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Can I Stop Paying Child Support if My Ex is Violating Our Custody Agreement?

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The short answer is no. If you are court-ordered to pay child support, you cannot stop making your payments without permission from the court. Child support is not payment to see your child, it is to financially support your child. If you stop paying, you can be found in contempt of court and could go to jail. If our ex is violating your court-approved parenting plan by denying you visitation, your have the right take legal action to enforce the custody agreement, but not to take matters into your own hands and simply stop making your child support payments. The reverse is also true. Your ex cannot deny you visitation for failing to make your payments. Visitation is for the child’s benefit. If your ex is violating your custody agreement, talk to an experienced child custody attorney right away.

Consequences if You Stop Paying Child Support

If you stop paying child support, the consequences can include:
Suspension of your driver’s license

Suspension of professional license

Wage garnishment

Seizure of property

Going to jail for being in contempt of court

If Your Child Lives with You

If you are paying child support because your child is supposed to spend most of their time with the other parent, but the child is actually living with you most of the time, you may feel like you would be well within your rights to stop paying or pay less. Again, you cannot simply choose to do so. You can petition the court for modification of the child support order.

If you need help enforcing your custody agreement, please search this directory for an experienced child custody attorney in your area.

Is Visitation, or Parenting Time, Interference a Crime?

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Visitation interference or interfering with parenting time occurs when a one parent refuses to let the other parent spend court-ordered time with their child. This can include failing to drop a child off for visitation, refusing to allow the other parent to pick the child up, making sure the child is not at home or at the designated meeting place, or cancelling visitation. In a few states it is a felony. Even in states that do not have a criminal statute specifically making visitation interference a crime, violation of a court order can result in jail time for contempt of court.

Visitation Interference

In some cases, there is a good explanation for a missed visit. For instance, if the other parent had car trouble on the way to drop off your child. If it is a routine occurrence, the first step is to talk to the other parent to determine what the problem is and if there is a solution that works for both of you. Sometimes a scheduling conflict with work or other obligations is at the heart of the matter and some simple adjustments can put an end to it as well as easing tensions.

When visitation interference is an intentional attempt to keep you from seeing your child, or if you cannot reach a solution, it is a more serious matter and you may have to go to court to resolve it. Parents who violate custody orders can face consequences such as:

  • Loss of custody
  • Fines
  • Jail time
  • Suspension of various licenses
  • Criminal conviction in some states

If your child is depriving you of your right to court-ordered visitation a child custody attorney can help. Please search this directory for an experienced child custody attorney in your area.