Failing to pay child support is a crime that can carry rather serious consequences.
Recently a 55-year-old doctor was even arrested at a New York airport for failing to pay court-ordered child support. According to sources he hadn’t been paying for more than 10 years, and owes more than $420,000.
Sources also claim that the doctor had attempted to skirt his child support obligations by leaving the country, however, he was caught attempting to illegal enter Oman, and was then deported back to the U.S., where he was arrested for unpaid child support.
At this point the doctor is being held in a New York jail and is waiting to be extradited back to his home state. If he is convicted of felony criminal nonsupport, he could face jail time and up to a $10,000 fine.
While this story took place in New York after a man tried to leave his home state of Texas, it does show how seriously the law is taken when it comes to unpaid child support, and how departments across state lines will work together to find a parent who owes. Because of this, it is critical that a parent understands how much he or she is required to pay — and just exactly where that set amount of money came from.
In Missouri, child support guidelines factor in how much a parent makes, and also things like daycare and medical costs. By using a formula based on income and expenses, a judge is then able to set a court-ordered child support amount for a noncustodial parent to make.
And while this amount is normally determined as part of a divorce or paternity preceding, a re-calculation can also be used for child support modifications, or to help enforce a current order that a parent is not paying.
Source: ‘Most Wanted’ Texas child support evader arrested at NYC airport,” 24 Jan 2011
