Child Support Enforcement in Missouri

If you're a Missouri parent who's having trouble collecting the money you're owed under your child support order, help is available from the state and its courts. And if you're a parent who owes support, you should know the potential consequences of not paying support.

Income Withholding for Child Support

Under Missouri law, all child support orders must include an income withholding order, unless there's a good reason not to require that or the parents have agreed to another arrangement for paying support. With income withholding, the support payments are automatically taken out of any income received by the parent who owes support (usually the parent who doesn't have physical custody of the child most of the time).

Income doesn't just mean salaries and wages. Child support may also be withheld from workers' compensation benefits, disability benefits, pension payments, and other periodic payments that the parent receives.

(Mo. Rev. Stat. § 452.350 (2024).)

Getting Help From Missouri's Child Support Enforcement Agency

If you aren't receiving your child support payments on time (or at all), you can get help from the Family Support Division (FSD) in Missouri's Department of Social Services. Unless you're receiving public assistance for your child, you'll need to apply for services and pay a small fee ($35).

Like similar agencies in all states, Missouri's FSD has several methods of enforcing child support orders. Depending on how much a parent owes in overdue support ("arrearages"), these enforcement tools include:

• withholding the overdue support from income (along with the current payments)
• intercepting income tax refunds
• seizing the money from the delinquent parent's bank accounts
• filing liens on the delinquent parent's house or other real estate, so that the parent can't sell or borrow money on the property without paying the child support debt
• filing liens on the parent's car, boat, personal injury claim, or other assets
• reporting the debt to consumer credit agencies, which can hurt the parent's credit rating, and
• having the delinquent parent's driver's license, professional or occupational license, recreational licenses, or passport suspended or revoked, and
• referring the case for contempt proceedings (more on that below).

(Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 454.505—454.519 (2024).)

Enforcing Child Support in Georgia's Courts

You also have the option of going directly to court to ask a judge to find your co-parent in contempt of court for intentionally failing to obey the child support order. You'll need to file a written request (a motion for an order to show cause) and serve the other parent with the court papers.

The court will schedule a hearing on the contempt motion. The delinquent parent will have the right to appear at the hearing and try to convince the judge that there was a good reason they couldn't pay the support.

When parents are found in contempt for failing to pay child support, judges will often allow them to "purge" the contempt by paying the arrearages. But if they don't do that, delinquent parents could face fines or even jail time.

(Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 476.110, 476.120 (2024).)

When Can Deadbeat Parents Face Criminal Charges?

Under Missouri law, parents may face criminal charges for knowingly failing to pay child support. As a defense, they can try to prove that they weren't able to pay. But if that's not successful and they're convicted, they'll face the penalties allowed in Missouri for a Class A misdemeanor—or a Class E felony if they owe more than 12 months' worth of unpaid support. (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 568.040 (2024).)

Willful refusal to pay child support is also a federal crime if the delinquent parent:

• lives in a different state than the child or has traveled to another state to avoid paying child support, and
• hasn't paid support in more than a year or owes at least $5,000 in arrears.

Parents found guilty of this crime could face fines, imprisonment, or both. (18 U.S.C. § 228 (2024).)

When Do You Need a Lawyer's Help With Child Support Enforcement?

Most custodial parents in Missouri who are having trouble collecting child support will start by getting help from FSD. In addition to the application fee, the agency charges only a small annual fee once it has collected more than $550 in support. Noncustodial parents may also receive help from FSD when they've lost income or had other financial setbacks that make it difficult to pay support. They may request a review of their current orders to see if they qualify for a change in the amount of support they owe.

If you decide to enforce your child support order directly in court—or you're facing contempt proceedings—you should strongly consider speaking with a local, experienced family law attorney who can help you navigate the legal system and represent you at the contempt hearing. If you decide to represent yourself in court, you'll need to complete Missouri's Litigant Awareness Program to learn about the responsibilities and dangers involved in taking that step.