Child support arrears are the unpaid, past-due amounts a parent owes under a court-ordered child support obligation. The debt is legally enforceable, does not disappear when the child turns 18, and cannot be reduced retroactively by any state court. If you owe arrears, you can expect wage garnishment, seized tax refunds, suspended licenses, passport denial, damaged credit, and in serious cases criminal prosecution. Bankruptcy will not wipe the debt out.
How Arrears Build Up
Arrears accrue any time you pay less than what the order requires. Missed payments, partial payments, or a stretch of nothing at all all count. The most common path into arrears is a parent who loses a job or takes a pay cut and stops paying, assuming the court will sort it out later.
It won’t. Until a judge formally modifies your order, the original amount stays in force. A parent ordered to pay $1,000 a month who pays nothing for six months owes $6,000 in arrears on top of the ongoing $1,000 obligation. The clock keeps running whether you are working, sick, incarcerated, or unemployed.
Why Arrears Can’t Be Erased After the Fact
A federal provision called the Bradley Amendment turns every child support payment into a judgment by operation of law on the date it comes due. Once a payment is missed, that amount is locked in, and no state court has authority to reduce or cancel arrears that have already accrued.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 666 – Requirement of Statutorily Prescribed Procedures
There is one narrow exception. A court may modify support back to the date a modification petition was filed and the other parent was notified. Anything that accrued before that filing date stays owed. Someone who was out of work for two years without filing for a modification still owes every dollar that came due during that stretch, with the full force of a court judgment behind it, enforceable in every state.
Interest Keeps the Balance Growing
Most states charge interest on unpaid child support, typically between 6% and 10% per year. Some apply it automatically; others require the custodial parent to request it. A $10,000 arrears balance at 8% annual interest adds $800 a year before you’ve touched the principal. Check with your state’s child support agency to confirm the rate that applies to your case.
What Enforcement Looks Like
Child support agencies have a broader collection toolkit than almost any other type of creditor. Several of these tools are federally required, meaning every state must offer them.
Wage Garnishment
Wage garnishment is the most common enforcement method. Federal law caps the share of your disposable earnings that can be withheld:
- 50% if you are supporting another spouse or child
- 60% if you are not supporting another spouse or child
- An additional 5% on either cap when arrears are more than 12 weeks overdue, raising the limits to 55% and 65%
These percentages apply to disposable earnings after taxes and mandatory deductions.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment Social Security benefits and certain retirement benefits are reachable at the same percentages.3Social Security Administration. How Garnishment Withholding Is Calculated
Tax Refund Intercepts
Federal and state tax refunds can be seized and applied to arrears. For cases where the state provides enforcement services and the custodial parent never received public assistance, the arrears must reach at least $500 before a federal refund can be intercepted.4eCFR. 31 CFR 285.3 – Offset of Tax Refund Payments to Collect Past-Due Support If the custodial parent received public assistance such as TANF, the threshold drops to $25. A new spouse who filed jointly can file an injured spouse claim to protect their share of the refund.
License Suspensions
Federal law requires every state to have procedures to suspend driver’s licenses, professional and occupational licenses, and recreational licenses for parents who owe overdue support.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 666 – Requirement of Statutorily Prescribed Procedures The trigger varies by state. Some suspend for any delinquency; others set a dollar or time threshold. Losing a license often makes it harder to earn the income needed to catch up, which is why contacting the agency before suspension lands is worth doing.
Passport Denial
Once arrears exceed $2,500, the state child support agency can certify you to the federal Office of Child Support Services, which forwards the certification to the State Department. A new passport application will be denied, and an existing passport can be revoked or restricted.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 652 – Duties of Secretary Reinstatement requires paying the arrears down or making satisfactory arrangements with the state agency.6The Administration for Children & Families. Overview of the Passport Denial Program
Liens, Bank Levies, and Winnings
Enforcement agencies can place liens on real estate and other property, blocking a sale or refinance until the debt is paid. Bank accounts can be frozen and seized. Many states also intercept lottery and gambling winnings above a set amount. These actions generally proceed without additional court hearings once an enforcement order is in place.
Criminal Penalties
Willful nonpayment can bring contempt of court charges at the state level, with fines and jail time. A separate federal criminal statute applies when the child lives in a different state from the parent who owes. Under that law, willfully failing to pay for more than a year or owing more than $5,000 is a federal misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison for a first offense. Owing more than $10,000 or being delinquent for more than two years is a felony carrying up to two years. Crossing state lines to evade the obligation carries the same felony penalty.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 228 – Failure to Pay Legal Child Support Obligations
Credit Reporting
Federal law requires every state to report delinquent child support to consumer credit reporting agencies.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 666 – Requirement of Statutorily Prescribed Procedures The federal statute does not set a specific dollar trigger, but many state agencies begin reporting once arrears pass a certain threshold or remain unpaid for 60 to 90 days. A reported delinquency can sit on your credit report for up to seven years under general Fair Credit Reporting Act rules and can affect mortgages, car loans, apartment applications, and some jobs.
Bankruptcy Won’t Discharge the Debt
Child support arrears survive every form of bankruptcy. The Bankruptcy Code classifies child support as a “domestic support obligation” and excludes it from discharge in both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 proceedings.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge That covers the principal, the interest, and any penalties. Filing may pause some collection activity through the automatic stay, but the debt waits for you on the other side. A Chapter 13 repayment plan must actually pay past-due child support in full as a condition of completion.
Resolving What You Owe
How you can resolve arrears depends on who the money is owed to. When a custodial parent received public assistance such as TANF, the state took an assignment of child support rights and collects arrears to reimburse itself. Arrears owed to the state are often eligible for compromise or reduction programs because the agency has broad authority to negotiate. Arrears owed directly to the custodial parent require that parent’s consent to reduce.9The Administration for Children & Families. Managing Child Support Arrears
A lump-sum payment is the fastest way to cut arrears down, and some state compromise programs on assigned arrears will accept a lump sum for less than the full balance. If a lump sum isn’t realistic, most enforcement agencies will set up a structured payment plan on top of your current monthly obligation, built around your actual income. Sticking to the schedule prevents further enforcement from piling on. Contact your state or local child support enforcement agency to ask what’s available.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 654 – State Plan for Child and Spousal Support
File for a Modification Before Arrears Grow
The single biggest mistake parents in financial trouble make is falling behind and doing nothing. If your income drops, you lose a job, become disabled, or face another major change, file a petition to modify your order immediately. Courts recognize substantial changes in circumstances as grounds for modification, and once you file and notify the other parent, the new amount can apply back to that filing date.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 666 – Requirement of Statutorily Prescribed Procedures
You file in the same court that issued the original order, pay a filing fee that can often be waived for financial hardship, and have the other parent served with notice. You don’t need the other parent’s agreement to file, though reaching one beforehand speeds things along. The court reviews updated financial information from both sides and decides whether to adjust the amount. Until the new order is signed, the old amount stays in effect. Every week you wait is another week of arrears accruing at the old rate, and no judge can undo that later.