Child support can be essential to help you raise your kids. If your co-parent refuses to pay it or continually pays late, it can create hardship for you and the children.
Hence you might want to lay down some consequences, such as telling them that they cannot see the kids until they pay up. You might want to, but you cannot because that is not how the law works.
Visitation is a right only the court can take away
When a court approves your custody arrangements, they expect both of you to comply with them. While they allow you to work out some flexibility between you, such as you looking after your child when the other parent needs to travel during their scheduled time, what they do not allow is you to take away the other parent’s rights to see their child.
If the court order says your ex picks up the kids on Friday at 6 pm, then make sure you open the door and hand the kids over when they turn up to collect them. Otherwise, they are entirely within their rights to complain to the court. A judge may take action against you for breaching the court order.
Does that mean you must put up with the lack of financial support?
Not at all. In the same way that a court can take action against you for failing to adhere to its order, they can take action against your spouse for failing to adhere to orders covering child support.
This could include telling their employer to take it out of the wages at source (known as wage garnishment), suspending their driving license or placing a lien on their assets. They could even sentence them to jail if they continue to refuse payments.
If you have child support problems, seek legal help to examine your options.
