Can my ex prevent me from seeing my kids if I’m behind on child support?
You are probably on rough terms with your ex right now. Having kids together doesn’t make the situation any better either.
With the economy right now, it would make sense that you’re feeling financially strapped and haven’t been able to make child support payments. That comes with its own headaches.
If you’ve been falling behind on child support payments, your ex might try to block you from seeing your kids. I’m going to explain what that means for you.
What You Need to Know
The most important thing you need to understand is this: child custody and child support are two completely unrelated issues.
Child custody only involves how much time and decision-making power you have with your kids. Child support is the money you pay to help your kids. When parents are behind on child support payments, their ex-partner often tries to cut back on time spent with the kids in retaliation.
Your kids are not bargaining tools. If your ex tries to prevent you from being with your kids, they could get into some big legal trouble. We’ll explain this in a minute.
Know that you could still face consequences for not being caught up on child support payments.
What Happens if Your Ex Won’t Let You See Your Kids?
As much as it may suck, communication is essential. Try to talk to them about coming to some kind of agreement, but be civil about it. Keep track of each time y’all communicate with each other; jot down the date/time and any refusal to work it out. This will help if --or when-- you need to take this issue to court.
Violating visitation orders means that your ex is in contempt of court. As a result, your ex will face one or all of the following consequences:
Court order to reimburse you for your attorney fees
Forced to let you make up for all the lost visitation time they blocked you from
Possibly jail time in the most extreme cases
What YOU Can Do When Your Ex Withholds Visitation
When your ex is being uncooperative with your time with your kids, the first step is to reach out to our team right away. Some of our practice areas are divorces and child custody.
We’ll help you enforce your custody order in court. If it comes down to it, we will literally call the police on your ex to enforce the order. Just call our line and we will get your time back with your kids.
What Could Happen if You Don’t Pay Child Support?
Times are hard right now financially. And child support payments are a huge expense. But failing to pay could mean you’re in contempt of court.
Under Tennessee code 29-9-103, being held in contempt of court means you could get fined up to $50 a day or face 10 days in jail. Depending on how long you go without making payments, you could get hit with criminal charges, too.
What To Do You Can’t Pay Child Support
Again, communication is key. If you struggle to make payments, be open and honest about it with your ex. Tell them the issue, what’s causing it, and what you’re trying to do to pay what you can.
One thing you can try to do is check out local resources. The Tennessee Department of Human Services has some financial resources to help you get out of the mud.
Another thing to do is to check the Child Support Enforcement Agency. Contact your closest office about modifying your child support order. You
A personal step you can take is to look at your personal finances.
Why are you in a financial bind to begin with? What do you spend most of your money on? Are you saving some of the money you earn? Reflect on these questions, and you could find some areas in your life where you can do better with your money.
Have the Right Attorney on Your Side
Dealing with family issues like this sucks. Having to navigate them through the legal system is even more of a headache.
But with the right attorney representing you, you’ll get as much time with your kids as possible. And your ex won’t get away with blocking your rightful time with your kids.
