• Child support is ordered in a divorce, so that your children are afforded the standard of living they had with two parents living in the same home. Most states figure child support based on a percentage of income. If both parties make the same money every year, each party pays 50 percent of the child support. If the husband's income is 40 percent of the wife's income, the husband's share of the child support obligation is 40 percent of the amount dictated by statutes for the income bracket of the parties and the number of children.
  
  

Garnishment

• If your Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage provides that you pay child support directly to the primary residential parent, and you do not pay it, the primary parent could request that the court garnish your wages. An income deduction order is entered into the court file and forwarded to the State Depository Unit or the Clerk of Court. The income deduction order is also forwarded to your employer. Your employer must start deductions as soon as it gets the order, or it will incur fines.
  
  If there is an income deduction order in your file, when you change jobs, you must notify the Clerk of Court and the State Disbursement Unit (if applicable), and you must provide your new employer with a copy of the income deduction order. If there is a break in payments, you are responsible for sending the "missed" payment or payments. Depending on your state and the order entered, you might have to send the payments through the state depository unit, the clerk of court, or directly to the primary residential parent. If you send payments directly to the primary residential payment, be sure to use a check or money order, and to write "Child Support for month of xxx for [child's name]" on the memo line. Also, add your case number to the line. You can find the case number on the Final Judgment or any other child support order.
  
  

Loss of License

• If your wages have been garnished, and you change jobs or quit your job and do not report a new job for purposes of garnishment, the primary residential parent could file a motion for contempt for non-payment of child support. If the court finds that you are avoiding child support purposely, it can suspend your driver's license. The only way to get your license back is to "purge" the amount due. Most courts will not reinstate your license unless you pay the full amount of in arrears. Once you pay the full amount owed (or the agreed amount, if the court agrees to reinstate for a partial payment), you must file a motion to reinstate your driver's license, attend a hearing to get an order, then forward the order to the State Depository Unit or the Clerk of Court and the motor vehicle department.
  
  

Jail Time

• Should you still not pay the child support, and arrearages continue to grow, the court might order jail time. The maximum jail time for non-payment of child support is set by your state's statutes, and it is the court's discretion as to how much jail time it actually awards (at, or below the statutory maximum).