Owed child support? If so, there are several ways to enforce your child support order, including filing a contempt action against the non-custodial parent, seeking an income deduction order or garnishment of the non-custodial parent's earnings, or contacting your local office of the Georgia Department of Human Services, Child Support Enforcement Division. Additionally, there are some private agencies that offer to collect child support arrearages in exchange for a contingency fee or percentage of the amount collected.
Although divorce and family law attorney are prohibited from entering into contingency fee agreements with clients, when the collection of past due support is treated like a collections case, contingency arrangement may be acceptable. Seeking the services of such a private collections company is an option if you are seeking to collect child support arrearages, but it is not advisable, because such companies may take up to 40% of the child support you are entitled to as payment of their services.
Additionally, as evidenced by the fraud perpetrated by the private company formerly known as the Child Support Services of Georgia, seeking the services of a private company could be potentially dangerous. In that case, the owner of the company pleaded guilty in 2014 to federal charges including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and money laundering after it was discovered that his company stole over $2 million dollars from Georgia parents seeking child support arrears by defrauding them. According to parents who fell victim to this fraud, the company would contact the non-custodial parent and enforce the child support order, but instead of forwarding the money collected on to the custodial parent, the company would instead pocket most of the money, using it to fund the expensive lifestyle of company owners.