UK Child Support

[Adriene H 89]

Alrighty ... another scenario

My husband (UK Citizen)

His daughter (US born citizen)

My husband just received a court summons this morning

because he still owes £17,175 in child support for his

daughter who was born in California.

He hasn't been able to make payments for about a year because

he hasn't been able to find work.

Will this impact him immigrating back to the US?

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

Not at this point, but if he is convicted of something, it might (for example, sometimes the passports of US citizens are taken away until they start paying the child support).

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

It depends on the outcome of the court summons. Is this a court summons from a UK court or a US court?

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

If the summons is from a US court and he doesn't appear it will go as a failure to appear. That could show up on his US records. Also when he does find work in the US they should attach his wages to pay for the back support. It may be best to contact the court and explain that he is unemployed and make some sort of minimum payment plan. Making the call will kept the failure to appear not show hopefully.

[Adriene H 89]

It depends on the outcome of the court summons.

Is this a court summons from a UK court or a US court?

From his local UK court. He's been living in England for the past 15

years. He just has been appearing every few months to explain that he

is still unemployed and they say Okay and send him on his way

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

From his local UK court. He's been living in England for the past 15

years. He just has been appearing every few months to explain that he

is still unemployed and they say Okay and send him on his way

Okay, I don''t know how UK courts document un-paid childsupport, so I can't respond futhur. Since you and he are married, this seems to be a family issue that you'll will need to resolve together. Good luck.

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

Assuming the daughter also lives in the UK, ie the US courts are not involved, I don't *think* it will affect his visa, unless they convict him somehow of fraud for not paying.

[Boiler 46,075]

My guess is that the problem will really arise if there is a judgement in the US Courts, they will suspend your drivers license certainly for USC's no passport and hunting license.

[Adriene H 89]

Assuming the daughter also lives in the UK, ie the US courts are

not involved, I don't *think* it will affect his visa, unless they

convict him somehow of fraud for not paying.

The daughter was born in California and has always lived in

California with her mother. My husband hasn't seen her since

she was 2 years old (1996-1997).

Up until last year, he was paying support.

Then he became unemployed. He's been appearing at court every

few months to explain the situation though and they seem fine

with his explanation.

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

The daughter was born in California and has always lived in

California with her mother. My husband hasn't seen her since

she was 2 years old (1996-1997).

Up until last year, he was paying support.

Then he became unemployed. He's been appearing at court every

few months to explain the situation though and they seem fine

with his explanation.

You are aware that when he returns back to the US, the child's mother has every right to have the child support court order to be put back into the US courts, and the result can/will be different then what the UK courts have been applying to the case of non-payment.

BTW is this the same cases where you are trying to have the visa application expedited based on the letter from the child. If so, the back child support problems doesn't just go away beacuse the child turns 18, keep that in mind.

Edited November 22, 2011 by LIFE'SJOURNEY

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

As long as the UK courts haven't suspended his passport or brought criminal charges against him it shouldn't be an issue.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

A law was proposed in the UK in 2009 that would give civil servants the authority to revoke passports and drivers licenses from non-paying parents. Prior to that, only a court could order a passport revoked. I don't know if the proposed law ever took effect. It's something the OP should probably look into. If his passport is revoked then it won't matter if he gets a visa. He won't be able to leave the country.

Life's Journey makes an excellent point. Child support enforcement laws in the US are draconian, and seem engineered to ensure that the non-paying parent eventually ends up in jail. In California, for example, they'll order the non-paying parent to pay the regular support payments plus a portion of the arrears every month, and then they'll revoke their professional licenses until they've paid up. If the non-paying parent has a job that requires a professional license, such as a construction contractor, then they're essentially denying them the ability to earn any money while simultaneously ordering them to come up with the money.

Another thing they've done in California and some other states is allowed local district attorneys to use the enforcement power of the state's Franchise Tax Board to make collections. The FTB has collection authority comparable to the IRS. They can seize your wages and property and there's very little you can do to stop them. What's worse, there's an appeals process you can take with the FTB if you owe back taxes, but no appeals process if they're collecting child support arrears. The FTB will tell you to talk to the district attorney's office, and the DA's office will tell you to talk to the FTB. The only way out of this endless circle is to to sue the DA's office.

There's also URESA - The Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act. This law allows a support enforcement agency in one state to refer a case to a support enforcement agency in another state for collection. This was intended to prevent a parent from moving to another state to avoid payment. However, the state that receives the case will often apply their own rules. For example, they might determine that the amount of support that was ordered by the other state was insufficient, so they issue a new order with a new support amount. They can even tack on a collection fee and assess interest, even if the referring state isn't charging these additional fees. URESA has become a lucrative source of revenue for some counties.

Just to restate what I said in the second paragraph above - if you get a support order in the US and you don't pay, and then don't keep up with the ordered arrears payments, then you WILL go to jail. They don't care if you don't have a job. The jail time is also only punishment for the non-payment. It doesn't reduce the debt. You'll come out of jail probably owing more than you did when you went in.

The OP should be aware that her husband may be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire by coming to the US with a child support arrearage. I hope she's prepared to deal with this.

[Adriene H 89]

You are aware that when he returns back to the US, the child's mother has every right to have the child support court order to be put back into the US courts, and the result can/will be different then what the UK courts have been applying to the case of non-payment.

BTW is this the same cases where you are trying to have the visa application expedited based on the letter from the child. If so, the back child support problems doesn't just go away beacuse the child turns 18, keep that in mind.

My husband is going to ask the mother if she can write a letter saying she no

longer needs the support and hope that the courts will forgive some (or all)

of the outstanding balance.

All the daughter wants is to see her father. Since she was so young when he moved back to

England, she only knows him from Facebook and a few phone calls over the years.

[JohnandWendyB 21]

Could he get a lawyer over there? I am under the possibly faulty impression that if you are unemployed you can get one for free?

[JoannaV 174]

All I can say is it would seem a little silly if the court did decide to confiscate his passport, seeing as how the only place he's planning on going to is the actual country in which he owes the money. So hopefully they're not that silly. Good luck :-)