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What is Child Support Fraud?
Child support fraud is a term used to refer to the act of identifying ways to avoid paying as much child support as one should or to avoid the payment of child support altogether. An individual might engage in child support fraud by purposely avoiding employment, moving from job to job, working for cash, holding income and assets in the name of others or reporting less self-employment income than has actually been earned. It also is important for an individual to verify that an automatic means of payment, such as employer withholding, is functioning properly so that he or she does not engage in child support fraud unintentionally.
The amount to be paid in child support typically is directly linked to how much money an individual makes, so some people who are responsible for paying child support decide to avoid working. When no money is being made, no money can be paid in the form of child support. In some areas, unemployment income can be garnished in order to pay child support.
Another tactic used by some people to commit child support fraud is moving from one job to another. It is difficult to obtain money from an individual if his or her whereabouts are not known. Paperwork must be filed with the government when a new job is started, so this provides a way to track someone. After they are found, these individuals might then move on to another job, and the process of finding them must start all over again.
It is much easier to obtain child support when a paper trail exists. The amount paid typically is based on what someone earns, and if he or she is paid in cash, there is no paper trail to follow. This might mean that his or her earnings show up substantially less on paper or that he or she is not earning an income at all. Either way, the court system generally uses documented information on earnings to determine an amount to be paid.
Sometimes, if an individual holds many assets, he or she will attempt to place them in the name of others. This prevents these assets from entering into the child support equation. This type of fraud might take the form of putting a house in another person's name or putting a bank account in a child’s name.
Self-employed individuals might commit child support fraud by reporting less income than they actually earned. Many times, the court must base its decision on what is recorded on paper. If a self-employed individual has been paid in cash or used some sort of creative accounting method, then his or her records might show less than what was actually earned.
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![The number of children that a person has is typically considered in determining the amount of child support that she or he must pay.]()
By: Petro FeketaThe number of children that a person has is typically considered in determining the amount of child support that she or he must pay. -
![The amount to be paid in child support typically is directly linked to how much money an individual makes.]()
By: Photographee.euThe amount to be paid in child support typically is directly linked to how much money an individual makes. -
![The parent responsible for caring for the child the majority of the time is typically entitled to receive child support from the other parent.]()
By: Gabriel BlajThe parent responsible for caring for the child the majority of the time is typically entitled to receive child support from the other parent.
Discussion Comments
I'm trying to help a friend find information about her child's deadbeat dad. He has avoided paying child support since her son was two. He's now seventeen. He would change jobs. He would work under the table for cash. He is now married. I hope someone can help.
I don't know why fraud seems to be a one way street all geared against the obligator. The payee of the support can commit fraud in many ways especially if they live in another state. Such as receiving payments for support when they don't have physical custody of the children and they are not turning over the checks to the people that do. When they fail to provide child support enforcement with correct information or stop support payments in a timely fashion causing undo arrearages.
Most parents who have been ordered to pay support can call child support enforcement all day long and will get nothing but the run around as they are not the payee and it's the payees case. I know. For five years, I tried to get my support stopped when my kids lived with me and not their father, and for five years, the state of Florida refused to even discuss it with me and he wouldn't take care of it.
I did not have the extra money to fly down there hire a lawyer and go back to court. I had our children and had to pay him for the pleasure of keeping them for him for many years. Because of him, I cannot have a drivers license or bank account or life insurance, a home of my own, a passport, a professional license and that is the most messed up part: they want me to earn money to pay my support, but many jobs will not hire you if they cannot direct deposit in an account and I can't better myself with school because while they will let me take the courses, I can't have the professional license when I am done so that is just a waste of time.
Both parents need to have access to the case files, both parents should be showing proof of income on a regular basis and the custodial parent with custody should be looked in on by the state from time to time just to make sure they really have their kids living with them and aren't stealing those kids money.
I don't know why people don't add precautionary steps in their child support agreement to prevent things like fraud. One thing that can be done is requiring both parents to exchange a copy of their tax returns every year through the agreement. This helps prevent fraud to some degree.
@literally45-- Unfortunately, some parents do not think this way. Some parents, who are required by a court order to pay child support, don't mind reporting false income in order to save money each month. It's sad but true.
My husband did the same and I had to report it. I had no real evidence that he was falsifying his income information, I simply suspected it. But the state looked into it and it was discovered that he was not reporting a great portion of his income. He was charged with perjury and made to pay the correct amount of child support.
I don't understand why someone would want to commit child support fraud. It's true that if someone doesn't have money, they can't pay child support. But if someone doesn't have money, they can't support themselves either.
Instead of trying such tactics, it would be much better for the parent to aim to make more money and to get better jobs, so that child support will not be a burden on them. He will have to pay more support with greater income, but if he is able to take care of his own needs without problems, I don't think child support will be such an issue.
There is also a moral side to this topic. Parents should not forget that the support they are withholding affects their own child. People may separate on bad terms, but what is the fault of the child? Raising a child is not easy and no parent should have to bear the costs on his or her own. I know that it's not easy and some parents do experience difficulties in order to pay child support. But this doesn't mean that people should break the law or become negligent of their duties as parents.
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