Child support on man’s Christmas list

A man has sparked laughter and the supportive honks of a few car horns with his hand-painted sign that he put out in his front for people, including the mother of his children, to see. The sign tells Santa Claus that all he wants for Christmas is child support, about $30,000 of back child support to be exact.

The man works as a handyman and sends his two daughters to a private school. He claims to be low on money this Christmas season, and also claims that the mother of the two girls pays the equivalent of three dollars in child support every ninety days. While other family members and friends had to help him get Christmas gifts for his daughters, the man has little hope that his ex will actually what he claims she owes.

In Maryland, posting a sign one’s front yard may work as an effective shaming technique so that the non-custodial parents pays the child support that he or she owes. However, Maryland does provide several child support enforcement mechanisms for a parent to use if an ex-spouse or ex-partner does not pay the child support he or she owes.

For example, a person who falls behind in child support may be subject to wage garnishments than capture approximately one-half of a person’s pay check. Licenses suspensions and orders that freeze a person’s bank accounts are also a possibility. In serious cases, a Maryland parent who is delinquent in his or her child support may face contempt of court and, with that, the possibility of jail time.

Source: WREG, “Man wants child support for Christmas” Sabrina Hall, Dec. 21, 2012.