Can Parents Stop Child Support if Their Kids Don’t Visit?

 Many parents who are legally required to pay child support for their children become frustrated because they must continue to pay support even if a child is not in their lives. Parents in New York have an obligation to pay child support according to Family Court Act §413 and NY Domestic Relations Law Section § 240. Money for child support can be withheld from wages automatically, and parents who do not pay can face serious legal consequences- but what happens if you are paying and your child is becoming alienated from you or you are being denied visits?

Courts have been mixed in their rulings of when parents have been permitted to stop child support payments. While you are usually going to be made to pay until your child is an adult, there are some circumstances where parents could get their support stopped.  If you want to explore the possibility of modifying your support order, or of making a change to a visitation schedule if you are not seeing your child, a New York City divorce lawyer can help you.

When Can Parents Stop Paying Child Support?

 In a 2015 case, Matter of Coull v. Rottman, the Appellate Division heard an appeal from an order of a Westchester County family court. The family court had denied a father’s petition to enforce his visitation rights, and granted a mother’s petition to suspend the father’s visitation with his child. The court also denied the father’s petition to end his child support obligation if his visitation rights were not enforced.

The Appeals Court reversed the decision on child support. A pattern of alienation had resulted from the mother’s continued interference with the visitation schedule, and the child no longer wished to visit with his father. The father was also not told about the child’s school events or his medical needs and court records reflected the mother had assumed an “inappropriately hostile” stance towards the father and towards witnesses testifying in the father’s favor. The mother had previously stated she would do whatever it took to keep the child from the father and that she would never allow the father to see the child.

Because the mother had prevented the ongoing and continued relationship, it was not in the child’s best interests to force him to see his father since the child was 13 and had expressed a strong preference not to see the father. However, under these circumstances, the father would no longer be forced to pay child support.

While this is good news for parents whose children have been alienated, other courts have, in the past, declined to stop support payments. In Matter of Philip D. v. Marietta E., for example, the court would not suspend or terminate child support because the father had not proved that the mother willfully and deliberately alienated the child.  The court ruled the father had not taken responsibility for his own role in causing the alienation.

The key difference is whether the custodial parent wrongfully interfered with or withheld visitation rights. NY Domestic Law Section 241 explains the situations under which support payments will be suspended.  According to the relevant law, the payments can be suspended and arrears cancelled only during the period when visitation rights are withheld or are being interfered with unlawfully by the custodial parent.

If you are being forced to pay support when the custodial parent has prevented you from seeing your child, you need to take legal action and make a compelling argument to protect your relationship with your child and to protect your finances. A New York family court lawyer can help you to pursue legal action, so call an attorney as soon as possible.