Child support payments are distributed in a variety of ways. In cases where an obligor is liable for specific expenses such as school tuition, they may pay them directly instead of through the obligee.
In some jurisdictions, obligors (paying parents) are required to remit their payments to the governing federal or state child support enforcement agency. The payments are recorded, any portion required to reimburse the government is subtracted, and then the remainder is passed on to the obligee (receiving parent), either through direct deposit or checks.
The first payee for child support depends on the current welfare status of the payee. For example, if the obligee is currently receiving a monthly check from the government, all current support collected during said month is paid to the government to reimburse the monies paid to the obligee. Regarding families formerly on assistance, current support is paid to the family first, and only after said support is received, the government may then collect additional payments to reimburse itself for previously paid assistance to the obligee (receiving parent). See 42 USC 657: “(A) Current Support Payments: To the extent that the amount so collected does not exceed the amount required to be paid to the family for the month in which collected, the State shall distribute the amount so collected to the family.”.
Within the United States, a 2007 study conducted through the University of Baltimore estimates that 50% of all child support arrears are owed to the government to reimburse welfare expenses. Half of U.S. states pass along none of the child support they collect to low-income families receiving welfare and other assistance, instead reimbursing themselves and the federal government. Most of the rest only pass along $50.00 per month. The bipartisan 2006 Deficit Reduction Act and other measures have sought to reduce the amount of money claimed by the government and to ensure that more funds are accessible by children and families, noting that more obligors (paying parents) are willing to pay child support when their children directly benefit from payments.
Regulations and laws on the enforcement of child support orders vary by country and state. In some jurisdictions, such as Australia, enforcement is overseen by a national office. In others, such as Canada, the responsibility to enforce child support orders rests with individual provinces, with financial and logistical assistance from the federal government. In the United States child support enforcement is also handled largely at the state level, but non compliant parents who meet certain criteria, such as traveling across state lines to circumvent orders or owing more than two years of support payments, may be subjected to federal prosecution under the Federal Deadbeat Punishment Act.
One focus of Article 27 of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child is the establishment and strengthening of international treaties to further aid in child support order enforcement across national and international boundaries. Under these agreements, orders established in one country are considered valid and enforceable in another country, and may be pursued through local court processes. The goal of such conventions is to ensure that noncompliant parents will not be able to evade support payments by crossing an international border.
To this end, various international conventions regarding inter-jurisdictional enforcement of maintenance orders have been created, including the Hague Conference’s 1973 Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions relating to Maintenance Obligations and the 1956 United Nations Convention on the Recovery Abroad of Maintenance.
More than 100 nations currently have reciprocal arrangements for child support orders. Examples of reciprocal agreements include the UK Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders (REMO) and those of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the United States and the European Union.
Consequences of non-payment vary by jurisdiction, the length of time the parent has been noncompliant, and the amount owed. Typical penalties include wage garnishment and denial or suspension of drivers, hunting and professional licenses. In the United States, noncompliant parents who are more than $2500 in arrears may be denied passports under the Passport Denial Program. Australia, Austria, and Finland do not imprison persons for failure to pay child-support arrears. In the U.S., in contrast, non-payment of child support may be treated as a criminal offense or a civil offense, and it can result in a prison or jail term. On a typically day, roughly 50,000 persons are incarcerated in U.S. jails and prisons as a result of child-support debts. In addition, child-support debtors are subject to fines and property seizure.
The enforcement provisions affecting US passports have thus far survived Constitutional challenges in Weinstein v Albright (2001), Eunique v Powell (2002), In re James K. Walker (2002), Dept of Revenue v Nesbitt (2008), Risenhoover v Washington (2008), and Borracchini v Jones (2009).
In divorce cases, child support payments may be determined as part of the divorce settlement, along with other issues, such as alimony, custody and visitation. In other cases, there are several steps that must be undertaken to receive court-ordered child support. Some parents anticipating that they will receive child support may hire lawyers to oversee their child support cases for them; others may file their own applications in their local courthouses.
While procedures vary by jurisdiction, the process of filing a motion for court ordered child support typically has several basic steps.
1. One parent, or his or her or her attorney, must appear at the local magistrate or courthouse to file an application or complaint for the establishment of child support. The information required varies by jurisdiction, but generally collects identifying data about both parents and the child(ren) involved in the case, including their names, social security or tax identification numbers and dates of birth. Parents may also be required to furnish details relating to their marriage and divorce, if applicable, as well as documents certifying the identity and parentage of the child(ren). Local jurisdictions may charge fees for filing such applications, however, if the filing parent is receiving any sort of public assistance, these fees may be waived.
