Yes, The Family Law Court Can Take Away Your Driver’s License If You Don’t Pay Your Court-Ordered Child Support
Pop psychologists make much of the four horsemen of the communication breakdown, namely criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling, but there is also another bad habit that can drive spouses apart. Specifically, when your spouse tells you that you must do something in order to save your marriage, but then places all kinds of obstacles that make it impossible to fulfill the conditions of your ultimatum, you know your marriage is doomed. Getting a divorce from someone like that can be a relief, at least until the family law court starts acting in a similar manner. The court orders you to pay child support, but money is tight for everyone, so any minor financial mishap can lead to you falling behind on your child support payments. When this happens, the court responds with threats and then follows through with them. Many of the punishments the court imposes for nonpayment of child support make it harder to earn the money you need to pay your child support debts. If your efforts to pay your court-ordered child support have turned into a Kafkaesque nightmare, contact a Boca Raton child support lawyer.
Florida Law Has a Big Driver’s License Suspension Problem
When a parent falls behind on his or her court-ordered child support obligations, the court has an array of options for punishment, from wage garnishment to driver’s license suspension, to jail. Your outrage if the court suspends your driver’s license because you are behind on child support payments is understandable. Unless you are already rich, the only way to get money is to work, and in Florida, the only way to get to work is by driving. Driver’s license suspension as a punishment for unpaid child support is not in the best interests of the children who are the beneficiaries of the child support.
Unfortunately, nonpayment of child support is only one of the reasons that Florida can unfairly suspend people’s driver’s licenses. Florida also routinely suspends driver’s licenses for nonpayment of other debts to the court, such as criminal fines; it is even a routine part of drug possession sentences. Driver’s license suspension as a punishment for misconduct unrelated to driving is clearly unfair, especially since, in practice, it is often a case of the courts punishing people for being poor.
Be Proactive If You Cannot Afford Your Child Support Payments
In a twist ending to this Kafkaesque dystopia, there is a way out of being unable to meet your child support obligations. If you can’t pay your court-ordered child support, you can and should go to court to modify the child support order. In many cases, the court will modify the child support order retroactively.
Contact Schwartz | White About Modifying Your Child Support Order
A South Florida family law attorney can help you if your child support obligations are excessive, and your ex-spouse’s motion to enforce the child support order is only making it harder for you to pay. Contact Schwartz | White in Boca Raton, Florida about your case.
Source:
vera.org/news/drivers-license-suspensions-for-unpaid-debt
