In the majority of family law cases, child support is paid through what is called an Income Deduction Order or Income Withholding Order. This is also known as wage garnishment. Most payors of child support would like to know what, if anything, they have to do to make sure that the child support amount stops being garnished upon the child support obligation ending. Sometimes, the garnishment will stop automatically, but sometimes it will not. This depends on how the order allowing an employer to garnish wages was drafted, and whether a termination date was included at that time. Under the current status of the law in Florida, a termination date is required; however, this was not always the case. If your income is subject to garnishment based upon an older child support order, it is a good idea to find out whether the order in your specific case has a termination date or not. It is also important to know that if there is no termination date, the garnishment cannot be stopped immediately. This means that you should check on this issue well in advance of the end of your child support obligation. Additionally, if an arrearage is owed, and your child support is paid through wage garnishment, you may not be entitled to lower the amount of child support paid every month even after all of your children have either turned 18 or graduated from high school. The safest way to ensure that you comply with all of your child support obligations, and that your child support obligation terminates when it should, is to consult with a knowledgeable and experienced family law attorney who can help guide you through this process.
