In a staggering report recently released, a large percentage of Texas parents who owe child support are having difficulties in paying it. About one million parents owe child support to their children. However, 46 percent of those owing child support were delinquent by at least a month or more on their payments in 2011. According to the report, over $11 billion is owed to their children.
The problem with these numbers, as single parents struggling to raise children already are fully aware of, is that this puts an enormous weight on those actually raising the children. Some single parents, in order to be able to keep up on the bills, have to work multiple jobs in order to make ends meet. Many of these custodial parents lament this loss of money, saying that it would have been much easier for the children to live comfortably if only these amounts were paid.
To combat these growing cases of those not paying child support, Texas authorities have been handing out tough consequences. They can have their wages, tax refunds and lottery winnings withheld as well as their professional licenses suspended if they do not pay child support. However, as many know, sometimes the reason why no child support payments are made is because the spouse who owes child support is struggling financially and simply doesn’t have enough money to meet the financial obligation.
For many people who are having difficulties in paying child support, it is understandable that they may be experiencing extreme financial difficulties in this uncertain economy. In these cases, it may be possible for parents owing child support to petition to modify their payments based upon a showing of a substantial change in their financial circumstances. In this way, they may be able to support their children in the best of their abilities without breaking the bank.
Source: Beaumont Enterprise, “‘Deadbeat’ Texas parents owe nearly $11 billion in child support,” Yang Wang, Oct. 1, 2012