Child Support Lawyers for Fathers
Is the alphabet block merely a child’s plaything, or a vital learning tool? Whichever — few fathers would begrudge their children a ready supply of alphabet blocks. Virginia’s fathers do all we can to support our children. This often includes financial support after the birth of a child, in the form of child support payments. The Firm For Men is ready and able to provide Hampton Roads’ men the support they need to cope with child support issues.
The Alphabet Maze of Child Support Awaits
Many organizations may seem arrayed against you as a man dealing with child support complexities. Virginia’s Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE) is a division within the Virginia Department of Social Services (DSS). As part of DSS, DCSE partners with the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) and other Virginia state agencies to collect and distribute child support payments. On your side, you have The Firm For Men.
You cannot expect to navigate the alphabet maze of DCSE, DSS, and OCSE on your own. Teaming with the experienced attorneys at The Firm For Men — attorneys completely familiar with all those agencies and their methods — is vital for preserving and defending your rights as a father. You can choose to go it alone, but you will have the full-time efforts of hundreds of professionals working against you.
Virginia Child Support Law
The Code of Virginia mandates child support payments even for parents with no visible means of support. In § 20-108.2, the state law spells out that a parent earning no income still owes $68 a month in child support for one child, all the way up to $169 a month for six children.
Virginia puts your needs second to your children’s needs; the law is intended to prevent parents from deliberately avoiding child support payments by deliberately avoiding work. Keeping Virginia’s children safe and well-provided for is commendable, but who is protecting you? You need a law firm ready to step forward and make your own rights and needs visible to the Virginia courts. You need The Firm for Men.
If you’re paying child support, you may feel the payments are inordinately large. Your attorney will caution you against simply refusing to pay. You and your lawyer can seek modifications to the court-ordered payments at any time, for good cause. If you’re collecting child support payments from your child’s mother, or trying to without luck, we can help with that as well.
Court-ordered Child Support
If you’re going through a Virginia divorce, part of the overall proceedings includes a property settlement agreement and in that agreement, child support, visitation and custody is usually spelled out. If you were never married to your child’s mother, you may have a child support order through the courts or are being taken to court for child support. By having The Firm For Men by your side throughout the process, you can feel confident your child support order will be equitable and reasonable. We will work tirelessly to get a child support payment schedule that works for you and your children.
Child support is a court order, and not to be trifled with; defying a Virginia judge by refusing to pay child support does not endear a Virginia man to the court system. It also gives your children’s mother much-needed ammunition to take you back into court. When facing court-ordered child support, you need the help of attorneys for child support experienced with the family court system. You need family lawyers looking out for the rights of Virginia’s fathers.
Modifications to Child Support
Are you looking to change an existing child support order? One way to address what you feel is an unfair child support burden is by seeking modifications. Under Code of Virginia § 20-108.2, “There shall be a rebuttable presumption in any judicial or administrative proceeding for child support under this title or Title 16.1 or 63.2, including cases involving split custody or shared custody, that the amount of the award which would result from the application of the guidelines set forth in this section is the correct amount of child support to be awarded.”
What does all that mean? It means you have an opportunity in court to demonstrate that, through changes in your circumstances beyond your control, you can no longer afford the original child support payments ordered. To make that modification argument convincingly, to demonstrate it through real numbers, look to an experienced child support attorney who will work to get your child support payments reduced.
The Firm For Men never stops working for you. Even long after we get you through your separation and final divorce decree, we can help you return to court to make modifications to child support, for many reasons. Modifications may be necessary because you switched jobs, lost income, or watched your children age out of a need for support altogether. For any modifications to your child support, turn to the trusted, local lawyers at The Firm for Men.
Contempt of Court & Show Cause
Court-ordered child support is a judge’s order. If you fall behind in paying child support, you are in contempt of court. You need a lawyer to defend you against this; any attempt to handle it yourself will only add to your misery and expense. Expect a Motion to Show Cause that compels you to appear before a judge — possibly the same judge who ordered the original child support schedule — to explain why you should not be considered to be in contempt of court.
Contempt charges for failing to pay child support carry criminal or civil penalties in Virginia. You can be ordered to pay what you owe on a payment plan that inflicts genuine pain on you. You can be ordered to pay a fine. You can even be given jail time. The best way to deal with contempt charges (or to file them against your child’s mother) is by getting a skilled family lawyer on your side.
Avoiding contempt and responding to a Motion to Show Cause is far easier when you trust your attorney to handle your case. With The Firm For Men fighting for you, we can work hard to help you avoid delinquent payments and arrearages. If necessary, we can fight to reduce any consequences of delinquent payments.
Wage Garnishment for Child Support
DCSE has several tools to compel you to pay child support before throwing you in jail. Garnishment, or wage withholding, is the most common. The division can also:
- File liens against your property
- Report child support debts to credit agencies
- Suspend your driver and professional licenses
- Intercept income tax refunds
If DCSE is aggressively pursuing you, you need the services of a Virginia Beach law firm working exclusively to respect and defend men’s rights; you need The Firm For Men. As DCSE itself says, “DCSE representatives will utilize all available enforcement actions to attempt to obtain the support to which your child is entitled.”
A qualified law firm like The Firm For Men, focusing on protecting men’s legal rights, can help stop garnishment, liens and other attacks. We can keep DCSE from ruining your life.
Reach Out to The Firm For Men’s Child Support Lawyers
Expertise in child support does not emerge naturally from simply playing with your children. You need the experience and advice of strong lawyers representing men. Call The Firm For Men, located conveniently in Virginia Beach, at 757-383-9184, or contact us online, to learn how we can help you with your child support, modification, garnishment and related issues.