In a recent blog post, our law office discussed how back child support can interfere with travel plans and leave one unable to obtain a passport. However, it is vital to point out that there are many other ways in which a non-custodial parent struggling with delinquent child support payments could be adversely affected. For example, they may have their tax refund intercepted. If you are unable to make child support payments due to financial problems and owe a certain amount of back child support, you may face additional financial complications when the tax refund you were expecting is intercepted.
Tax refund interception can be problematic for many reasons, whether someone was planning on using their refund to pay off debt that they owe, buy a new vehicle because their current car is on its last legs, or take care of some other responsibility. This is yet another reason why parents who owe child support should try to stay current on their obligations or get caught up promptly if they have fallen behind. Moreover, it may be helpful to look at this issue from a preventative standpoint. For example, if you anticipate that you will experience financial problems in the months ahead due to your hours being cut at work or some other significant financial change, modifying your child support order may be the way to go.
Our law office has even more information on this topic on our child support page, from calculating payments to modifying a child support order.