Family Law: Understanding Child Support and Placement Interaction

Child Support and Placement Interaction are key aspects of Family Law: these are topics usually at the forefront of awareness for anyone with children undergoing divorce.

As a Beloit Family Law firm, we typically find that our clients can at least benefit from an early discussion of these aspects of family law — child support and placement interaction, although top of mind, aren’t often very well understood.

A few points to be aware of:

Payment of child support does not automatically give you the ability to see your child or children — it’s entirely independent of the non-custodial parent’s visitation or placement rights.

In order to earn the right to visitation and placement, the non-custodial parent must first go before the court and ‘assert and establish’ their right to have placement. In most cases, this requires that the father prove that he is, in fact, the father — called ‘establishing parentage or paternity.’

Parentage may then be agreed and stipulated to, enabling a placement or visitation schedule to be created.

Once you have a placement or visitation schedule, non-payment of child support cannot be used as a reason to withhold placement and/or visitation. Similarly, withholding placement and/or visitation cannot be used as a reason for non-payment of child support.

A word of warning: violating any court order, including child support, can result in serious legal consequences, including:

• Fine
• Imprisonment
• Payment of the other party’s legal fees

If a party has violated a court order, you must immediately petition the court for contempt.

And please remember that it is the court’s job, not yours, to punish anyone who may have be in violation of a court order or judgement. Work within the law, and with an experienced family law attorney, and you’ll be far more likely to succeed.