DIVORCE-SUCCESS
Chaos to Calm

Why Your Ex Doesn’t Pay Child Support after Your Divorce

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Able and Willing to Pay

Willing but Unable to Pay
Characteristics:
  • Employed
  • Good communication with co-parent
  • Affordable child support
  • Emotionally stable
  • Parenting time consistent
  • Have child’s best interest at heart
 Characteristics:
  • May have child’s best interest at heart
  • Situational poverty (verses generational poverty)
  • More likely to have multiple child support orders
  • Poor health and low energy
  • Mental Health issues such as depression
Barriers:
  • No barriers at this time
 Barriers:
  • Loss of employment
  • Lack of employable job skills
  • First tear employment (first to be laid-off)
  • Poor financial management
  • Job retention skills weak
  • Lack of reliable transportation
  • Incarceration in recent past
  • Limited educational achievement
  • Arrearage Substantial
  • Lack of hope that things can get better
Interventions:
  • Regular recognition and reinforcement
  • Provide enhanced parenting skills
  • Automate support to minimize errors
  • Early intervention is effective if payment is late
  • Referral to social supports as needed
 Interventions:
  • Action plan with incremental steps
  • Review and modification of order if not realistic
  • Life Skills class/Referral to MHC
  • Job readiness and job retention training
  • Placement and monitoring of employment
  • Father’s Support Group

Able but Unwilling to Pay

Unwilling and Unable to Pay
Characteristics:
  • Commonly referred to as deadbeat dads
  • General resistance to any authority in their life
  • Sometimes narcissistic tendency
  • Non acceptance of co-parent’s intimate relationships
  • Intelligent, able to minimize system impact on lifestyle
  • Does not have child’s interest at heart
  • Adversarial relationship with CSE office
 Characteristics:
  • Antagonistic relationship with CSE
  • Antagonistic relationship with co-parent
  • Inability to view the needs of child objectively
  • Self identification as a victim
Barriers:
  • Parenting issues with co-parent
  • Never established bond with the child or children
  • Payment is perceived to be to state and not child
  • Belief that the established order is unreasonable
 Barriers:
  • Guided by an irrational belief system
  • Angry and hostile towards most authority
  • Typically unresponsive to punitive interventions
  • Poor job history/ Unwilling to work
  • Drug and Alcohol addictions
Interventions:
  • Wage assignment and income interception
  • License revocation
  • Contempt filings/ consequences/ incarceration
  • Passport denial
  • Individual therapy focusing on anger and resistance
  • Peer pressure through public identification
  • Mediation of parenting issues
 Interventions:
  • Victim Sensitivity Training
  • Court intervention- contempt citation
  • Loss of public privileges (license revocations)
  • Responsible Fatherhood Classes
  • Cognitive re-structuring

By Alvin Wengerd with permission

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