Getting What Is Rightfully Yours

Two Reasons To Avoid Informal Child Support Agreements

12 December 2018

Estelle Mathieu

In an effort to avoid the expense and hassle of going to court, many couples choose to negotiate child support agreements between themselves. While this can certainly make things easier in the short-term, here are two long-term consequences that can develop as a result.

May Not Be Enforceable

The biggest problem you're most likely to encounter with an informal child support order is it will not be enforceable for a few reasons. First, the amount you and the co-parent agree to may not be acceptable by the court. All states have a formula they use to calculate the minimum financial contribution the paying parent must make to the custodial parent to ensure the kids' needs are met. If the amount agreed upon between you and the co-parent is less than this minimum amount, the court will reject the arrangement and write an official order for the correct amount. It will up to the paying parent to convince the court to let him or her pay less, which may be challenging.

Second, the state can only act on official child support orders issued through the court system. If the paying parent pays less than agreed or stops sending money altogether, the state can't do anything to make him or her comply with your agreement until you obtain a support order from a judge. To enforce your informal agreement, you may have to file a personal injury lawsuit against the paying parent to collect the arrears, and even then, the civil court judge may refer you back to the family court to resolve the issue.

Misunderstandings Will Abound

Another reason you shouldn't put your trust into informal child support agreements is there are bound to be misunderstandings. For instance, the paying parent loses his or her job and asks to pay $100 per month in support instead of the normal $300 until he or she obtains another job. When the paying parent becomes gainfully employed again, an argument ensues because you expected the person to repay the $200 difference for the previous months while the paying parent assumed that amount was forgiven.

You can prevent a lot of misunderstandings by putting everything in writing and clearly communicating with each other about the financial issues that come up. Again, though, you may have difficult enforcing the informal contract or getting help from the state if things go awry and you're unable to come to a resolution between yourselves.

At the end of the day, it's better to let the court system handle your child support order, because you'll enjoy better protections if you start having problems getting the money you're owed. For help getting a support order or other child support issues, contact family law attorneys such as those at Crome Law Firm.

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