Florida Child Support Enforcement Laws

When the other parent stops paying court-ordered child support, you have real options. Florida can garnish wages automatically, suspend licenses, and bring the other parent before a judge on contempt charges. You do not have to wait months hoping the payments start again on their own.

Every missed payment becomes a debt the other parent legally owes your child, and that debt does not disappear on its own. Left alone, it grows, and the parent who isn’t paying has less reason to start. Florida’s enforcement system exists to change that, whether your case runs through the Department of Revenue or directly through the circuit court.

What Enforcement Means When a Child Support Order Isn’t Being Followed

Enforcement is the set of legal and administrative tools available once a parent falls behind on a court-ordered support obligation. Every enforcement case starts with an existing Florida child support order that already sets the amount owed and how it gets paid. Falling behind does not mean starting over; it means activating tools already built into Florida law to bring that order back into force.

Florida gives you two main paths to do that: administrative enforcement through the Department of Revenue’s Child Support Program, or enforcement directly through circuit court. Many cases use both over time. The right starting point depends on how much is owed and how quickly you need results.

How the Department of Revenue Enforces Support Without a New Court Hearing

For many Florida cases, the state’s fastest enforcement tools do not require a new hearing. The Department of Revenue’s Child Support Program can act administratively once a case becomes delinquent.

• Income deduction orders. Florida law requires an income deduction order in nearly every support case, directing the paying parent’s employer to withhold support from each paycheck. When arrears exist, the order can direct an additional withholding on top of ongoing support until the arrears are paid in full.^[1]
• License suspension. Florida can suspend a delinquent parent’s driver’s license and motor vehicle registration through the depository’s notice process, and you can petition the court to suspend or deny the parent’s professional or occupational license.^[2]
• Liens, tax refund intercepts, and credit reporting. The Department of Revenue can place liens on property, intercept state and federal tax refunds, and report delinquent accounts to credit bureaus.
• Passport denial. Once past-due support exceeds $2,500, the parent who owes it can be blocked from getting or renewing a U.S. passport. The block lifts once the balance is resolved or a payment arrangement is in place.^[3]

Circuit Court Enforcement: Contempt of Court

When administrative tools fall short, or you need faster and more direct pressure, the case can go before a judge in a contempt proceeding.^[4] The court examines whether the parent had the ability to pay and simply chose not to.

Florida law creates a presumption that a parent found able to pay when the support order was entered still has that ability, unless they prove otherwise. That shifts the burden onto the non-paying parent to show why they should not be held in contempt.

In many cases, the court can also order the noncompliant parent to cover your attorney’s fees and costs, based on both parties’ financial circumstances.^[5] That award is not automatic. It depends on need, ability to pay, and whether the noncompliant parent had a real justification for missing payments.

Criminal Nonsupport: When Missed Payments Become a Crime

In serious cases, unpaid child support stops being just a civil matter. Florida law makes it a first-degree misdemeanor for a parent to willfully fail to provide support they have the ability to pay. A fourth violation of that misdemeanor, or a first violation where the arrears exceed $5,000 and have gone unpaid for more than a year, is a third-degree felony.^[6]

Criminal charges are reserved for the most persistent, willful cases. Most Florida enforcement never reaches this point. It remains a real consequence for parents who repeatedly refuse to pay despite having the means to do so.

DOR Enforcement or a Private Attorney: Choosing the Right Path

The Department of Revenue’s Child Support Program can pursue many of the tools above at no direct cost to you. It is worth understanding what that path offers, and what it does not, before you rely on it alone.

• What the DOR route offers. No attorney fees, established administrative processes, and access to tools like income deduction and license suspension without filing a new lawsuit.
• What it does not offer. The department’s attorney represents the state’s interest in collecting support, not you personally, and DOR cases move on the department’s timeline and priorities.
• What private representation adds. Direct control over strategy and timing, the ability to pursue contempt and attorney’s fees in circuit court, and a single point of contact who answers to you.

Some parents start with the Department of Revenue and bring in a private attorney once a case stalls or the amount owed grows large enough to justify more direct pressure. Others go straight to circuit court because they need the case to move faster than the administrative process allows.

What It Takes to Prove an Enforcement Case, and What the Other Parent May Argue

To succeed in a contempt action, you generally need to show that a valid support order exists, that payments are past due, and that the other parent has the present ability to pay. Payment records from the State Disbursement Unit, bank statements, and a clear accounting of what is owed all matter here.

The other parent’s most common defense is an inability to pay, whether from job loss, illness, or a genuine change in income. Florida law allows the court to consider that defense, but the burden is on the non-paying parent to prove it, not on you to disprove it. A parent who deliberately reduces income or refuses available work does not automatically get the benefit of that defense.

How Kalish & Jaggars Approaches Child Support Enforcement

You should not have to guess whether pursuing enforcement is worth it, or navigate the Department of Revenue’s process alone while support keeps going unpaid. During your consultation, you talk, and we listen.

We walk you through exactly how much is owed, which enforcement tools apply to your case, and what a realistic timeline looks like. You leave with a clear roadmap and transparent answers about fees, not just a quote.

We handle enforcement cases across Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties, with the local courthouse familiarity that comes from doing this work here every day.