You Can Collect Child Support 37 Years Later!

A parent’s child support obligation from a Woodlands Divorce generally ends when the child reaches 18 unless the child is disabled. Some parents mistakenly believe that if they drag their feet and avoid paying the child support they are ordered to when they are ordered to pay it that everyone will forget about it and move on. Unfortunately for them, a deadbeat parent can be sued for unpaid child support many years after the child reaches 18; many, many years.

Let’s take a look at one recent example from the Houston Appellate Court. In this case, the Mother and father divorced in 1972. The divorce decree ordered father to pay $50 per month in child support. In 2009, the mother filed an application for a writ of withholding alleging father owed $78,164 in unpaid child support. She won at the trial level and the decision stood on appeal.

Dormancy Does Not Apply

In ordinary civil lawsuits you can only obtain a judicial order to execute a judgment within 10 years of the judgment. If you ask the court to execute a judgment 11 years later they do not have jurisdiction. This case highlights the fact that dormancy does not apply to child support judgments.

If your ex-spouse did not pay their child support and your child is now over 18 call us at (832) 592-7913 and speak with a Woodlands Divorce Attorney about collecting the overdue child support. It is never too late to get what you are owed, even 37 years after the original child support order.