Enforcement of Support Order

Once there is a support order, the CSEA has many ways to enforce it.

• The CSEA can have the child support taken directly from the income of the non-custodial parent. Child support can also be taken from money the non-custodial parent has in a bank. This process is called income (or wage) withholding.
• Child support can be taken from a non-custodial parent's workers' compensation, unemployment, pension funds, or other sources of income.
• The non-custodial parent might have child support payments which are past due. The overdue child support can be taken from state or federal income tax refunds. Also, the CSEA can report the non-custodial parent to a credit bureau.
• The non-custodial parent may have no income or assets. If so, the CSEA can get an order requiring that parent to find work.

Failure to Pay
When payments in child support fall behind, the case is considered to be in arrears. Some of the methods used to collect these arrears include:

• Contempt of Court
• Credit reporting
• Criminal Non-Support (For a misdemeanor or federal offense, the non-payment must be willful, the obligation must be unpaid for at least 1 year or be greater than $5,000)
• Increase in the amount of income withholding to pay on the back support
• Lottery prize winnings
• Ohio Most wanted Poster
• Order to Work/Seek Work
• Passport denial / $2,500 arrears as of October 2006
• Professional and Driver license suspension (Ashtabula ranks 13th in the use of this tool). Over 50% of our caseload have had their DL suspended at some time.
• Tax offset to collect federal/and or state tax refunds
• Use of Financial Institution Data Match (FIDM)