The court ordered your spouse to pay child support after your divorce. After all, they earn far more money than you, and the court is trying to even out some of the costs of raising the child. You still have custody rights, but you need support to help cover things like housing, food, clothing, transportation costs, school-related costs and other necessities.
Unfortunately, your ex has now refused to make those payments. At first, they were just late with the payments, but then they started skipping payments entirely. Because you’re not getting the money you’re owed, you’re wondering if you should refuse to exchange custody. After all, denying them access to their child should influence them to make those support payments again.
Do not violate the custody order
Even if this seems like a logical step to take, it is illegal and a violation of your ex’s rights. If they have custody rights, you have to follow that official court order.
That said, there are other ways that you can get your ex to pay child support. For instance, in some cases, courts will use wage garnishment to take the payments out of your ex’s paychecks before they receive them. In other cases, the court can intercept tax refunds from the IRS and transfer those funds to you if your ex still owes back payments. There are other potential options courts have, such as jail time or license suspensions, if your ex still refuses to comply.
In other words, this isn’t something you want to address on your own. Instead, make sure you understand the proper legal steps to take so that the court can help you enforce the child support payments legally.