2. The other parent is located, and served a court summons by a local sheriff, police officer, or process server. The summons informs the other parent that they are being sued for child support. Once served, the other parent must attend a mandatory court hearing to determine if they are responsible for child support payments.
3. In cases where parentage of a child is denied, has not been established by marriage or is not listed on the birth certificate, or where paternity fraud is suspected, courts may order or require establishment of paternity. Paternity may be established voluntarily if the father signs an affidavit or may be proven through DNA testing in contested cases. Once the identity of the father is confirmed through DNA testing, the child’s birth certificate may be amended to include the father’s name.
4. After the responsibility for child support is established and questions of paternity have been answered to the court’s satisfaction, the court will notify the obligor and order that parent to make timely child support payments and establish any other provisions, such as medical orders.
Alimony has been discussed in ancient legal texts including the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (#137-#142) and the Code of Justinian. The concept of modern alimony in the United States derives from English ecclesiastical courts that awarded alimony in cases of separation and divorce. Alimony Pendente lite was given until the divorce decree, based on the husband’s duty to support the wife during a marriage that still continued. Post-divorce or permanent alimony was also based on the notion that the marriage continued, as ecclesiastical courts could only award a divorce a mensa et thora, similar to a legal separation today. As divorce did not end the marriage, the husband’s duty to support his wife remained intact.
The term alimony comes from the Latin word alimōnia (“nourishment, sustenance”, from alere, “to nourish”), from which also alimentary (of, or relating to food, nutrition, or digestion) and the Scots law concept of aliment, and was a rule of sustenance to assure the wife’s lodging, food, clothing, and other necessities after divorce.
Liberalization of divorce occurred in the nineteenth century, but divorce was only possible in cases of marital misconduct. As a result, the requirement to pay alimony became linked to the concept of fault in the divorce. Alimony to wives was paid because it was assumed that the marriage, and the wife’s right to support, would have continued but for the misbehavior of husband. Ending alimony on divorce would have permitted a guilty husband to profit from his own misconduct. In contrast, if the wife committed the misconduct, she was considered to have forfeited any claim to ongoing support. However, during the period, parties could rarely afford alimony, and so it was rarely awarded by courts. As males’ incomes increased, and with it the possibility of paying alimony, the awarding of alimony increased, generally because a wife could show a need for ongoing financial support, and the husband had the ability to pay.
No-fault divorce led to changes in alimony. Whereas spousal support was considered a right under the fault-based system, it became conditional under the no-fault approach. According to the American Bar Association, marital fault is a “factor” in awarding alimony in 25 states and the District of Columbia. Permanent alimony began to fall out of favor, as it prevented former spouses from beginning new lives, though in some states (e.g., Massachusetts, Mississippi, and Tennessee), permanent alimony awards continued. Alimony moved beyond support to permitting the more dependent spouse to become financially independent or to have the same standard of living as during the marriage or common law marriage, though this was not possible in most cases.
In the 1970s, the United States Supreme Court ruled against gender bias in alimony awards, and the percentage of alimony recipients who are male rose to 3.6% in 2006. In states like Massachusetts and Louisiana, the salaries of new spouses may be used in determining the alimony paid to the previous partners. Most recently, in several high profile divorces, females such as Britney Spears, Victoria Principal, and Jessica Simpson have paid multi-million dollar settlements in lieu of alimony to ex-husbands who were independently wealthy. According to lawyers, males are becoming more aggressive in the pursuit of alimony awards as the stigma associated with asking for alimony fades.
A company uses various kinds of debt to finance its operations. The various types of debt can generally be categorized into: 1) secured and unsecured debt, 2) private and public debt, 3) syndicated and bilateral debt, and 4) other types of debt that display one or more of the characteristics noted above.
A debt obligation is considered secured, if creditors have recourse to the assets of the company on a proprietary basis or otherwise ahead of general claims against the company. Unsecured debt comprises financial obligations, where creditors do not have recourse to the assets of the borrower to satisfy their claims.
Private debt comprises bank-loan type obligations, whether senior or mezzanine. Public debt is a general definition covering all financial instruments that are freely tradeable on a public exchange or over the counter, with few if any restrictions.
A basic loan or “term loan” is the simplest form of debt. It consists of an agreement to lend a fixed amount of money, called the principal sum, for a fixed period of time, with this amount to be repaid by a certain date. In commercial loans interest, calculated as a percentage of the principal sum per year, will also have to be paid by that date, or may be paid periodically in the interval, such as annually or monthly. Such loans are also colloquially called bullet loans, particularly if there is only a single payment at the end – the “bullet” – without a “stream” of interest payments during the “life” of the loan. There are many conventions on how interest is calculated – see day count convention for some – while a standard convention is the annual percentage rate (APR), widely used and required by regulation in the United States and United Kingdom, though there are different forms of APR.
