In Texas, if you do not have primary custody of your child, it is likely that you have been ordered to pay child support to help cover the costs of care and upbringing for your child.
You may have dutifully paid what you owed until an unexpected financial situation came up that made it impossible for you to meet your child support obligations. You should know, however, that one consequence of failure to pay child support is license suspension.
You can lose your license if you fail to pay child support
In Texas, if you do not pay what you owe in child support, the Office of the Attorney General can move the court to suspend your business license, occupational license, driver’s license or hunting license.
You may face license suspension if you are overdue in your child support payments for three months or more and you have been given the opportunity to pay what you owe but you failed to follow an agreed-upon repayment schedule.
How to address child support arrears
If you want to keep your license from being suspended, you must enter into an agreement under which you will pay a certain amount as a lump sum towards your child support arrears.
In addition, you must continue to pay what you currently owe under your child support order, as well as your arrears.
If you are having problems paying what you owe in child support, you may want to explore the possibility of modifying your child support order in a way that allows you to pay what you can towards the care of your child. Keep in mind, however, that a modification will not erase past-due amounts and you will need to comply with your current order in the meantime.
You may believe you have a good reason for failing to pay child support, but the fact remains that all children deserve the financial support of both parents, and you have an obligation to fulfill that need.
If you cannot meet your child support obligations, you can seek legal help to better understand how you can come current on what you owe and how you can avoid the consequences of nonpayment.