Enforcing alimony and child support obligations in Monmouth and Ocean Counties

Oct. 24, 2011 - PRLog -- You've tried reasoning with the other party and maybe you have even tried shouting, yelling, emails, or repeated text messages to no avail.  All you want to know is, when am I going to get my alimony and child support payments?  Why doesn’t the other party ever pay on time?  Why doesn’t he or she pay in full?  But the $1,000,000 dollar question is what can you do about it without spending a lot of time, money and aggravation yet still be assertive and aggressive in your approach?  While you may have thought your divorce was one of the worst things to every happen to you, post-judgment issues that arise after the divorce can be just as painful and upsetting.

This article will provide you with a cursory look at the process of enforcing child support and/or alimony in Monmouth and Ocean Counties.  This article is not intended to offer legal advice and there is no substitute for consulting with a family law attorney who can help steer you in the right direction.

In today’s economy here in NJ, people find themselves laid off, taking an involuntary reduction in income, or the jobs that were once available are being given to younger people who will work for less money. This offers little comfort to a payee (the person who receives and relies on child support and/or alimony) to meet their monthly budget.  It leaves one wondering if it the obligor (the person who is obligated to pay child support and/or alimony) is purposefully trying to take advantage of a depressed economy by dodging their responsibility to pay support.  If the payor is truly experiencing a change in circumstances and they no longer have the ability to pay, it is the payor’s responsibility to file a motion with the Court, not your burden to put up with non-payment from your ex.

Having Your Support Payments Made Through Probation

Are your alimony and/or child support payments paid to you through Probation?  If not, and you receive payments from the obligor via direct pay, you may want to consider having your attorney file a motion to have your support payments paid through Probation via wage garnishment and here is why:

You get the benefit of support payments direct deposited into your bank account every time that a payment is collected from the obligor;

You can have the obligor’s wages garnished (a/k/a income withholding) by their employer (which means support will be deducted from the obligor’s paycheck and sent directly to Probation);

You get the benefit of COLAs (“Cost of Living Adjustments”) which are automatically done by Probation every two years (the parties will receive a notice from Probation and have an opportunity to contest it);

You can track how much is owed and how much is paid simply by logging onto Probation’s website;

More importantly you get the advantage of enforcement through Probation.  The ramifications of not paying child support in New Jersey are very serious and include driver’s license suspension or revocation or a bench warrant.

There is a definite downside to direct pay in that the recipient of support payments needs to keep accurate and complete records, including documented proof in the form of canceled checks or receipts showing how much was received and when.  Imagine the parade of horribles when you walk into a New Jersey Court and the Judge asks how you arrived at the amount of support arrears that you believe your ex owes you.  Your motion could be denied if your documentation is not accurate and complete.

Accepting support payments outside of the Probation system also creates a problem since there is no way for Probation to know that you accepted a payment directly from the obligor.  Therefore, the Probation account will have charged and the amount owed by the obligor will still be showing on their system as arrears.  Either you or the obligor can file a motion with the Court asking for a direct payment credit or Probation can give you a form to fill out to credit the obligor.  However, if you continue to accept direct payments Probation could ask the Court to make your case a direct pay and close your account.

Filing a Motion with the Court to Enforce Litigant’s Rights

When all else fails and enforcement through Probation is not working, you may want to consider consulting with a family law attorney to file a motion in the Family Part.  You may be thinking that this is something you can take care of yourself by filling out motion papers however, I ask you to consider the following that in the long run will save you time and money:

Your attorney may want to include other requests for relief in the motion simultaneously with your motion to enforce child support and/or alimony, i.e. a higher arrears weekly payback amount, a two-missed payment bench warrant stipulation, and even something unrelated to enforcement of support that has come up in your case post-judgment. In the long run, you will save money this way rather than having to file for the other relief separately.

Motions filed by an attorney are generally viewed as being more credible versus when a litigant files pro se (without legal representation).  Most family law attorneys in Monmouth and Ocean Counties regularly appear in these Courts and know the appropriate terminology and format to use when seeking relief.  That being said, the more precise and exacting your requests for relief are, the more

The other party may respond to your motion for enforcement by claiming a change in circumstances and seeking to lower their support payments

When making such an application, the obligor has a burden to prove as set forth in case law.  This is known as making a prima facie case of changed circumstances.  This is a much more difficult analysis and if you do not know the appropriate way to analyze their response in order to defend this type of a response, you will have wanted to have the advice of a family law attorney.  At the Law Offices of Sylvia S. Costantino, we are here to protect your interests every step of the way.

Seeking a Bench Warrant for the Obligor’s Arrest

If only I had a dime for every time that a client called and demanded that I file a motion for a bench warrant to have their ex arrested for non-payment of alimony and/or child support.  It is important to note that a bench warrant that results in the obligor’s arrest is not to “punish” the payor which is often what the person who is not getting support payments wants.  A bench warrant that issues for non-payment of support is to coerce the obligor to come before the court and be compliant with the support order or to show why they are incapable of meeting their obligation (Enforcement of Litigant’s Rights Hearings).

Agreeing to a Temporary Reduction of Support

You might say “no way” right out of the gate when the issue of a temporary reduction in support is raised by your ex, but even if you are considering accepting a lower payment thinking that something is better than nothing, before you act I urge you to Stop! and consider the following:

What you may believe will be “temporary in nature” as promised by the payor when you enter into the agreement, may in fact become a precedent going forward and could become the basis for a Court Order.

Whether you sign an agreement or not, your oral agreement with your ex can be enforced in Court.

You may be agreeing to too much of a reduction.

Reducing Support Arrears to a Judgment

When you file a motion to enforce litigant’s rights, the Court will usually “set” or “fix” arrears but not reduce them to a judgment unless a request is made.  That judgment should be filed with the Court Clerk by requesting that it be entered on the Civil Judgment and Docket.

The Law Offices of Sylvia S. Costantino, Esq., LLC, online at http://NJFamilyLawDivorce.com, are here to help you with the enforcement of your child support and alimony obligations.

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Law Offices of Sylvia S. Costantino, Esq., LLC
100 Commons Way, Suite 240
Holmdel, NJ 07733
Main: 732 615 9100
Fax: 732 615 9102
http://njfamilylawdivorce.com
ssc@njfamilylawdivorce.com

NJ law firm providing representation in all aspects of family law, including divorce, custody matters, parenting time, alimony, child support, domestic violence, and prenuptial agreements.