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Passport denial and child support arrears: what you need to know

Passport denial and child support arrears: what you need to know

A person putting a passport into a briefcase

Almost every parent understands the importance of paying child support in full and on time, even if they don’t agree with the specific amount. Fortunately, Pennsylvania makes it relatively easy to do this. If you have a regular job where you receive regular paychecks, your support payment is withdrawn automatically. Although this creates headaches when it comes to cash flow, it eliminates the issue of having to remember to write a check and falling behind.

But one issue of child support that causes numerous problems for parents is the arrears, or past due support. Having an arrears balance can lead to consequences like having it reported to credit bureaus, seizing a bank account, or even rejecting your application for a passport. If you are planning to travel internationally and need a passport, it is critical that you address outstanding arrears.

What are arrears?

Put simply, arrears is child support that you were supposed to pay but haven’t. A lot of parents say “but I have my paycheck garnished each month, how can I be in arrears?” The reason is one of timing. In Pennsylvania, child support is retroactive to the date of filing. Originally created so as to not punish a parent for delays between when they filed and when they finally get a support order, this creates a huge amount of past due support. If a parent files for support on January 1^st and an order isn’t entered until April 30^th, the order will show that you owed money beginning January 1^st. If your obligation is especially large, you can easily find yourself learning that you suddenly owe $10,000 in back child support.

What does this have to do with my passport?

Under the federal Passport Denial Program, if you owe $2,500 or more in child support, you are not eligible to receive a passport. This means that if you go to apply for or renew one, your application will be denied. This is the case even if the reason for owing more than $2,500 is because you only found out on the date of your first support conference. Once you are deemed ineligible for a passport, you can only be removed from the denial list once you pay off the past due amount in full. This means, that even if you bring the balance down to under $2,500, your name will not be automatically removed from the denial list.

How likely is this happen?

In recent years, Domestic Relations offices are getting increasingly stricter about applying penalties for carrying large arrears balances. The remedies of suspending driver’s licenses, reporting the arrears to the State Department, and reporting the arrears to credit bureaus start happening when the balance reaches approximately $7,500. As you can see, it’s extremely easy to reach that amount if you have a large obligation and you had a long wait between when the petition was filed and when you received the final support order.

How can you prevent this?

If you have a current arrears balance, the simplest solution is to pay what you owe. That will prevent Domestic Relations from taking enforcement actions against you. If you were just served with a notice for a child support proceeding, it is critical that you contact an attorney immediately. An attorney can calculate your potential support obligation in advance of the conference. This can result in reaching an agreement before you even go to court, or if that isn’t possible, it allows you to make payments in advance. Making payments before you have a child support order either reduces or entirely eliminates the arrears. If you do receive notice of your passport being affected, your attorney can also request that the Court release the suspension. This is not guaranteed, but it has been done.

The most important part to remember is that it is far easier to resolve arrears before you have a support order than after one is entered. By working with counsel in advance of your conference, you can prevent hours of frustration trying to resolve enforcement actions.