When you initially got your divorce, your ex was ordered to pay child support. They begrudgingly did so for the first few years of the arrangement, but now they’ve started missing payments or maybe they refuse to make those child support payments entirely.
You still need the child support money to pay for necessary costs like housing, transportation, food, clothing and much more. To force your ex to start making the payments again, you’re considering withholding visitation or refusing to make custody exchanges. You think telling them they can’t see their child until they get current on their payments will encourage them to stick to the payment schedule in the future. Is this something you should consider?
You cannot deny custody exchanges
No, this is not something you should ever do, as you could be found in contempt of court for violating the court order. In some cases, this may even mean that the court removes your custody rights. As long as your ex has a child custody order stating they deserve time with the child, you must honor that order.
This doesn’t mean your ex can simply stop paying child support. They are also violating a court order, so you can work with the court to enforce that order. There are legal tools the court may be able to use. For example, they could issue another order garnishing your ex’s wages so that you receive the child support payments directly from their employer.
In other words, it’s very important to know exactly what legal options you have so that you don’t accidentally violate a standing order. Carefully consider the steps you can take at this time.