A significant number of families choose to reach an agreement between them. There are established aspects such as the amount of money and the type of maintenance that children will receive.

This is called a family-based agreement.

However, if the parties do not agree, or if an existing arrangement no longer works, there are other legal ways of organizing the maintenance of the children.

For example, for the child support lawyer to draw up an agreement for you or take the case to court.

 A person has the right to choose a representative to act on their behalf with respect to their child support case.

This representative can receive all correspondence that would normally be sent to the client, act on his behalf to inform changes in circumstances and submit a request for maintenance in the first instance.

However, if the representative is not a legally qualified person (for example, a child support lawyer), written authorization must be provided by the principal before anyone can act on their behalf.

When submitting an application on behalf of a client, the same details that the client would have to present in the case, such as information from both parents and children, are required.

Section 228 of Title 18 of the United States Code provides that it is illegal for a person to voluntarily not pay child support in certain circumstances.

On the one hand, an individual is subject to federal prosecution if he or she voluntarily fails to pay child support that has been ordered by a court for a child living in another state; if the payment is due for more than 1 year; or if it exceeds the amount of $ 5,000 dollars.

A violation of this law is a misdemeanor, and the convicted criminal faces fines and up to 6 months in prison.

If, in the same circumstances, the payment of child support is due for more than 2 years, or the amount exceeds $ 10,000, it is a criminal offense, and convicted criminals face fines and up to 2 years in prison .

Finally, this statute prohibits persons obligated to pay child support to cross state borders or flee the country with the intention of avoiding paying the respective maintenance that has been due more than 1 year, or exceeds $ 5,000. Anyone convicted of this crime can face up to 2 years in prison.

 However, apart from the specific circumstances mentioned above, the problems of compliance with child support are handled by state and local authorities, and not by the federal government.

All matters related to child support must be addressed at the local or state level before they can be taken to the federal level.