Several States Offering Child Support Amnesty
In honor of child support awareness month, Oklahoma and New Mexico are offering amnesty to noncustodial parents behind on child support who have warrants for their arrest because of unpaid child support.
The amnesty program offers a way for fathers burdened with huge amounts of child support debt to avoid jail time and get their lives back on track.
During the month of August, fathers can go to their child support office and pay their outstanding debt or renegotiate their child support payment plan without fear of arrest. They could even have their debt reduced if they have lost their job or their financial circumstances have changed since their child support order.
Even if the offenders cannot work out a new payment schedule, the state still promises that it will not arrest them meaning fathers have nothing to lose and everything to gain by coming in.
For fathers in New Mexico, the program is their last chance to avoid jail time, as police will begin a state-wide sweep to arrest all child support debtors who have a warrant for their arrest. While New Mexico is giving fathers a second chance before sending them to jail, New Jersey took a different approach. Just last month, New Jersey law enforcement officers had a state-wide sweep in which they arrested over 1,000 “deadbeat” parents with no preceding amnesty period.
Does the state owe child support offenders an amnesty period?
On one hand, these fathers broke the law and may be leaving their children destitute. But on the other, judges often burden fathers with too-high dues that they cannot realistically pay.
In fact, 70 percent of the national uncollected child support debt is owed by noncustodial parents with annual earnings below $10,000 — or no quarterly earnings at all.
And if fathers fall behind on their payments, even a little, the system penalizes them by charging interest, so they fall even farther behind. Then, after they have reached a certain amount of debt, the state can take away their drivers’ licenses and other privileges, which may impede their ability to work. Finally, they reach the bottom of their downward spiral and end up in jail because of their inability to pay — not because they chose not to pay — creating a virtual debtor’s prison.
Modifying child support is very difficult.
The process to modify child support is often lengthy and expensive; so many men don’t take advantage of it. Once they’ve fallen behind on their support even a little, they would be arrested if they went into court to try and modify it to an amount that fits their income.
Hence, a child support amnesty month, where these men can modify their payments without fear of arrest is an extremely useful program. It does not let fathers off the hook of their responsibility, but instead allows fathers to actually pay a child support amount they can afford.
Child support amnesty months return some element of fairness to an overly punitive system.
Child support amnesty offers many benefits.
Child support amnesty months help the states collect more child support money than they otherwise would have.
Sending child support debtors to jail decreases the likelihood that the state, or their children, will ever see the money owed. Also, when the debtor is in jail, it is now the state’s responsibility to pay for his food and housing, which costs the state more money.
Child support amnesty months not only benefit the state but also the debtors and their children. Hopefully more states will begin to offer these programs in the future.
exactly right. I am being forced to let my ex and her 5th husband adopt my son and daughter . they have poisoned my childrens minds to not want to see me. I let this happen based upon lies my ex was telling me. now that I figured it out , they served papers on me at a very bad time
We need to teach adolescent boys about America’s debtor’s prisoners in school–give them a real education
the system is double dipping collecting money from taxes as well as taking from a parents hands. some times taking their tools they need to provide for the children such as men getting CDL taken away. now the man has no way to work because he isn’t allowed to drive commercially. some men live to far from there current jobs because they cant walk or a ford taxi’s or no public transportation available, and have to take lower pay or cant even find a job. How does this benefit the child/ children?
So lets get down to something i read above.
Federal Reserve Note is a promise to pay document
above “child support debtors” is a joke there is no money everyone is just passing
promises around nothing of any value ink and paper.
Debt is all we have so check into UCC find out what remedy there is available and try to discharge debt because since 1933 gov filed bankruptcy and they all live for free
they have pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes and making people forced to work building them everything and with nothing more than a promise to pay document called the US dollar.
I’m a mom and have been since 86, my ex didn’t pay support even tho he was court ordered to. i didn’t end up getting anything except $2,700 after my children were grown, because the state settled his back support and the state took the rest over $7,000, before i was disabled my ex owed $26,000+ in back support. Here’s my thoughts on this.. he didn’t visit his children and when he did it was supervised(2 times). he moved on with his life as if he was all that mattered never sent not a birthday card or a gift. That’s not a father. Children have no concept of money it’s love they need above all else. and this gov knows they are holding everyone’s inheritance and that no one should be paying any kind of so called bill when they wont pay real gold for our promissory notes… you cant pay debt with debt. Visitation should when circumstances allow be joint and open to fit parents best chances to spend time with their children. Money is worthless our children’s lives are precious they are one of a kind.