Good News if You Are Owed Child Support...

The government has intercepted the economic stimulus checks of many deadbeat parents. More than 1.4 million of the stimulus checks (a total of about $831 million) have been seized by child support agencies. This means that if you are owed child support you may be able to collect some of the funds from your ex's stimulus check.

They are giving the people whose checks were seized 180 days to appeal, but if they are clearly in arrears, they will not be sent the money and the families will receive the funds instead. This is very good news for families who are owed child support.

Remember, it is important to be proactive if your ex does not pay child support by keeping in contact with your local child support enforcement agency. They can do periodic searches for bank accounts and assets and seize any funds they discover. They can also garnish wages and pursue legal action in court against your ex. Since these agencies are usually understaffed and overwhelmed with cases, you must be persistent and call your case worker on a regular basis.

Do not worry about bothering your case worker or being a pest. Your children have a right to child support and by making yourself known to your case worker you will get better results with collection. Be sure to provide any important information you may know about your ex, like where he works, if he has moved and anything else you may know about him that may help the agency with enforcing the support order.