Congratulations! Your divorce is final. You’ve survived the paperwork, the legal fees, and the emotional roller coaster. Surely the expensive part is over, right?
That’s adorable.
You’ve got a signed divorce decree. The rules are established. Custody, visitation, child support, medical expenses, holidays. It’s all there, in black and white, signed by a judge.
What could possibly go wrong?
Well, as it turns out, having a court order and having someone actually follow it are two very different things.
And when those orders aren’t followed, enforcing them can become an entirely new expense.
Let’s talk about child support.
Imagine you’re owed money that a judge has already ordered someone to pay. The amount has been established, the obligation is clear, and yet the payments aren’t coming.
Meanwhile, your child’s expenses haven’t stopped. So you’re covering those costs while trying to navigate the legal process of collecting the support you’re already owed.
Here’s where things get interesting.
You can end up spending thousands of dollars trying to collect thousands of dollars you’re already owed.
Depending on the circumstances, hiring a family law attorney can mean an initial retainer of $8,000 to $10,000, with hourly rates of $400 or more. Every email, phone call, document review, and court appearance adds to the bill.
And if you’ve ever hired an attorney, you know how quickly a retainer can disappear.
Texas does offer child support enforcement services through the Office of the Attorney General. But for parents pursuing enforcement through private attorneys, particularly when other custody or legal issues are involved, the costs can add up quickly.
Then there’s the waiting.
Because apparently, having a judge sign an order doesn’t mean you get to skip the part where you go back to court to establish that someone hasn’t followed it.
There’s a legal process, and understandably so. Both parties deserve due process. But that process takes time, and sometimes a considerable amount of money.
The irony is that the parent who’s already missing court-ordered financial support may have to spend even more money trying to obtain it.
And eventually, some parents face a difficult decision: continue paying legal fees in hopes of collecting what’s owed, or accept that pursuing the money may cost more than they’ll ever recover.
It’s one of those realities of divorce that doesn’t get nearly enough attention. A signed decree establishes legal obligations, but it doesn’t guarantee compliance or make enforcement effortless.
Which leaves me with one question:
