Child Support Enforcement
The Family Support Act of 1988 requires that all child-support orders contain an automatic wage-witholding provision. This means that when a divorce is finalized and the child support payment has been agreed upon, the state sends an order to your spouse's employer requiring that a portion of his or her pay be withheld and sent to you.
If he doesn't have a regular paycheck, the state can order child support withheld from various other sources, such as Social Security, annuities, and other retirement funds. Nevertheless, it's a fact that only about one-third of court-ordered child support payments are ever actually paid.
Your state's Child Support Enforcement Office has a number of actions it can take against deadbeat dads, including suspension of driver's license (in many states), revocation of professional/occupational licenses, and liens on real estate and other personal property.
What if your spouse simply vanishes? Your State Child Support Enforcement Agency can attempt to trace him, using its Parent Locator Service. This service will check a wide variety of state records, such as motor vehicle registrations, unemployment insurance, state income tax, and correctional facilities, in an attempt to locate him.
In backgrounding a subject -- especially if it's part of a "premarital investigation" -- it's a good idea to check with your state's Child Support Enforcement office to determine whether he is wanted for failure to pay child support.
If he is, it can be a serious matter. He is subject to arrest and forfeiture of all or part of his income and/or assets. A woman who marries a man who owes child support may be found jointly liable for his delinquent payments.
