Whether you are currently working through a divorce as a parent or you have already ended your marriage and you owe child support, you need to pay attention to various issues regarding child support obligations. Every year, many parents fail to make support payments, voluntarily or because of financial hardships in their lives, and this can lead to serious repercussions.
Aside from a damaged reputation and the threat of arrest, parents who fail to pay child support can have their license suspended as well.
An overview of license suspension due to unpaid child support
According to the California Child Support Services site, you could lose your license if you fail to make child support payments. Aside from losing your driver’s license, you could also lose your professional license, hunting license or fishing license. In fact, you could even lose your U.S. passport privileges if you owe enough back child support. The government does not renew or issue passports to parents who owe more than $2,500 in unpaid child support.
License suspension and addressing unpaid child support
The state sends notices to licensing agencies in California when parents fail to pay child support, and these agencies send letters to delinquent parents. Parents who owe back support have 150 days to respond in order to avoid losing their license (30 days for those who have previously lost their license due to back support).
If you get a notice, you should reach out to the child support agency to go over your options and keep in mind that every parent is in a unique situation. You should also look into options to avoid falling behind on child support, such as a payment plan or possibly modifying your child support order.