State Officials Provide Thousands of Child Support Obligors with Opportunity to Settle Arrears

New Jersey child support payors take notice: the State of New Jersey is providing a one week reprieve to settle child support arrears. Details from the N.J. Department of Human Services: For the week of  April 28-May 3, 2014, the New Jersey Child Support Program will be sponsoring a Child Support Amnesty Week. This Amnesty program is a  ONE TIME occurrence that will afford individuals who are past due in their child support payments the opportunity to speak with a Probation representative to:

• Make a payment
• Set up a reasonable payment plan and commit to it
• Discuss the potential discharge of an active child support warrant
• Discuss the potential of an order modification (change)

Do you owe past due child support? Do you have an active warrant? Let's talk! Come Into your local probation office between  April 28-May 3, 2014 to reach an agreement regarding your child support arrears and future payments. This is your  ONE opportunity to do the right thing without the fear of penalty or warrant execution. The amnesty subdomain page also features a search tool whereby obligors can find their county's probation office. It's been estimated that “400,000 New Jersey children depend on child support, and 58 percent of cases involve non-custodial parents.”

Remember: you always have options if you owe substantial support but you are having trouble making payments. Many of our DeMichele & DeMichele child support clients pay $100, $200 or even $500 per week in child support depending, of course, upon the circumstances of their individual cases, and when life happens, it's easy to see how unexpected unemployment can lead to a large child support arrears in a relatively short amount of time. It piles up quickly.

Moreover, it's not unsual for our clients to come to us owing thousands of dollars in back child support or alimony. Don't wait until your child support obligation results a substantial arrearage, license suspension, passport suspension or even in an arrest and incarceration. This is one problem that almost never improves over time on its own!

The key is to remain proactive. If you are unable to manage your current child support obligation due to unemployment or some other significant circumstances affecting your ability to pay such as a substantial, involuntary change in your income (e.g. a layoff or medical problems), then a motion could be filed on your behalf to reduce your obligation to a more manageable amount and establish an arrears payment so that you can begin to pay down what you already owe.

Either way, you may also want to consider seeking a different mode of remitting child support.

Our firm's New Jersey child support attorneys can also help you understand the ins and outs of child support law including but definitely not limited to the circumstances where the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines actually apply, how x-factors like daycare, public benefits ,  emancipation, arrears, cost of living increases, college, extracurricular activities, jail and unemployment/underemployment affect a child support obligation, how the calculation works when there are multiple children by more than one mother, child support determinations for “adult” children, potential tax implications and even the various ways by which a child support obligation is collected once it's been determined. Don't wait. These situations rarely improve on their own! And substantial unpaid support arrears can result in penalties ranging from higher wage garnishments to license suspension, passport denial or even arrest and incarceration pursuant to a bench warrant. If you have any questions regarding emancipation, child support, or family court matters generally in New Jersey, please  contact us online today  or call  (856) 546-1350  for a confidential consultation with one of our skilled family court lawyers.