How to Deal with Deadbeat Dads & Get the Child Support Money You Are Owed

A deadbeat dad is a father who has been ordered by the courts to pay a monthly child support amount, yet chooses to ignore the court order and refuses to pay support for the child that they helped to create. Often, this can add up to tens of thousands of dollars that a child or children are entitled to.

Steps To Follow

1) Carefully document each child support payment that is missed. Note the amount for each missed payment and the date it was supposed to be received. You will want to have this information in order to figure out exactly the amount of support your child is owed.

2) Acquire a copy of your court ordered child support document- whether it be a divorce decree or simply a document that is for the purpose of strictly ordering child support to be paid and take it to an attorney. If you are unable to afford an attorney then contact the department of legal aid in your community. Legal aid offers help for women whose children are being denied their legally court ordered child support payments. In most states, a person who fails to pay child support will have their driver's license suspended until their owed back-support is caught up on.

3) Acquire and report all of the information you can possibly gather together on the father. This can be information such as the father's legal name, his current and previous addresses, his date of birth, his social security number, his current and previous places of employment, as well as any other types of information that you are able to access.

4) Officially report this specific information to the division of family services in your area so they can begin a garnishment of the father's wages. Keep in mind that the more details you can give them, the faster they will be able to start collecting what you are owned.

5) Keep in regular contact with the agency in which you have reported the information to, as well as your attorney or legal aid attorney, in order to keep the process moving.

6) If the father attempts to contact you to talk you out of enforcing the support order, contact your lawyer and the division of family services and report this information to them as well. If you are feeling threatened by him, have your attorney file for an order of protection.