Child support is determined, collected and enforced by a set of guidelines unique to each of the 50 states, according to "The Complete Divorce Handbook: A Practical Guide" by Brette McWhorter Sember. State laws permit a variety of procedures to collect and enforce a child support obligation, including wage garnishment.
History
Prior to the late 1980s, wage garnishment was not used to collect a current child support obligation, according to "Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce" by Emily Doskow. Rather, wage garnishment was a tool to collect past-due child support only. Beginning in the 1980s, states across the country gradually began to use wage garnishment or withholding as one means of collecting a current child support obligation.
Function
The function of wage garnishment is to better ensure compliance with a court's child support order. At the same time a judge establishes a child support obligation, she issues a companion wage withholding or garnishment order, according to the American Bar Association Section of Family Law. A copy of the wage withholding order is sent to the employer of the parent with a child support obligation.
Time Frame
A child support wage garnishment order remains in effect until a parent no longer has a child support obligation, current or past due. Unlike other types of wage garnishments that remain in force for a specified period of time--90 days, for example--a child support wage garnishment is indefinite, in effect until a further order of the court.
Benefits
The benefits of wage garnishment for a child support obligation include ensuring that consistent financial support for a minor is maintained. Additionally, the parent with the obligation does not have to worry about setting aside money for child support or remembering to make payments.
Warning
If a parent required to pay child support loses his job, and therefore wage withholding stops, the parent remains obligated to make the court-ordered child support payment. Only a new order of the court relieves a parent of his child support obligation, even after losing a job.
References
- "The Complete Divorce Handbook: A Practical Guide"; Brette McWhorter Sember; 2009
- "Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce"; Emily Doskow; 2008
- American Bar Association: Section of Family Law
