QUESTION
Does he have the right to take our children on weekends and not pay child support either?
Asked on Sep 18th, 2013 on Child Custody - Utah
More details to this question:
I separated from my husband with a 1 year old and a 12 year old child. He just recently got a DUI and spent time in rehab for alcohol abuse. We live in Utah.
2 ANSWERS
Parent time is not dependent on the payment of child support and child support is not dependent on parent time. Your husband has the obligation to pay child support whether or not he sees the children. Similarly, he has the right to see the children whether or not he pays child support. You may have valid reasons for asking for restrictions on, or supervision of, his parent time based on his recent DUI and his history of alcohol abuse. You will want to obtain an order regarding custody, parent time and support on a temporary basis. If you already have such an order, you may want to consider modifying the order regarding parent time based on the DUI incident.
Answered on Sep 20th, 2013 at 12:23 PM
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Yes to your first question (although it's not a statutory right), and no to the second (and you get child support garnished from his wages even if you have no court order by going through ORS, the Office of Recovery Services). Now before you jump online and start going nuts, the better thing to do is make a half-hour appointment to meet and consult with a good family law attorney.
Answered on Sep 20th, 2013 at 9:03 AM