Noncustodial parents in Arizona and the rest of country who fail to pay child support payments as they have been ordered to do so may be subject to certain enforcement measures. One of those measures may include the Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act. Established in 1998, the DPPA is a federal child support statute aimed at penalizing parents who purposely fail to make child support payments by relocating to another state to avoid their obligations.
Parents can be held accountable under the DPPA in certain situations. This includes if the parents travel to another state in order to not make child support payment, fail to make payments for over a year and the amount in arrears is over $5,000. The DPPA is also applied to parents who relocate to another state for the purpose of avoiding making child support payments, fail to make payment for longer than two years and owe more than $10,000.
Parents who are convicted under the DPPA can be imprisoned for six months or less for their first offense. For a second offense, the court can sentence them to prison for no more than two years. A parent sentenced under the DPPA can also be required to restitution in the amount of the child support that is in arrears.
Parents seeking back child support may file a DPPA case in any federal court in the country. A DPPA case can also be heard where the child resides and the state where the child support payments have not been received as well as where the parent has resided.
Legal matters regarding child support may be resolved with the assistance of a family law attorney. The attorney may examine the factors of a client’s case and provide advice as to how to obtain delinquent child support payments if DPPA is not applicable.