Legal Definitions - Child Support Recovery Act of 1994

The Child Support Recovery Act of 1994 was a United States federal law designed to strengthen the enforcement of child support orders across state lines. This statute made it a federal crime for an individual to intentionally and knowingly fail to pay child support that was legally owed and past due, specifically when the child lived in a different state from the parent obligated to pay. The Act aimed to address situations where parents attempted to evade their child support responsibilities by moving to another state or by the child living in another state. While significant in its time, this Act has since been superseded by the Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act.

Here are some examples illustrating how the Child Support Recovery Act of 1994 would have applied:

• Example 1: Interstate Evasion
  David lives in California and owes child support for his daughter, Emily, who lives with her mother in Arizona. David intentionally stops making payments for over a year, knowing he is legally obligated to do so, believing that the state line will protect him from enforcement. Under the Child Support Recovery Act of 1994, David's willful failure to pay past-due child support for Emily, who resides in a different state, would have constituted a federal offense.

• Example 2: Child Relocates Across State Lines
  Sarah lives in Florida and has a child support order for her son, Michael. Michael's father, the custodial parent, moves with Michael to Georgia. Sarah, despite having the financial means, deliberately stops sending the court-ordered payments for several months, accumulating a significant amount of past-due support. Sarah's intentional non-payment of overdue child support for Michael, who now resides in a different state, would have fallen under the purview of the Child Support Recovery Act of 1994, potentially leading to federal charges.

• Example 3: Long-Term, Willful Non-Payment
  Mark, residing in Ohio, was ordered to pay child support for his two children living with their mother in Kentucky. For two years, Mark consistently and intentionally avoided making any payments, accumulating tens of thousands of dollars in arrears, despite being employed and having the ability to pay. Mark's deliberate and sustained failure to pay substantial past-due child support for his children, who lived across state lines, would have been precisely the type of conduct the Child Support Recovery Act of 1994 was enacted to address as a federal crime.