|
Child support is most often an issue when you are divorced and have minor children (which means under age 18 in most states) from your former marriage. Depending on the terms of your divorce agreement, a court order may be in place requiring you to pay your ex-spouse a sum of money each month for a set amount of time. The court order may also require that you provide your kids with health insurance, help pay for their college educations, and so on.
If you have minor children from a non-married relationship, you can also owe child support if the other parent obtains a child support court order.
Assuming the child support court order was written (or modified) after December 31, 1993, and assuming you are employed, your child support payments are automatically deducted from your wages. However, if you and the other parent decided not to have the payments automatically deducted, if you are self-employed, or if you are unemployed, you are legally obligated to make your own child support payments regardless of the state of your finances.
 | Even if you're going through tough financial times, you have a moral (as well as a legal) obligation to help take care of your kids by paying your court-ordered child support each month. Making those payments should be among your top priorities. Your kids should not have to pay the price for your money problems, nor should their other parent have to sacrifice or work harder to make up for the child support you don't pay. |
|
