I’m Still Paying Off Child Support Arrears for My Adult Child. When Will it Stop?
If you are paying arrears in child support, you’re not alone. Many parents, usually fathers, continue to pay child support toward their child even after they have reached the age of 18. You may even find yourself paying well after your child has reached adulthood and has made a life of their own, or even when they have their own kids. In this situation, it’s fair to wonder why or even whether you still have to pay child support.
How Does Child Support Work?
If you need a family law attorney Los Angeles has plenty of skilled lawyers you can choose from who can explain how child support works. Generally, the court includes an order for child support in a divorce decree or among unmarried parents who are no longer together. The non-custodial parent is ordered to pay support for the child toward the custodial parent. Child support payments are meant to go toward food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education, entertainment, travel and more.
The judge determines various factors when ordering a parent pay child support, but the main idea is to ensure the child can have the same standard of living before the split between the parents. Los Angeles child support lawyers can help you to better understand the idea.
When Child Support Arrears are Involved
When a non-custodial parent doesn’t pay child support for a certain number of years, it can lead to a buildup. This is when child support payments go into arrears. Arrearages don’t simply vanish when the child support order ends. For example, if you didn’t pay support toward your child for the first 10 years of their life, you would still owe money for those years. As a result, if your obligation was supposed to end once your child reached their 18th birthday, you would still have to pay for those 10 missed years or until your debt is fully paid off.
If you are confused about how child support arrears work, affordable child support attorneys Los Angeles has can assist you.
What Happens When Child Support is in Arrears?
When you are in arrears with your original child support order, it’s important to know you shouldn’t be paying any new obligations. Your priority is to pay back the child support you owe from past years.
You may also be in a situation where the state takes measures to ensure that you pay what you owe in arrears. In some cases, that may include placing a garnishment against your wages and using your tax refund to pay back your child support. However, the court can go a step further and charge you interest on your child support debt.
In all of these scenarios, the money you pay toward your child support arrears go toward your child’s other parent. In most cases, that is the mother. If you file bankruptcy, you cannot wipe out the child support debt as it is not exempt. Overall, your child support debt does not vanish until you have fully paid it off.
When Does it Stop?
Child support lawyers for mothers ensure that the custodial parent receives all of the child support they’re due. This means support can continue coming in after the child is 18 based on the circumstances. However, it’s fair to wonder when you can stop paying.
You can take steps to check how by checking with the child support office. You can find out how much you still owe and check whether the amount is correct and that there hasn’t been a mistake made. If there was an error, you can file a petition with the court to correct it.
If you need legal help for child support, an attorney can help you to get the exact number you actually do owe. You can get a family law attorney Los Angeles based and get the answers you need.
If you are in California and need legal help for child support, you are not alone. Fortunately, if you need affordable child support attorneys Los Angeles has many options available to you. Child support lawyers for mothers will fight to ensure that you pay your child support arrears. However, Los Angeles child support lawyers will ensure that you are treated fairly in such a situation.
