Handling Support While You're Incarcerated

Support usually doesn't pause when you're locked up — so the clock on arrears keeps running unless you act.

File to modify immediately

Filing early is what prevents arrears from piling up. Provide booking details, the facility, your expected release date, and any institutional wages — and disclose outside income or assets, because concealment invites penalties.

Coverage and license

If your employer coverage ends, ask the court to transfer medical coverage to the other parent or state programs, and propose suspending reimbursement obligations during incarceration with a post-release review. Ask that a driver's-license suspension be withheld during custody and reinstated on a modest down payment plus a repayment agreement after release.

Plan for reentry

Request a status hearing shortly after release to reset income and restart payments realistically, tie a plan to employment milestones, and — while inside — make token payments from commissary wages to show good faith.

Since 1997, the Dallas child support attorney team at Sinkin Law Firm has recovered unpaid support for parents statewide.