Enforcing child support payments

If you don’t pay the child support you’re meant to pay, Inland Revenue can ask the Family Court to make you come to court so it can check your finances. If you don’t attend court when you're told to, the court can issue a warrant for your arrest.

If the Family Court decides you don’t have the money to pay the child support, it could cancel your debt or let you pay it later.

If the Family Court decides you can afford to pay some child support, it can make an order changing the amount, or an order about how you must pay the child support.

If the Family Court decides you can afford to pay the child support but are refusing to do so, it could sentence you to do community work.

If the Family Court believes you're planning to leave New Zealand to avoid paying the child support, it may issue a warrant for your arrest. You can then be arrested even if you're only in transit from one country to another.