Family law extends beyond divorce. Child support is due and owing, regardless of whether the parties were ever married. In a previous post we discussed some of the expenses that need to be taken into consideration when deciding how much child support a custodial parent will be awarded. While parents may work hard to reach a final decision regarding such matters, things can fall apart when a noncustodial parent fails to make required child support payments to the custodial parent.

Legal options

Custodial parents who find that they are not being paid child support may be able to resolve the matter through legal channels. It may be possible to secure an enforcement order. Parents who are supposed to make payments but cannot, may be able to secure a court ordered modification.

Who isn’t paying child support?

Regarding child support arrears or non-payment, most of our readers probably assume that it is the fathers who who are not providing for children living with their mother. According to one data expert however, it is actually more often the opposite–mothers are not making the required payments to custodial fathers.

A recent study of the 2011 U.S. Census data — the most recent data available –shows that 32 percent of custodial fathers didn’t receive any of the child support awarded to them, compared with 25 percent of custodial moms.

True, there are five times more custodial moms in America than custodial dads. And on top of that, moms are also more likely than dads to get awarded child support. But still, the data show that moms are more likely than dads to get at least some of the child support they’re due. It’s not a huge difference in percentage terms, but it’s still counterintuitive.

So why is this happening? The Census Bureau doesn’t provide concrete reasons for the higher percentage of short-changed dads. But the data they do have suggests some possible explanations. First, custodial dads have a much higher average household income than custodial moms, $52,000 for dads’ average household incomes compared to $26,000 for custodial moms. And the men are half as likely to be living in poverty. So one possible explanation is that these dads with higher income are less likely to pursue child support enforcement from noncustodial mothers.

There is another explanation: often, for a father to become the custodial parent, the mother might not be in a particularly good position. She might be struggling to find work. She might have drug problems. There can be all kinds of issues there, which hamper the ability of those noncustodial mothers to actually make those child-support payments.

The data also show that custodial moms and custodial dads who have never been married are much less likely to get any of the payments they’re due than the ones who have been married to non-custodial obligees. The reasons for the difference between support collection rates of formerly marrieds with children versus never marrieds with children are unknown.

Conclusion

What readers should take away from this post is that it is possible for parents of either gender to fail to live up to their child support responsibilities. They should also be aware that they have legal options to enforce collections, whether privately or through state action. If you are owed child support monies, or can’t pay the child support monies you are required to pay, get prompt help from a law firm that is knowledgeable and experienced in family law cases. We will help you navigate the process.

Please call or write us if you need assistance.

Source:  NPR: March 1, 2015: http://www.npr.org/2015/03/01/389945311/who-fails-to-pay-child-support-moms-at-a-higher-rate-than-dads