Will the federal government enforce child support orders?
Question
I've heard about The Child Support Recovery Act and Deadbeat Parent Punishment Act. How can I have my case prosecuted under these laws?
Answer
It is a Federal crime to willfully fail to pay support for a child living in another state if support arrearages are over $5,000 or are unpaid for longer than one year. United States Attorneys prosecute these interstate cases in Federal court. The US Attorneys offices have limited staff and resources and a great deal of investigative work has to go into bringing cases to a successful conclusion. The US attorneys usually work with the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) agency to determine whether a particular case is suitable for prosecution. A major consideration in screening a case for possible Federal prosecution is whether all reasonably available civil and State criminal remedies have been pursued. Check with your child support office to see if prosecution under this Act would be available in your case. The final decision about whether to prosecute will be with the US Attorney's office, but the CSE agency should have a good sense of what kinds of cases US Attorneys are accepting. State CSE agency telephone numbers and addresses are at: English: http://ocse.acf.hhs.gov/int/directories/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.extivdlist Spanish http://ocse.acf.hhs.gov/int/directories/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.extEspanolIVDAll (Spanish)
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