Family Law Attorneys Tallahassee
How can Florida Department of Revenue be involved in Child Support Enforcement?
A Title IV-D child support order is an order that allows payment from one spouse to another to be initially subsidized by the government. This type of support is ordered when one parent needs financial aid to care for a child and that financial aid cannot be provided by the other parent. The purpose of this is to ensure that a child’s well-being is not compromised by financial instability following a divorce. Our family law attorneys in Tallahassee often assist father or mothers in defending against Title IV-D actions to establish and enforce child support judgments.
The government provides this type of support in lieu of a parent that would be ordered to pay child support by allocating cash assistance to the parent that would otherwise be receiving child support. However, this assistance is designed to be temporary and the government eventually expects to be reimbursed fully by the parent that has his or her payments subsidized.
Title IV-D cases are authorized by Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, a federal law. Pursuant to Title IV-D, states are to work with each other to establish and enforce child support. Out of state child support orders If a child support orders can be enforced by the Florida Department of Revenue just like an Order from a Florida court. Of course a private family law attorney in Tallahassee or elsewhere in Florida can assist with enforcement of an out-of-state judgment in the same way.
In order to enforce the out-of-state child support order, the Department of Revenue will typically need to have a copy of the order or enough information to locate the order from the issuing court. Although you do not need to necessarily know the obligor’s whereabouts – Title IV-D requires the states to cooperate in locating absent parents – being able to provide a residential address where the obligor may be found can assist in securing support quickly.
Seeing as the government provides the cash assistance, enforcement for this type of child support is mandated by the Florida Department of Revenue. The FDOR is a government entity and therefore the methods of enforcing this child support extend beyond a Motion for Civil Contempt. In fact, the FDOR has an immense umbrella of power and can take actions that are considerably worse than that of the court.
If a parent refuses to reimburse the FDOR, the following actions will be taken:
* Late payment notices
* Income withholding
* Driver license suspension
* Driver license reinstatement
* Business, professional or recreational license suspension
* Appointment Notice
* Federal income tax refund intercept
* Florida lottery winnings as reimbursement
* Reemployment Benefits
* Worker’s compensation withholding
* Personal property liens
* Credit reporting
* Garnishment
* Circuit Court
* Passport Denial
* Collect Medical Expenses Not Covered by Insurance
If you are facing the risk of any of the above actions in a Title IV-D case, contact one of our Tallahassee family law attorneys for a consultation to discuss your case.