Originally Posted by
theuncertainty 
I'd say it probably depends a great deal on what kind of guy your STBX is. I filed for child support service through the state in October 2009 - months before I filed for divorce. I told them where he was working and everything. They finally got a single partial payment from him in July 2010, then he quit / got fired and the state had to start chasing him. Though they did garnish a dividend check of his.
(note: The parent who needs to pay support can even file with the state and voluntarily start paying before the recipient asks for payments.)
Our divorce was final in December 2010 and the court made his custody payments retroactive. The state finally caught up with him again in April 2011. And now the state has been chasing him again for the past few months.
I think I want to move to Texas, Skipper. The State's child support services talks about possible jail time for non-payment, but I've yet to hear confirmation that they actually enforce to that degree. *shrug*
Oh yes, Uncertainty,
The last time we were before the Judge, we were given the opportunity to watch 'parents' in their orange jumpsuits plead their cases before the judge before our case came up on the docket. There were several of them shackled in court, and trying to give excuses. The Judge wasn't putting up with it. For every $3.25 they made per day while in jail, the judge garnished that for their kids and set the unpaid amounts in arrears. ...
For our case, my ex got 30 counts of contempt for non-payment (working under the table) and instead of getting the decrease he filed for, the Judge ordered an increase. (we were able to demonstrate his increased standard of living). He was on probation for 5 years for that. He did pay faithfully during his probation, and the moment that expired, he quit his job and started dealing drugs.
The top law enforcement office of Texas does not look too highly upon a 'parent' who does such things to avoid their children's support.
I'll let you know how this plays out.