Question:
What are the consequences if I fail to pay the full amount of child support this month?
I am required to pay the full child support balance on the 1st of each month. However, this coming month I will not be able to pay the full amount until I receive another paycheck on the 15th.
We are not going through any institution or child support agency to make payments as we agreed in the divorce decree that I would pay cash directly to my ex-wife.
What are the ramifications if I am a couple weeks late in paying that month’s ordered child support amount?
Answer:
This answer only includes general divorce help for men since I am only licensed to practice in Oklahoma and am thus unable to provide any legal advice on divorce on the child support laws in other states.
You are required to make a child support payment on the 1st of each month. However, this coming month you will be unable to make the full payment until the 15th, which will make the payment late.
If there is a court order that requires you to make the full payment on the 1st of the month, I would do everything in your power to make the payment. If you simply cannot make the full payment until the 15th, I suggest that you speak with the opposing party and request that she agree to give you until the 15th in order to pay the full amount.
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If she refuses to give you the additional time, you may need to file a motion with the court to protect yourself from a Application for Indirect Contempt of Court. Such an application could be filed if you are not following the court’s order; however, to be in contempt of the court your actions must be contemptuous. In other words, you must be willfully violating the court order.
While I would recommend that you make your child support payment timely, if you have paid the full amount by the 15th and you requested additional time from the opposing party and she declined, there is a chance the court will not find you in contempt.
If you believe that this may be an issue in the future, you may want to file a Motion to Modify the decree and request that the decree be modified to allow you to make half the child support payment on the 1st of each month and the other half of the payment on the 15th.
Please understand that my opinions are based upon the limited facts that you provided to me. For financial advice on divorce, I urge you to contact a family law attorney.
To set up an appointment with a Cordell & Cordell mens divorce attorney, including Brock Ellis, an Associate Attorney in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, office, please contact Cordell & Cordell.