In some loans, the amount actually loaned to the debtor is less than the principal sum to be repaid; the additional principal has the same economic effect as a higher interest rate (see point), and is sometimes referred to as a banker’s dozen, a play on “baker’s dozen” – owe twelve (a dozen), receive a loan of eleven (a banker’s dozen). Note that the effective interest rate is not equal to the discount: if one borrows $10 and must repay $11, then this is ($11–$10)/$10 = 10% interest; however, if one borrows $9 and must repay $10, then this is ($10–$9)/$9 = 11 1/9 % interest.
Rather than the entire principal amount of the loan being due at the end of the loan, the principal may be slowly repaid or “amortized” over the course of the loan – see amortizing loan. This is particularly common in mortgages and in the minimum payment on credit cards.
A syndicated loan is a loan that is granted to companies that wish to borrow more money than any single lender is prepared to risk in a single loan, usually many millions of dollars. In such a case, a syndicate of banks can each agree to put forward a portion of the principal sum. Loan syndication is a risk management tool that allows the lead banks underwriting the debt to reduce their risk and free up lending capacity.
A bond is a debt security issued by certain institutions such as companies and governments. A bond entitles the holder to repayment of the principal sum, plus interest. Bonds are issued to investors in a marketplace when an institution wishes to borrow money. Bonds have a fixed lifetime, usually a number of years; with long-term bonds, lasting over 30 years, being less common. At the end of the bond’s life the money should be repaid in full. Interest may be added to the end payment, or can be paid in regular installments (known as coupons) during the life of the bond. Bonds may be traded in the bond markets, and are widely used as relatively safe investments in comparison to equity.
An increasing number of collection agencies, sometimes referred to as “debt buyers”, purchase debts from creditors for a percentage of the value of the debt and pursue the debtor for the full balance, sometimes plus “interest”. This prevents a debtor from merely defaulting or forgetting a debt. It also generates immediate revenue, albeit much reduced, for the creditor and reduces the public relations risks involved with defaulted debt collection.
Some states have specific laws regarding debt buying. For example, Kansas does not allow wage garnishments on purchased debt.
Debtors
The person who owes the bill or debt is the debtor. Debtors may fail to pay (default) for various reasons: because of a lack of financial planning or overcommitment on their part; due to an unforeseen eventuality such as the loss of a job or health problems; dispute or disagreement over the debt or what is being billed for; or dishonesty on the part of either the creditor or the debtor. The debtor may be either a person or an entity such as a company. Collection of debts from individual people is subject to much more restrictive rules than enforcement against a business.
A debt collection agency is a business that pursues payments of debts owed by individuals or businesses. Most collection agencies operate as agents of creditors and collect debts for a fee or percentage of the total amount owed.
There are many types of debt collection agencies. First-party debt collection agencies are oftentimes subsidiaries of the original company the debt is owed to. Third-party agencies are separate companies contracted by a company to collect debts on their behalf for a fee. Debt buyers purchase the debt at a percentage of its value, then attempt to collect it. Each country has its own rules and regulations regarding them.
Bad debt is a serious concern for any company and business nowadays. Bad debt is an inescapable problem for all organizations which further leads to constrained flow of cash obstructing the escalation of the business.
Debt collection companies play a very important role in resolving differences between the debtors and creditors. The collectors proffer services to creditors and make sure that all their debts are collected within the shortest time possible. They also assist debtors by administering their bills in an organized way.
The main target of these agencies is to make sure all payments made by the debtors reach the creditors within the shortest time and, no bills are left unpaid. When one hires the services of a collection agency then they have an agreement wherein the agency takes on the responsibility of tracing the debtors and collecting the debt in accord of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Collection agencies offer professional services to handle this task efficiently.
Since more and more companies are spreading their wings all across the globe, seeking professional and tailor made services of International Debt collection agencies comes in as an useful and workable option.
Peace of mind and acquiring the money you have been promised are major advantages of hiring a debt collection agency. Saving time and entrusting the legal methods to a debt collection agency are also the other advantages
However, while deciding on an International debt collection agency you should bear few important points in your mind. Some of them are detailed below:
Licensed/Insured Agency: An international debt collection agency without an accurate license may have all the possibility of being held responsible in breach of collection laws.. Also the agency should be insured so that in case it ever goes out of business, the amount recovered on your behalf should not be used in resolving their claims.
Transparent Agreement: make sure that your agreement with the collection agency is transparent and has clauses which are self explanatory.
