When parents are not in a relationship with one another, it doesn’t stop their shared children from having needs to be met. Many custodial parents rely on child support payments from their children’s other parent in order to take care of the kids. When those payments aren’t made, it can have devastating consequences regarding their care. Many local law enforcement groups here in Texas and elsewhere create operations to collect overdue child support. One such operation in another state located a man who owed over $145,000 in unpaid child support.
Officials say that earlier this year, a sheriff’s office joined forces with its county Social Services agency in the hopes of collecting overdue child support payments. They issued orders for arrest for offenders that were put into a national database. The hope was that if an offender had any interaction with law enforcement, a record would indicate the unpaid child support.
The sheriff’s office reports that this strategy worked when a man was arrested for suspicion of drunk driving. When officers ran the man’s information, the child support he allegedly owes came to light. He was taken into custody and his bail was set at the same amount of money he apparently owed. Officials say that in the first month that the operation began, they arrested 16 people for outstanding child support.
The reasons a parent may fail to pay child support can vary, but the result is the same. Children may not receive the proper level of care without much needed income. Those parents who want to create or modify an existing child support order may want to speak with an attorney here in Texas who understands these types of complex family issues.