Whether you are married or not, when you have a child with someone, you expect that you will raise that child together. Unfortunately, that’s not always how things shake out. But even if you don’t stay together, you expect that your partner will contribute financially in raising your child or children. We may enter into child support agreements with the best intentions, but only 68.5 percent of all child support payments owed in the US are collected. That leaves the custodial parent with a steep financial burden. So what do you do when your ex fails to make their child support payments?
Read on to learn how to collect back child support in Maryland, and why working with an attorney gets results faster than going through CSA alone.
1. Maryland Child Support Administration
The Maryland Child Support Administration works with parents who have child support orders and helps ensure that those parents actually receive the money they’re owed. CSA is also able to collect child support by deducting the money from your former partner’s paycheck, unemployment, and even their workers’ compensation claims.
There are some downsides to seeking repayment through CSA. First, the agency does charge a nominal fee in order to open your case.
More importantly, the CSA process is slow. If you need the money as soon as possible, it would be more advantageous for you to work with an attorney who can get things moving faster.
This is a good option for people who worked with CSA to obtain the initial child support order, but they will expect you to exhaust your court motions before they’ll step in. If you worked with an attorney to get your child support order, CSA will require you to have your attorney establish the child support obligation before they’ll step in and assist.
2. Get an Attorney and Go to Court
What can an attorney do? An attorney can assist you in doing pretty much everything the Maryland Child Support Administration can do but at a quicker pace.
The first thing your attorney can do is file a motion to compel. This motion requests that all subsequent child support payments be paid, but with an additional percentage added on to help make up for past-due child support payments, up to 25 percent more.
Your attorney can also file an earnings withholding order. This can be filed when the other parent falls more than 30 days behind in child support payments. This is filed along with the motion to compel, and it requires your former partner’s employers to deduct a percentage of their pay from their paycheck and send the money to you.
If your former partner doesn’t have a job, then things get a little more tricky.
Your attorney can file a motion for judgment. This motion asks the court to find in your favor and enter a judgment against your former partner in the amount of the child support they owe. Once you have a judgment, you can pursue other collection actions, such as seizure of property and assets to satisfy it.
Lastly, your attorney may file a motion for contempt. This is the most serious option because it places your former partner in contempt of court for failing to pay child support. This is used in instances when your former partner intentionally ducked out of paying child support by quitting their job or getting rid of any assets.
It’s important to know that contempt of court can result in serious fines and even jail time. A motion for contempt is a last resort.
How Maryland Enforces Back Child Support: Tools the State Can Use
When a parent falls behind on child support, Maryland law gives both the courts and the Child Support Administration a broad set of enforcement tools. Understanding what those tools are — and when they can be used — matters whether you are the parent owed back child support in Maryland or the parent who has fallen behind and is trying to avoid harsh consequences.
Tax Refund Interception
One of the most commonly used tools for collecting back child support in Maryland is the interception of state and federal tax refunds. If a non-paying parent is owed a tax refund, Maryland can redirect those funds to satisfy the past-due child support balance before the refund is ever issued.
This process is administered through Maryland’s Child Support Administration in coordination with the IRS and the Maryland Comptroller’s office. The intercepted amount is applied directly to the outstanding balance. If the other parent files jointly with a new spouse, only the portion attributable to the non-paying parent’s income may be intercepted, though this can still be a meaningful recovery.
Driver’s License and Professional License Suspension
Maryland has authority to suspend the driver’s license of a parent who is significantly behind on child support payments. This is a serious consequence that can affect a parent’s ability to get to work — and is often a powerful motivator to bring payments current.
Beyond driver’s licenses, Maryland can also move to suspend or deny renewal of professional and occupational licenses. This can affect a wide range of licensed professionals including contractors, real estate agents, nurses, attorneys, and others. If a non-paying parent’s livelihood depends on a state-issued license, this enforcement mechanism can be especially effective.
Similarly, Maryland may place a hold on passport applications and renewals for parents who owe more than $2,500 in back child support, which is administered at the federal level through the State Department.
Contempt of Court
When a parent willfully refuses to pay child support despite having the ability to do so, the court can hold them in contempt. As discussed above, a motion for contempt is the most serious enforcement step available, and it carries real consequences: the non-paying parent may face fines and, in egregious cases, incarceration.
Maryland courts distinguish between civil contempt — used to coerce compliance, often resulting in a “purge” amount the parent can pay to avoid jail — and criminal contempt, which is punitive and can result in a jail sentence regardless of whether the parent pays. In practice, civil contempt is the more common mechanism in child support cases, but the threat of incarceration is real and courts take intentional non-payment seriously.
Liens on Property and Asset Seizure
Once a court enters a judgment for back child support in Maryland, that judgment can be used to place a lien on the non-paying parent’s real property — including their home. This means the parent cannot sell or refinance the property without first satisfying the child support debt.
In addition to real estate liens, courts can authorize the seizure of bank accounts, financial assets, and in some circumstances personal property to satisfy an outstanding child support judgment. An experienced family law attorney can help you identify the non-paying parent’s assets and pursue the most effective collection strategy.
Why Work With an Attorney Instead of CSA Alone? CSA has access to many of these tools but moves slowly and prioritizes cases where it assisted with the original support order. An attorney at Cohen Harris can pursue these enforcement mechanisms directly through the court, often faster, and with greater flexibility to combine multiple strategies simultaneously. If you are owed back child support in Maryland, call us at 888-585-7979 for a free case evaluation.
Need Help with Child Support?
Bringing a child into the world is one of the most incredible things you can do. You expect your partner to contribute both financially and emotionally. If your partner fails to live up to his or her promises, then it’s good to know that there are options that’ll help you recoup back Maryland child support.
Do you need help getting your former partner to pay their child support? We can help. Contact us today to learn how we can help you.