In a previous post, we discussed how the staggering amount of back child support owed to thousands of children throughout Louisiana – over $1 billion – prompted the state legislature to pass a measure calling for the confiscation of the gambling winnings of delinquent parents.
Interestingly, Louisiana state officials have devised yet another equally effective method of collecting back child support: confiscating disaster claim payments made by British Petroleum (BP) to otherwise delinquent parents who purportedly suffered some type of harm during last year’s Gulf oil spill.
“People would be getting these big claims, it just fits into what we do,” said Lisa Andry, executive director of Louisiana’s Department of Family and Child Services. “It was just one of those places where we saw the possibility of getting child support.”
Thus far, more than 9,400 delinquent parents have filed disaster claims with BP seeking some sort of remuneration. Of this rather large amount of people, only a little over 2,000 have actually been cleared by BP to receive a disaster claim payment.
However, those lucky enough to receive a payment never saw a dime of the money, as Department of Family and Child Services officials were working overtime to intercept it.
“I think they know they owe it and we finally caught up with them,” said Andry.
The largest BP disaster claim payment collected by the Department of Family and Child Services was a check for over $33,000 to a father who has made a total of eight child support payments since 2002.
To learn more about nonpayment of child support or other post-divorce issues, contact an experienced and skilled legal professional.
Stay tuned for more from our Ft. Worth family law blog …
This post is for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice.
Related Resources:
KATC-3 “State intercepting BP disaster claims from parents owing child support” Aug. 1, 2011
