Failure to pay child support can result in serious consequences. Maryland has a strong policy disfavoring those who avoid their child support obligations. However, there are a number of technical rules and time limitations that apply in order to compel a parent to pay child support arrearages.
In a 2009 case, a circuit court found a man in constructive civil contempt for failing to pay child support that had been ordered in 1987. Before the contempt finding, the man had asked the petition for civil contempt to be dismissed. He argued that the Department of Human Resources had not properly served him with the paperwork.
The case arose when a baby was born in 1983. Four years later, the baby’s mother filed a petition to establish the baby’s paternity and claimed that the man was the baby’s father. He responded by entering into a consent paternity degree that obligated him to pay $20 per week in child support. The decree also required him to obtain consent to leave the state, report address changes to the Bureau of Support Enforcement, and to appear in response to any related notices. Continue reading