Child Support Arrears in New York Are No Party (Up in Here)

An interesting story developed this past weekend which virtually covered all of New York State.  No, I’m not referring to the fascinating conclusion to the manhunt for the Clinton Correctional escapees, but rather the arrest of the rapper DMX.  According to reports, the author of such hits as “Party Up (Up in Here)” and “What’s My Name?” was arrested outside of an old-school rap concert last Friday at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.  His arrest by the New York County Sheriffs was based on his alleged failure to pay over $400,000 of back child support to his child(ren) residing in Erie County (i.e. Buffalo, NY).

I’m not familiar with any of the particulars of DMX’s child support case, but I have known men and women who fall behind on child support for relatively innocuous reasons: the loss of a job, the care of the children while the residential parent was sick or out of town for an extended period of time, or the residential parent telling them “it’s OK, I don’t need payment this month.”  Unfortunately, innocent though a person’s motives may be, the child support laws in New York are strictly construed by state administrators and the courts, and without a court order modifying or reducing child support, the person charged with paying the support under an existing court order will often get in trouble for even such “innocent” non-payment.

What are the possible punishments for failing to pay the full child support ordered by a Family Court or State Supreme Court?  According to §454 of the New York Family Court Act, if a court finds that a person “has failed to obey” a child support order, the court will enter a money judgment against the person for the unpaid support, and may:

1. Order garnishment of wages;
2. Order the person to post a bond (undertaking);
3. Order “sequestration” (seizure) of the person’s property if he or she leaves or threatens to leave the state;
4. Suspend the person’s drivers’ license;
5. Suspend the person’s professional (i.e. medicine, law) or business licenses;
6. Suspend the person’s recreational (i.e. hunting, fishing) licenses;
7. If the child is on public assistance, require the person to participate in “work activities” (such as unsubsidized employment, etc. under §336 of the Social Services Law).

In addition, if the court finds that the person has “willfully failed to obey” a child support order, the court will also order payment of the other parent’s attorney fees, and may:

1. Impose a six-month jail term on the person; or
2. Require the person to participate in a rehab program (including possible job training and/or education); or
3. Put the person on probation “under such conditions as the court may determine” for up to as long as the order of child support “applies to such person” (See Family Court Act §456).

Furthermore, even without a specific court judgment regarding child support arrears, the Division of Child Support Enforcement (a part of the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance), may refer the delinquent person’s name to the major credit bureaus, may intercept any of that person’s lottery winnings, may refer the person’s name to the U.S. State Department (to prevent him or her from obtaining a passport), may intercept that person’s state or federal tax refunds, and may even file a lien against the person’s real estate in New York.

Most interestingly, as of June 30, 2015, the DMV’s authority to “automatically” suspend a person’s driver’s license for failing to pay child support (after notification of failure to pay from the Child Support Enforcement Division or local Child Support Collection Unit) was repealed.  (See former Vehicle and Traffic Law §510(4-e) and former Family Court Act §454(5)).  It is unclear whether the repeal of these provisions was purposeful (as they were repealed automatically under the terms of the enacting legislation).  Nevertheless, even if the DMV and Child Support Enforcement administrators cannot independently suspend a person’s driver’s license after July 1^st of this year, a court may still order that sanction after a hearing.

As we can see, DMX (and any other person unlucky or unscrupulous enough to amass thousands of dollars of past-due child support) might face very serious sanctions by the New York courts, if not also difficulties imposed upon them by the NY Support Enforcement Division.