Most Texas parents who have to pay child support, do so as their agreement stipulates. And should they fail to make their payments, the state can intervene and force them to adhere to their court order terms. For those parents who depend on support money to meet their financial needs, this is good news.
The Lone Star State boasts an extremely effective child support collection system. Unfortunately, while the Texas State Attorney General’s Office may be exceptional at bringing the funds into the child support coffers, it appears that work needs to be done in the area of disbursement.
According to state records, $55 million was left undistributed by the Texas OAG during the current fiscal year’s third quarter. And this enormous figure is more than double that of the previous year’s last quarter.
According to an OAG communications manager, the delay in disbursal could be due to a number of causes. For example, some of the money is intercepted from the IRS, a process which involves some time consuming steps. Additionally, disputes involving support or custody issues can also place a case on hold, leaving the funds in limbo.
But the good news is that the money is there and will eventually get to its intended destination. The problem is that sometimes a recipient whose money is trapped in the system must take the initiative to get it into their personal account.
Dealing with a bureaucracy as complicated as the OAG can be frustrating, confusing and time consuming. This is why if you are having problems getting your payments because there is some sort of systemic issue, you may want to have a Texas family law attorney represent your interests. An experienced attorney could possibly help you get the support payments to which you are entitled.
Source: Everything Lubbock, “Child Support Purgatory Impacts Millions of Dollars for TX Families,” Rachel Glaser, Sept. 29, 2015