A man who now lives in Pennsylvania owes thousands in back child support payments. He is facing a five-year period of probation, as well as having to pay the money he owes to the mother of the child. The ruling comes from a court in another state, as that is where he was living at the time of the original child support order.
In 2004, a judge ordered the man to pay a weekly amount of $165 until the child turned 18 years old. Since just after the order, he has lived in several states, but it is not known if he attempted to make any payments after the decision. He served three months in prison in 2010 after pleading guilty to charges of failing to pay child support. After that sentence, he was released, but with supervision for a year.
The man was arrested again last summer, when it was discovered he owed more than $67,000 in support. He was released once more, but, several months later, he was arrested again for probation violations. At the time of the latest report on this incident, the amount he owes had increased to over $71,000. He has been warned that he will be incarcerated again if he violates his probation and does not comply with the court order.
Even though both parents now reside in different states, this man is still required to make the child support payments ordered by the court. In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, not making the mandated payments could result in jail time, garnishment of wages, liens on any property the person owns or a combination of these and other methods to collect the money that is owed. Non-custodial parents who are unable to make their court-ordered support payments may benefit from seeking modifications to their existing court orders to prevent facing serious penalties for non-payment.
Source: bangordailynews.com, “Former Maine man ordered to pay $71,000 in back child support“, Beth Brogan, Mar. 5, 2015