Child support arrears forgiveness in Massachusetts is possible only through a few narrow channels, because every past-due installment becomes a court judgment the moment it comes due. You cannot get old arrears wiped out by agreement alone, by hardship, or by filing bankruptcy. What you can sometimes do is get a court to credit you for a period when the child actually lived with you, get a judge to approve a reduction going forward from the date you filed a modification, or negotiate a compromise with the Department of Revenue on arrears owed to the Commonwealth.
Why Past-Due Support Is Treated as a Judgment
Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 119A, Section 13 is the reason arrears are so hard to touch. Each installment becomes a judgment by operation of law on its due date and carries the full weight of any other court judgment. A judge cannot reach back and modify amounts that already accrued.
There is one timing exception, and it is narrow. A court may adjust support for the period during which a complaint for modification is pending, but only starting from the date the other party received notice of that complaint. Everything that piled up before then is fixed.
The practical consequence: informal deals with the other parent do not stop the clock. Losing a job, illness, an incarceration, a period when the child moved in with you — none of it freezes arrears unless you file a modification and serve it. Waiting is the single most expensive mistake in these cases.
The Equitable Credit for Time the Child Lived With You
The Massachusetts Appeals Court recognized one judicial route to reducing accrued arrears in Rosen v. Rosen, and it called the exception “extremely narrow.” A paying parent who directly supported the child during an extended period of physical custody that the original order did not anticipate may receive an equitable credit against arrears.
To qualify, you have to show all six of these:
- The custodial parent agreed to transfer the child to your care for an extended period not contemplated in the original custody order.
- The custodial parent agreed to accept your direct support of the child in place of the regular payments.
- The transfer was not the product of duress, coercion, or undue influence against the other parent or the child.
- You provided adequate support and maintenance while the child lived primarily with you.
- The custodial parent was relieved of the financial burden of supporting the child during that time.
- Granting the credit would not cause injustice or undue hardship to the other parent.
Missing any one element defeats the claim. Simply falling behind while the child spent extra weekends at your place does not qualify. The credit is built for situations where the child essentially moved in with you, with the other parent’s consent, and you carried the costs directly.
Arrears Owed to the Other Parent
When the money is owed to the other parent, the two of you can agree to reduce or restructure the debt, but the agreement has no legal effect until a judge approves it. The underlying obligation is already a judgment, and only the court can change a judgment. A judge will look at whether the arrangement serves the child’s interests before signing off.
Even with both parents on the same page, Section 13 still binds the court. The judge can only modify amounts from the date the modification complaint was filed and served. If $20,000 built up over three years and you filed last month, the pre-filing accumulation is off the table regardless of what you and the other parent have worked out about it.
Arrears Owed to the Commonwealth
When the custodial parent has received public assistance such as Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the right to collect support during that benefit period is assigned to the state. Arrears from that period are owed to the Commonwealth, not to the other parent, and they follow a different track.
Massachusetts charges 12 percent annual interest on delinquent child support plus an additional 6 percent penalty. The DOR runs a debt compromise program for arrears owed to the state. As a matter of state policy, the amount typically settled through this program has equaled the interest and penalty portion of the debt — meaning the original support principal generally still has to be paid, but the accumulated interest and penalties may be waived or reduced.
This is a different program from the DOR’s tax Offer in Compromise. The tax OIC forms (M-656 and M-433-OIC) apply only to tax liabilities and do not work for child support debt. For arrears, contact DOR Child Support Services directly.
You can reach that office at 800-332-2733, or 617-660-1234 if you’re calling from Boston, Charlestown, Chelsea, East Boston, Everett, or Revere. Email is cssgen@dor.state.ma.us. Have your income, assets, and monthly expenses ready before you call, because DOR reviews ability to pay when deciding what to offer. Some parents qualify for an interest waiver even when the underlying arrears figure will not move.
Filing a Complaint for Modification
Whether you’re pursuing an equitable credit, a negotiated reduction, or an adjustment going forward, most paths run through a Complaint for Modification filed in the Probate and Family Court that issued the original order. The filing fee is $50, waived when DOR files on your behalf. You’ll also file a Financial Statement — the short form (CJD-301S) if your annual income is under $75,000, the long form if it’s above.
Pull these together before you file:
- Recent pay stubs, federal and state tax returns, and records of any unemployment, disability, or other benefits.
- Bank statements and a detailed accounting of what you own and what you owe.
- The docket number from your case and the full names of both parties on the original order.
The court will schedule a hearing after you file. If the other parent is not joining in the request, you must serve them with the complaint. If DOR is already providing enforcement services on your case, it can help you request the modification.
What Bankruptcy and Taxes Do Not Change
Bankruptcy will not discharge child support arrears. Federal law lists domestic support obligations as debts that survive bankruptcy under every chapter — 7, 11, 12, and 13. Filing may pause collection during the automatic stay, but once the stay lifts the full debt is enforceable again.
On the tax side, child support sits in its own category: the recipient does not report it as income, and the payer cannot deduct it. Because of that treatment, a reduction of arrears through a court modification or a DOR compromise should not create taxable cancellation-of-debt income. Confirm the specifics with a tax professional if a significant reduction lands in your lap, but the general rule works in the paying parent’s favor.
Why Delay Is the Enemy
Because Section 13 blocks retroactive relief, every month you wait to file is a month of arrears that no judge can later touch. Meanwhile, the DOR’s enforcement tools continue to run: income withholding, license suspension under M.G.L. c. 119A, § 16, federal tax refund intercepts (triggered at $150 in arrears if the other parent gets TANF, $500 otherwise), passport denial once arrears exceed $2,500, liens, credit bureau reporting, and contempt proceedings that can lead to an arrest warrant when arrears reach six months of support. If you cannot pay what’s ordered, the useful move is to file — not to wait for the enforcement machinery to catch up.