Alabama parents who must confront a difficult ex-spouse may often feel like they do not have much recourse. This is particularly true when it comes to child support, as custodial parents may feel frustrated when they do not receive timely payments from the person ordered to make them.

One Alabama man was recently arrested for failing to make court-ordered child support payments for more than 10 years. The 66-year-old man had delinquent payments totaling more than $261,000, which authorities called one of the largest arrearages they had ever come across. Law enforcement executed an arrest on the man for failing to make child support payments, despite his ability to earn a livelihood. He was placed in jail after the arrest.

As this case illustrates, there are enforcement mechanisms available to combat a person’s failure to pay child support. Federal law grants authority to district attorneys and state attorneys to collect back child support. These measures include garnishing wages, freezing bank accounts and placing liens against a person’s property. State officials may also place a person in contempt for failing to pay child support. If a person fails to comply with these authorities’ directives, the non-paying individual could be subject to jail time, although this seldom happens because it removes the person from his or her income source.

In any event, the case should give pause to those who are neglecting to make child support payments. Moreover, for those attempting to collect, the case serves as a reminder of the importance of the child support obligation, and the resources that are in place to enforce court ordered payments.

Source: Lexington WIS TV, “Sheriff: man arrested who up owed more than $261k in unpaid child support,” Tenessa Jennings, Jan. 22, 2013