A person seeking child support in Pennsylvania must file a Support Complaint with the family court in the county where they reside in order to establish a right to collect child support payments through a court order. No legal obligation on the other parent exists until the complaint is filed with the family court. Similarly, if a reason exists to modify a child support order such as an increase or decrease in income of either parent or the child reaching age eighteen, the parent must file a request for a hearing to determine if modification of the PA support order is appropriate. Until a petition for modification is filed with the family court and a new court order is entered, the parent paying support is required to continue making payments as outlined in the existing support court order.
If the parent who is required to pay child support has failed to comply with the order of court, the non-support case will be heard by a judge and that parent may be held in contempt. A parent must be found to have the present ability to pay and refused to do so prior to being found in contempt for non-payment of child support. After being found in contempt, there are numerous enforcement remedies available to secure payment of past due child support (also called support arrearages). These enforcement remedies include, among others, incarceration of the non-paying parent, suspension of driver’s licenses, revocation of any other state-issued licenses including professional licenses, liens placed against bank accounts, withholding of federal or state tax refunds and imposition of attorney fees.
There have been a number of Pennsylvania appellate cases involving the failure of a parent or spouse to report changes (generally increases) in income as the changes have occurred. The law clearly indicates that there is a duty to report an increase in income and if either party to a support action fails to report the change in income, there can be a retroactive modification of the PA support order to the date the change initially happened and an adjustment of the support order back to that date. The retroactive modification of support and recalculation of the support order generally results in significant arrearages (underpayment of support) and triggers aggressive enforcement actions.
If you have an existing child support case and need to inquire whether payment has been made or received, you can contact the Pennsylvania Domestic Relations Office in the county where the child support order was entered by the court or telephone the Pennsylvania State Collection and Disbursement Unit (PA SCDU) at 1-877-676-9580.
Our Main Line child support lawyers have represented hundreds of parents seeking to obtain a fair child support order. Call our Main Line child support attorneys to learn how we can help you with your PA child support modification or contempt issue.
Our Main Line family law and divorce lawyers can be contacted via email, or please call us at our offices at 215-283-5080.
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