spouse Doesn’t Pay Child Support in Perth?

A divorce can be a convoluted process to navigate not only for the couple involved but also for the children. While some may be amicable and fulfilled through mutual consent, others may be contested, take longer and have more complicated matters attached. A marriage, as a bouquet of rights and responsibilities, when dissolved, entails the rightful division of those responsibilities. One of the most complicated negotiations is child custody and child support.

If your spouse has not paid their designated child support, there are several ways in which interventions can occur. This article overviews the steps you can take to ensure your child’s rights, needs and requirements are fulfilled.

What happens in case of late child support payments?

If the spouse is late in paying their child support or delays it, penalties can be added to the amount of support they were originally supposed to pay. This penalty amount is paid to the government of Australia and not the other spouse. The child support must be paid in full for concessions to the penalty or considerations of removal.

What happens in case of missed child support payments?

Any missed payment must be made as soon as possible. Even if the spouse cannot pay all the child support upfront, they must arrange for timely deposits. The spice responsible for paying child support might need to discuss their financial situation and payment debt with child services to come up with an arrangement where the due support can be paid in full.

What can you do to recover child support?

Covering the living expenses, the needs and necessities of a child fall under their basic rights. Intentional non-payment of child support from your child and non-compliance with parental responsibilities count as child abuse. If your spouse withholds financial support for your child, there are various ways in which penalties can be enforced, and the child support recovered.

1. Redirecting refunds to debts

If your spouse has child support debts, one of the ways in which the money can be extracted is through redirecting money owed to the spouse in refunds to first cover the child support debt.

2. Deduction from income support

Income support is a regular payment that supports an individual’s living costs. This can be in the form of age pensions, disability support, carer payments, parenting payments, jobseeker payments and more. In case your spouse withholds their due child support, the money can be deducted from their income support. It can also be deducted from any payment they receive from the Department of Veteran Affairs.

3. Tax refunds

Since most parents are required to pay taxes in Australia, tax returns can be used to pay child support amounts. This can be availed along with other payment arrangements as well.

4. Bank account or employer deductions

If your spouse withholds child support, child support services can deduct the amount due from your spouse’s bank account. Alternatively, they can also deduct it from the salary their employer pays them.

5. Banning overseas travel

Often, spouses or parents with outstanding child support who haven’t made any arrangements for paying the due amount try to leave Australia to evade payment. To prevent such evasions, child support services can prevent these spouses or parents from leaving Australia by banning them from overseas travel. This is done with the Department Prohibition Order.

The travel band persists till the outstanding child support amount is paid or till the sponsor agrees to make arrangements for the payment. This ban can be enforced without a court order.

6. Litigations

If the previous methods don’t work, Divorce lawyers in Perth can take up your case in court. This method can eat fruit if there are income streams or assets in your spouse’s name from which the child support can be extracted.

7. Prosecution

In case of severe resistance and attempts at avoiding child support, your spouse is liable to be prosecuted. Not paying child support is a serious offense that is punishable by law. When intentional and done to inflict harm, it counts as child abuse.

Summing up

Protecting children’s rights and ensuring that they are provided for is one of the foremost duties of adults. Child support is a huge part of this responsibility, for it is indivisible for the survival of the child. If your spouse is evading child support, contact the best child support lawyers in Perth to discuss the most applicable and fastest course of action for you and your child.