Online Account Supervision: generally this feature is offered by many International debt collection agencies. Since they operate in more than one country, it is important and convenient to administer and control the proceedings through an online facility:
Experience in industry
Education of collectors
Legal service offerings
Hiring or seeking the help of a proficient International debt collection agency is the most sensible and viable solution. However one should always be upfront in reviewing the deals offered by such agencies.
A debt collection company is usually required when businesses have a debt of difficult recovery of moment of the other businesses or an individual in for which a service or goods was never paid in completion. A company of debts collection is usually a last recourse so that many companies recover the income, which is legitimate with them. While there are many reasons for which the companies or an individual cannot pay with far a debt, a good company of collection will find a strategy which will persuade not only one specific part to start to pay with far the which had debt, but will recover the full debt in a convenient way. If your company is the debt due which you would like to recover, perhaps your best resource to recover it is with a debt collection company. Here some ends on what to seek by choosing a debt collection company.
A debt recovery company can be valid capital with almost any kind or type of businesses. If you are small a company of anybody or a multinational, your business can draw benefit from the services of a debt collection company. Since there are so many debt collection company available, it is important to make a little of research to find those which adapt your business better. For example, there are companies of covering of the debts that concentrate on the debt of recovery for small companies, the other hearth on large companies and others concentrate on certain types of industry.
Finding a debt recovery company, which adapts your means of the needs usually that they will have a level more raised of success? Since a debt recovery company has experience in a specific sector of the market, their strategies of covering of the debts are usually concentrated on the specific types of debtors.
It is advisable to note that a good debt collection company is not in the businesses to arm extremely or to track debtors, in fact, a professional company of covering of the debts can draw up relationship with the people concerned in an organization which facilitate it so that businesses recover the debt. The companies which employ the strong tactics of arm even if they are in the line can loosen their good reputation involving the current and prospective customers to wrinkle the eyebrows on not only the company, but also look at elsewhere for associates.
When a civil court matter goes before a court, a judge makes a decision, a verdict. If that verdict is about one party owing money to another, it’s called a civil money judgment. If the defendant does not pay you (few do), then you need to follow the court, state, and federal laws about recovering your judgment money. The court may have some forms, but they cannot help you to enforce a judgment.
To enforce your judgment, you need to follow laws carefully. The use of procedures and methods to get some or all of your money is called enforcing a judgment. The exact steps you take depend on which are best fitted for the circumstances of the debtor.
There are several ways to enforce a judgment, that involve getting permission from the court. Here are three of the ways:
1) Get a Writ (also known as a FiFa or a Warrant) issued from a court. The Writ allows you to ask the sheriff to take assets such as money from a debtor’s bank account or seizing part of their wages. You can also have the sheriff seize and sell some of the debtor’s property at a sheriff’s auction.
2) Get an assignment order from the court. This requires a court hearing where a judge decides if you can intercept a cash flow stream going to the debtor.
3) Get permission from the court to do an examination of the debtor. You can obtain information which can be used to enquire about the financial situation of the debtor. You can request a production of documents from the debtor or anyone owing money to the debtor. This process is rarely used for directly retrieving the money.
Judgment enforcement sounds like it is easy, but it is not. Once the court makes the decision to issue a judgment, it’s up to you to chase the money that is owed to you. Unless you outsource the enforcement of your judgment, you will have to enforce your judgment.
The vast majority of people will in some degree refuse to pay the amount that they legally owe. It is really surprising how many people will simply ignore the judgment. This is the situation where active judgment enforcement is required.
This may become a situation where judgment enforcers will come in handy. You can find a judgment enforcer that will try to enforce the judgment. They cannot guarantee that they can enforce your judgment, but they only get paid if they are successful, so they will try. It typically costs nothing if they are not successful. All judgment enforcers keep some portion of what they work to successfully recover.
Judgment recovery professionals are well educated on the legal recovery methods to claim the money that is owed to you. Judgment recovery professionals search through individual or business assets to find a way to uncover any (hidden?) cash that should have been used to pay the judgment debt.
Judgment enforcers have national connections, in case the debtor moves. They have access to databases and resources which can increase the chances of getting your money back from a debtor. With the help of these resources, judgment enforcers, assuming the debtors have assets, are able to recover unpaid judgments fairly quickly.
Some recovery operations might take some time to implement. If you want some immediate relief and don’t have time to wait for judgment enforcement, some judgment enforcers can pay you cash up front for your judgment. Be aware cash judgment sales are for a small fraction of the face value of the judgment, as anything can happen, including bankruptcy or death of a debtor.
Most judgment enforcers enforce judgments on a future pay basis, paying you about half of whatever they can collect from the debtor. Their fee many vary, not so much from enforcer to enforcer, but more often depending on the debtor’s financial condition. Whatever the fee charged, it’s usually worth it not to have to work and spend to enforce your judgment.
