Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act [DPPA] Law — Legal Definition

Author’s Note:

Check out what good ole Bill Clinton did for the American public! The problem is that too many State prosecutors sit on their asses and ignore the law, probably because their budget does not allow for Deadbeat Dad law enforcement. What actually happens to the government funds that are supposed to go to your local child support enforcement? Hummm…

Even though Bill’s law is an amendment to the Child Support Recovery Act of 1992, it addresses interstate cases only and doesn’t address what a person can do to get a deadbeat parent to pay within the state.

Another loophole to allow deadbeat dads off the gaff?

What if the Deadbeat Dad owes over $90,000 in child support and another $45,000 in alimony, such as in my case? What happens when a parent attempts to get Child Support Enforcement, local law enforcement AND the State’s Attorney to prosecute a Deadbeat Dad who is not within the legal definition of the DPPA because nobody has crossed state lines of the jurisdiction of where the case originated? What? No funding?

I am still waiting, after repeated attempts to get the State to enforce the child support and alimony orders, per statute, since 1997. While a hearing is pending a Court order to “Set Payment to Arrears”, I do not consider this justice when State statues define the slacker in my life as a felonious, well, deadbeat dad who owes considerably more than the $2,5000 in child support threshold set by statute — which has remained unpaid since, well, 1997. All the while, this man is amassing new homes, luxury items, and traveling to exotic locations … and laughing all the way to the bank. 

Read how I garnished over 16 bank accounts and collected a small portion of the arrears, how a deadbeat dad’s refusal to pay causes serious repercussions in our now-adult children (one who shot himself in the head on purpose), and how this angry mother is raising public awareness of how the State and local enforcement agencies turn a blind eye to justice…again, and again, and again…with serious consequences to not only my family but the community as a whole.

Let’s explore the law together in upcoming articles in The Just Call Me Charley Blog where I’ll get down and dirty… Stay tuned! 

If you are a parent attempting to collect past due child support and/or alimony, I want to hear from you! Please post a comment below. 

Author’s Update:

I successfully collected over 95 percent of the support since I last posted this article. The only monies that remain are mandatory interest and costs for enforcing the judgment. I hope my readers will send me their updates, as well. To date, not including my own judgments, I have helped Pro se litigants worldwide to collect over $750,000 (that’s 3/4 of a million dollars) in unpaid support over two years. As always, I do not require even one penny for directing readers to their local, state and federal collections guidelines, statutes, and codes —  or for holding their hand throughout the process. In helping the children caught in the middle of parental feuds, I apparently have muffled some feathers along the way. However, in the best interest of children everywhere, I applaud the fortitude of my readers. And, by the way, it is not only Dads who owe child support. There are some Moms who were Court Ordered to pay support and tried to move out of state to avoid payment, as well. The Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act applies to “parents” — not just men…

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Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act is a Federal statute that makes it a felony for parents to cross state lines with the intention of getting out of child support payments. It also provides strict guidelines for the punishment of these so-called deadbeat parents. The term “deadbeat parents” refers to parents who have failed to pay the required child support payments.

The Act provides felony penalties if :

1. a person travels across state lines intending to evade a child-support obligation that is over $5,000 or that has remained unpaid longer than one year, or

2. a person willfully fails to pay support for a child living in a different state if that obligation is greater than $10,000 or if it remains unpaid for more than two years.

In addition to these punishments, a parent found to be in violation of his or her legal obligation to support his or her children will be placed on probation. Violation of the probation terms will result in additional jail time. The specific terms of deadbeat probation include:

• The parent must financially support his or her children, as per their legal obligation.
• The parent must pursue employment in order to continue making the support payments. If the parent is unemployed, he or she will perform community service.
• The parent will appear at all necessary court functions, specifically child support hearings.

The Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1998, as an amendment to the Child Support Recovery Act of 1992.

via Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act [DPPA] Law & Legal Definition.

Oh, There’s More!

U.S. Code› Title 18 › Part I › Chapter 11A › § 228

18 U.S. Code § 228 – Failure to pay legal child support obligations

Current through Pub. L. 113-185. (See Public Laws for the current Congress.)

• US Code
• Notes

 (a) Offense.— Any person who—

(1) willfully fails to pay a support obligation with respect to a child who resides in another State, if such obligation has remained unpaid for a period longer than 1 year, or is greater than $5,000;

(2) travels in interstate or foreign commerce with the intent to evade a support obligation, if such obligation has remained unpaid for a period longer than 1 year, or is greater than $5,000; or

(3) willfully fails to pay a support obligation with respect to a child who resides in another State, if such obligation has remained unpaid for a period longer than 2 years, or is greater than $10,000;

shall be punished as provided in subsection (c).

(b) Presumption.— The existence of a support obligation that was in effect for the time period charged in the indictment or information creates a rebuttable presumption that the obligor has the ability to pay the support obligation for that time period.

(c) Punishment.— The punishment for an offense under this section is—

(1) in the case of a first offense under subsection (a)(1), a fine under this title, imprisonment for not more than 6 months, or both; and

(2) in the case of an offense under paragraph (2) or (3) of subsection (a), or a second or subsequent offense under subsection (a)(1), a fine under this title, imprisonment for not more than 2 years, or both.

(d) Mandatory Restitution.— Upon a conviction under this section, the court shall order restitution under section3663A in an amount equal to the total unpaid support obligation as it exists at the time of sentencing.

(e) Venue.— With respect to an offense under this section, an action may be inquired of and prosecuted in a district court of the United States for—

(1) the district in which the child who is the subject of the support obligation involved resided during a period during which a person described in subsection (a) (referred to in this subsection as an “obliger”) failed to meet that support obligation;

(2) the district in which the obliger resided during a period described in paragraph (1); or

(3) any other district with jurisdiction otherwise provided for by law.

 (f) Definitions.— As used in this section—

(1) the term “Indian tribe” has the meaning given that term in section 102 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 479a);

(2) the term “State” includes any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States; and

(3) the term “support obligation” means any amount determined under a court order or an order of an administrative process pursuant to the law of a State or of an Indian tribe to be due from a person for the support and maintenance of a child or of a child and the parent with whom the child is living.

 Source

(Added Pub. L. 102–521, § 2(a), Oct. 25, 1992, 106 Stat. 3403; amended Pub. L. 104–294, title VI, § 607(l), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3512; Pub. L. 105–187, § 2, June 24, 1998, 112 Stat. 618.)

 Amendments

1998—Pub. L. 105–187 reenacted section catchline without change and amended text generally. Prior to amendment, section consisted of subsecs. (a) to (d) relating to a description of the offense, punishment for an offense, restitution upon conviction of an offense, and definitions of terms used in this section.

1996—Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 104–294 inserted “commonwealth,” before “possession or territory of the United States”.

Short Title of 1998 Amendment

Pub. L. 105–187, § 1,June 24, 1998, 112 Stat. 618, provided that: “This Act [amending this section] may be cited as the ‘Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act of 1998’.”

Short Title

Pub. L. 102–521, § 1,Oct. 25, 1992, 106 Stat. 3403, provided that: “This Act [enacting this section and sections3796cc to 3796cc–6 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, amending section 3563 of this title and section 3797 of Title 42, and enacting provisions set out as a note under section 12301 of Title 42] may be cited as the ‘Child Support Recovery Act of 1992’.”