Q&A: CONSEQUENCES OF CHILD SUPPORT DEBT

In Mississippi the court can order that wages be garnished for the payment of child support. This means that your employer will receive notification that the child support must be taken from your check and paid directly to the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) for the payment of child support. MDHS will send the money to the custodial parent. 

If you are behind in your child support both your federal and state income tax refunds can be seized to satisfy your debt. The Mississippi Department of Revenue will offset your tax refund, and the State can ask that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) offset your tax refund. The tax refund which is taken as an offset is then recorded as a payment towards child support, and the funds are provided to the noncustodial parent. 

Note: If you filed a joint tax return with your spouse, thus share your tax refund with your spouse, and the refund was taken for payment of your past due child support, your spouse may be able to file for injured spouse relief to have the spouse’s portion of the tax refund released from the offset. 

The Mississippi Code of 1972, Annotated, Section 93-11-157 requires that the Child Support Division of the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) review whether a licensee is out of compliance with his/her child support order. If so, the licensee may be notified by first class mail that if there is noncompliance with the child support order that the license will be suspended in ninety (90) days. The individual may contact MDHS and enter into a stipulated agreement or agreed judgment scheduling the payment of the back child support to prevent the suspension of the driver’s license. 

Under Mississippi law, The Mississippi Code of 1972, Annotated, Section 93-11-163, an individual’s driver’s license may be suspended for failure to pay child support by a court. Mississippi law allows a court to enter an order suspending an individual’s driver’s license. The court may provide for a reasonable time for the defendant to purge himself/herself of the delinquent child support. The court may also order that that the driver’s license be reinstated after the parent has paid the delinquency. The parent will be responsible for the payment of administrative fees for the reinstatement of the license.  

 If you get behind in child support, you may have additional charges added to the unpaid child support. If there is a court action, the parent will be responsible for any court filing and service of process fees. If there is an attorney involved in the court action, the parent will likely be assessed the attorney’s fees of the attorney. These additions to the arrearage will increase the child support debt. 

The Passport Denial Program, part of the Federal Collections and Enforcement Program, helps states collect back child support. As part of the program, the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) submits a record of parents certified to the State Department by the State of Mississippi to have an arrearage of child support exceeding $2,500. Those certified will be denied a passport.