There are two primary ways to
enforce child
support in Texas:
1. by hiring an Austin family law attorney or
2. by using the
Texas Attorney General’s office.
USING THE TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE
The Texas Attorney General’s
Office (TXOAG) has a Child Support Division devoted to setting and enforcing
child support. If you haven’t been
receiving court-ordered child support payments, you can contact the child
support division to help you enforce the obligation.
The primary advantage to using
the TXOAG is that their services are free, however, there are some potential
disadvantages that you should be aware of:
- If the TXOAG sues to enforce child support, they
represent the child, not the parent.
This means that it is not their job to give you legal advice or
represent your interests, which can be especially problematic if the opposing
party has hired an attorney to defend against the suit or is trying to reduce
their child support obligation.
- The TXOAG has a very heavy caseload, meaning that
the enforcement process usually takes much longer than it would if a private
attorney was involved.
WORKING WITH AN AUSTIN DIVORCE LAWYER
- A private attorney can sue to enforce child
support on your behalf, and can generally operate on a much shorter timetable
than the TXOAG.
- A private attorney also represents your interests and can advise you on any
additional legal action that should be made part of the enforcement
action.
WHICH METHOD IS BEST FOR YOU?
Deciding whether to use the TXOAG
or a private attorney can be difficult.
Whenever I meet with a client to discuss enforcing a child support
obligation, I help them weigh the pros and cons of both. This decision can be affected by
- how far behind on support the other parent is;
- whether or not the other parent is working;
- whether or not the other parent has the money to
repay what they owe;
- how urgent it is for the parent to recover the
past due child support
If a client risks spending more
in legal fees than the amount of support they are likely recover, I usually
advise them to work with the TXOAG.
However, if the child support arrearage is large enough to make the
legal fees worthwhile and there’s a good chance of recovering attorney’s fees
as well, using a private attorney can be a more efficient approach.
