GLASTONBURY, CONNECTICUT · FAMILY LAW + FAMILY-VIOLENCE DEFENSE
Unpaid child support is the most common enforcement matter in Connecticut family court, and the remedies are real.
An arrearage finding, establishing what is owed and reducing it to a judgment.
Income withholding, directed to the employer. Under C.G.S. §52-362, support is routinely enforced this way, and it removes the monthly decision from the paying parent entirely.
A payment schedule on arrears, in addition to ongoing support.
Attorney’s fees under §46b-87.
Contempt, with the possibility of coercive confinement in serious cases of wilful non-payment.
This surprises people. Connecticut routes support matters receiving state child support services to the Family Support Magistrate Division under C.G.S. §46b-231, while other support matters stay on the regular family docket.
The track affects procedure, scheduling, and who hears the case. If you are not sure which one you are on, that is one of the first things to establish.
A common misunderstanding: support arrears survive the end of the ongoing obligation. When a child turns eighteen, what accrued before that does not evaporate. It remains collectible.
Two things are true at once. The order remains enforceable until a court changes it, and arrears continue to accrue. And a genuine inability to pay is a defence to contempt, though it must be raised and supported.
The right move is almost always to file for modification rather than to wait and explain later. A modification can reach back, at the court’s discretion, only to the date the motion was served.
How to change a Connecticut custody, child support, or alimony order after judgment — the substantial change standard, and why filing early matters.
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Served with a contempt motion? What the other side has to prove, what defenses exist, and why you may also need to file a modification.
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When a Connecticut family court order is ignored — motions for contempt, income withholding, and what happens if you have been served with one.
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Every case starts with a conversation about what you’re facing and what it would take to handle it.
