Owe child support in Texas? Good luck trying to renew your car’s registration.
Starting in December, those who don’t pay child support for six months must show they have resumed at least partial payments before they can renew their vehicle registration. According to the Texas Attorney General’s office, about 2,000 people will be impacted each month.
In a statement the Texas attorney general said, “The OAG’s Child Support Division uses every available means to gain compliance with court orders and get lawfully obligated money to children, “It is not the desire of the OAG to take away a parent’s transportation; it is our desire to see that Texas children receive court ordered child support.”
Notices will be sent to parents with past-due child support payments when they are 90 days away from their registration renewal date. Parents must then contact the AG’s office to arrange a “satisfactory” payment plan.
All 50 states currently can suspend or revoke driver’s licenses for noncustodial parents that fail to pay child support. Only three states – Iowa, Louisiana and now Texas- have restrictions on vehicle registrations.
According to the Congressional Research Service, only about 40 percent of custodial parents nationwide receive the full amount of child support that is owed to them. The average yearly child support payment received by custodial parents was around $5000 for mothers and $6,500 for fathers.