When They Don’t Pay Child Support

When a child’s parents divorce, they are left with an obligation — not just moral, but legal as well — to care for that child. The law recognizes that obligation and enforces it in a few ways, including parenting schedules and of course the financial obligation of child support. And while most often, a parent is at least nominally willing to contribute to their child’s well-being through child support at first, there are many ways that willingness can fail.

So what happens to someone who doesn’t pay child support?

Starting the Process
The first thing that has to happen is that you have to alert the law that your ex isn’t keeping up on the obligation the court placed on them. Michigan has a special bureau called the Friend of the Court (sometimes adding ‘Bureau’ at the end, and abbreviated FoCB) that has the job of facilitating legally-mandated payments, including child and spousal support, statewide. If you report to the FoCB that your ex has become negligent about child support, they will take the next steps.

The Show-Cause Hearing
The FoCB will inform the court, and a date will be set for a Show-Cause Hearing. At this hearing, your ex will be required to appear and explain that either

1. They didn’t actually violate the support order, or
2. They had an unavoidable circumstance that prevented them from making the ordered payment.

The person administrating the Show-Cause Hearing may be a judge, or it may be a ‘referee’ appointed by the court to preside over the hearing and then pass their recommendation on to a judge, who will (almost always) sign off on it and turn it into a legitimate court order. If you disagree with the recommendation of the referee, you have 21 days to file a written objection, at which point you will be given a brand new hearing in front of a judge.

If your ex doesn’t show up at the Show-Cause Hearing, they can be found in contempt of court, with consequences that range from a fine to time in jail.

Important Note: Notice that there is no option above for “3. Their family circumstances had changed to the point where paying the listed amount is no longer a viable long-term option.” If such a change took place and they can’t pay the support asked of them any longer, they are required to respond to the summons (that tells them to appear at the Show-Cause Hearing) with proof of the change and their inability to pay. They must do this 9 or more days before the Show-Cause Hearing is scheduled.

If Your Ex Is Found Guilty of Non-Payment of Child Support
If the Show-Cause Hearing goes in your ex’s favor, they’ll either get a modification of the support order, or they’ll (most likely) be given extra time to pay. If it goes against them, the court will order one or more of the following things:

• They pay the difference within a defined, short timeframe,
• Their driver’s, occupational, or recreational licenses, or their passport, may be punitively suspended, most often until they catch up on their payments,
• They participate in a work activity,
• They participate in a community corrections program,
• They pay a fine,
• They go to jail,
• Their paycheck is automatically garnished to ensure future support payments are made,
• Their property gets a lien put on it for the amount they owe you, or
• Some other option the judge or referee believes is appropriate under the circumstances.

Generally speaking, those last four options are reserved for the people who flagrantly show contempt of court by deliberately ignoring the court’s order to pay child support despite clearly being able to do so. Jail time and the suspension of a driver’s license, in particular, are only used as last resorts because they can cripple a person’s ability to make money  (and thus make payments.)

If your spouse has stopped paying child support and you need help making sure that money keeps flowing, call Gucciardo Family Law at 248-723-5190 — we can help.