An interesting story regarding unclaimed tax refunds has relevance to a primary family law concern, and we pass it along for our readers as a segue to a brief focus on Georgia child support.
Reportedly, about $1 billion is currently sitting with the IRS as money owed to taxpayers across the country who haven’t formally claimed their entitlements.
The story focuses especially on the 2011 tax year, noting that 36,200 Georgia tax filers are collectively owed many millions of dollars. In fact, the average amount owed is $628.
You’d think that people would be paying attention to that, given that the cited average is no small chunk of change.
In addition to that information, the Atlanta-based story on unclaimed tax refunds also notes that any portion of a tax refund can be readily intercepted by state authorities to pay for delinquent child support payments.
That seems to beg this question: What other sources of income can authorities lay claim to on behalf of a custodial parent not being fully and timely paid the support owed for a child?
The quick answer: lots.
In fact, and as noted by a relevant Georgia website addressing child support, a number of collection avenues are open to compel payment. They include these possibilities:
- Wage garnishment
- Withholding payments from unemployment benefits
- Subtracting money from workers’ compensation benefits
- Intercepting lottery winnings
- Filing liens and levies on property
- Suspending various licenses (e.g., occupational, driving, hunting)
And, of course, a Georgia court can find a non-payer to be in contempt and both jail and fine that person.
Questions and concerns from both custodial parents not being fully paid support that is owed, and parents charged with paying child support, can be directed to an experienced Georgia family law attorney.
