Las Vegas, NV asked in Child Support for Alabama

Q: Is being order to pay child support the same as a civil suit?

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1 Lawyer Answer

A: Essentially, yes. An order to pay support becomes a final order as to that payment. This is very important, because it means that there are jurisdictional limitations on what a court which issues that order can do about giving relief from that order. If you have an order, and you don't pay, and those payments are part of a final order -- and they fell at a time other than when litigation was ongoing -- the COurt can't let you off the hook on those payments. SeeHamilton v Hamilton quoted here: "Child support obligations become final judgments as they accrue, and they cannot be modified. State ex rel. Morris v. Holland, 597 So.2d 223 (Ala.Civ.App.1992)."

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