Can the Florida Courts Suspend My Driver’s License Over a Failure to Pay Child Support?
The Florida court system has a variety of ways to force delinquent parents to make child support payments. Florida presumes that each parent has a duty and a responsibility to provide support for their children. If a paying parent refuses or is unable to pay child support, the parent who is owed money can petition the court for a contempt order. If the paying parent still doesn’t make those payments, the court can then order a wage garnishment or take active measures to force the parent to make those payments. One of the many tools at the court’s disposal is the suspension of the paying parent’s driver’s license. The courts could also suspend a professional license or even order jail time. This, however, is rare.
In this article, the Largo, Florida child support attorneys will discuss how the Florida courts can suspend a driver’s license if the paying parent refuses or is unable to make required child support payments.
Florida law and the suspension of driver’s licenses for non-payment of child support
Section 322.245 of the 2016 Florida Statutes dictates that a non-paying parent’s driver’s license may be suspended if they do not pay child support. For a driver without a commercial license, the suspension process begins when the parent is 15 days late or fails to comply with a court order to appear (or a subpoena). When this happens, the driver will have 20 days to take one of the following actions to prevent their license from being suspended. Those include:
- Paying the delinquent balance in full
- Entering into an agreement to pay the delinquency (with interest)
- Contesting the delinquency and suspension
How to clear a license suspension based on failure to pay child support
If your driver’s license has been suspended for failure to pay child support, a Largo, Florida family law attorney can help you file a Motion to Contest Driver’s License Suspension. This petitions the court to review your driver’s license suspension. Florida’s policy is to incentivize parents to make child support payments so that the children have the money they need for support. The court is thus, generally, open to allowing a parent to make a lump-sum payment under the total amount owed to stop the suspension of a driver’s license. In other words, the court will set your payment at some percentage of the money owed to prevent your license from being suspended.
Under Florida law, a non-paying parent has 20 days to file a motion to contest a driver’s license suspension. Those who fail to exercise this right and take no other action will see their driver’s licenses suspended. At this point, you would be contesting the suspension after it has taken place. It’s preferable to contest the suspension before it has taken place.
Talk to a Largo, Florida Child Support Attorney Today
Cairns Law, P.A. represents the interests of Largo, Florida residents in child support actions. Call our Largo family lawyers today to schedule an appointment, and we can begin addressing your concerns right away.
