Interstate Child Support Enforcement

by Heather from Gulfport, Mississippi

Interstate Child Support Enforcement:
My ex-husband lives in Florida and I live in Mississippi. I'm going through DHS to receive child support payments.

He hasn't paid since March of this year and I've heard that his license could be suspended or he could even serve jail time for not paying.

Nothing is being done & I was wondering since he lives in Florida is there anything that the state of Florida could do to him to get him to start paying?

Answer to Florida Court Forms Child Support Question

Dear Heather,

The Florida Department of Revenue is the entity that is designated to collect child support in Florida. Go through their counterpart in Mississippi (DHS?) and request a long arm enforcement action under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA).

If you know where he lives provide that to child support enforcement services. If you know where he works, also provide that to child support enforcement services, and request that an Income Deduction Order (IDO) be put in place.

In theory, the IDO will follow him from job to job and he will be garnished at each place he works. There are administrative sanctions that child support enforcement can put in place to try and enforce child support.

In Florida, driver's license suspension and incarceration for contempt of court are possible. Child support enforcement usually exhausts administrative sanctions, before putting someone in jail.

Other administrative sanctions available to Florida child support enforcement are:

• Notify the parents when they miss payments
  
  
• Suspend Florida driver licenses
  
  
• Take IRS tax refunds
  
  
• Take tax refunds to pay past due support
  
  
  
  
• Take Florida Lottery winnings if over $600
  
  
• Take support payments from unemployment and worker's compensation
  
  
• Tell employers to take payments from paychecks
  
  
• Place liens on the parent's car, boat, or other property
  
  
• Report past due support to credit agencies
  
  
• Place a hold and take money from bank accounts
  
  
• Take the case to court because the parent did not do what the order says.

You can find more information about Florida child support enforcement on the Florida Department of Revenue's website, http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/childsupport/enforcement.html

Notice: We provide these answers to the general public and our website visitors as a means to further their online legal research. These answers are merely suggestions and should not be regarded as legal advice.

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Our Self Help Guide, Modifying Child Support in Florida, helps you navigate the court process and procedures once you file your documents with easy to follow checklists, links to websites, important addresses & phone numbers, and much more. Modifying Child Support In Florida

See These Related Florida Child Support Pages

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Go to Florida Child Support

Go to Florida Child Support FAQs

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Go to Modifying Child Support Documents Preparation Service

Back to Florida Child Support Jurisdiction Questions

Back to Florida Court Forms from Interstate Child Support Enforcement

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