Southern California Family Law Attorney Blog

When two people make the decision to have a child, they also assume financial responsibility for that child, and are responsible for taking care of the child until they reach a certain age. If those two people divorce before the child is able to care for him or herself financially, an amount for child support may be determined by the court in order to guarantee that the parent who has custody of the child has the necessary means to properly care for them. Once this amount is set, the non-custodial parent is then legally responsible to make those payments to the custodial parent.

After relocating several times, both inside and outside of the country, to avoid making child support payments, the law finally caught up with a father who owed more than $1 million in back child support to the mother of his two children. Deadbeat parents who skip out on child support are now easily identified on a federal website created to help the law enforcement officials track them down and obtain the money owed for the care of their children.

This particular father will spend time in jail for skipping out on his child support payments after pleading guilty to charges brought against him.

If a custodial parent is not receiving the money they have been awarded under the law to care for their children, it may be difficult to make ends meet, and pay for food and medical care for the children. Any parent who is hoping for custody of their children after a divorce may benefit from retaining an attorney to guarantee they get a sufficient amount from their former spouse to care for their children.

Source: The Examiner, "Most wanted deadbeat dad gets prison for evading $1 million in child support," Michal Conger, May 23, 2013