“My Ex doesn’t pay child support, but instantly has thousands of dollars to bond out when picked up on a criminal case. Can that parent be forced to apply their bond money to their child support arrears balance?” Child support is usually one of the easiest debts to collect. It can be garnished directly from a paycheck through wage withholding. It can’t be erased or discharged in bankruptcy. Tax refunds are intercepted to pay back child support debt.
Can Bond Money Be Used to Pay Child Support? Another way to collect child support in difficult cases.
Your passport and driver’s license can be suspended if you are behind on child support. A lien can be placed on your home until you pay the child support in full. You can be sentenced up to six months of jail time if found in willful contempt for not paying child support. There are other enforcement tools as well to collect child support.
Despite the numerous ways to collect child support, some custodial parents are left struggling when the other parent does not pay their child support and no regular enforcement measures seem to work. In these difficult to collect cases, there can be a relief when the other parent posts bond money on a criminal case.
Court Garnish Bond Money
Although not as widely known, it is possible to request the Court garnish bond money in a criminal case and apply the bond money to the balance owed for back child support. It is important to move quickly if you become aware that the other parent has posted bond money. Once the bond money becomes assigned to another person, it may be difficult, if not impossible, to garnish the bond money to apply to back child support.
Generally, the garnishment of bond money to child support is a two-step process. The first step is usually filing a lien on the bond money in the criminal case.
Filing a Garnishment Action
The second step is usually filing a garnishment action in the child support case to ask the Court to garnish the bond money held by the lien and apply it to the child support balance. The parent who holds the bond money is given the opportunity to request a hearing and contest the garnishment the same way a party can contest other garnishment actions.
Because the bond money’s primary purpose is to ensure that the defendant appears at the criminal case hearings, the bond money generally only becomes available to be garnished for child support after the criminal case has resolved. The lien prevents the bond money from being released back to the defendant once the criminal case is resolved. It is then time to file the garnishment action to ask for the bond money to apply to child support instead of being released back to the defendant.
Often bond money posted is hundreds if not thousands of dollars. If you have a child support case that is difficult to collect and become aware of the other parent posting bond, it may be in your best interest to hire an attorney quickly to help you garnish the bond money for back child support.
Law Office of Julie Fowler, PC, LLO | Divorce Lawyers Omaha
Child Custody | Child Support | Divorce Lawyers Omaha
If you are looking for an attorney in a child support case in Omaha, Nebraska or the surrounding areas (including Papillion, Bellevue, Gretna, Elkhorn, Lincoln, Nebraska City, Sarpy, Lancaster), contact our office to set up a consultation.