Parents in New York who fall behind on their child support could then find themselves struggling to get a loan or facing higher interest rates. This is because child support collection agencies report missed child support payments to credit bureaus, and therefore this missed disbursements may appear on credit reports and lower a person’s score. In fact, these types of missed payments can be regarded as seriously as missed mortgage payments.
Some experts suggest that a parent who must pay child support should arrange to do so directly in order to make arrangements privately. However, sometimes, the other parent prefers that the support go through an agency so that there will be repercussions in the case of missed payments.
This does not mean that a person who is struggling to pay child support has no options. If the difficulty happens because the person has lost their job or had a similar change in circumstances, it may be possible to file for a modification based on that change.
Parents who are concerned about paying or receiving child support may want to discuss those concerns with an attorney. While one parent might want to try to force the other to pay as much child support as possible, they should keep in mind that making unreasonable demands and dragging out the divorce is not in the child’s best interests. Conversely, a parent who is owed child support should also make certain that they do not allow the other parent to neglect their responsibilities. Within the formula that determines child support based on factors such as parental income, parents might be able to work out an arrangement that is fair to both of them.