Back child support (arrears) in Florida: interest, enforcement and crime (2026)

Back child support, also called arrears or a delinquency, is support that a Florida order required and that was not paid when due. Chapter 61 of the Florida Statutes turns each unpaid installment into a judgment, adds interest at the judgment rate, and gives the courts and the Department of Revenue’s Child Support Program a list of ways to collect. This guide describes those rules; it does not compute arrears, because the amount owed depends on the payment record of each case.

What happens when child support is not paid in Florida?

When support is paid through the clerk’s depository or the State Disbursement Unit, any installment that falls due and is not paid is delinquent, and after notice the unpaid amount becomes “a final judgment by operation of law” with the force of a judgment entered by a Florida court, on which execution can issue (Fla. Stat. § 61.14(6)(a)1). A certified statement from the depository is evidence of that judgment (§ 61.14(6)(a)2).

The process has three steps:

1. Notice. When a parent is 15 days delinquent and the delinquency is larger than one periodic payment, the depository mails a notice of the delinquency, the impending judgment, and the right to contest it (§ 61.14(6)(b)).
2. Contest. Within 15 days after the notice is served, the parent can file a motion to contest, but only for a mistake of fact: whether a delinquency exists, its amount, or the identity of the parent (§ 61.14(6)(c)). The court hears it within 15 days (§ 61.14(6)(d)).
3. Judgment. If no motion is filed, or the motion is denied, the delinquency and every later amount that falls due and is not paid become a final judgment by operation of law (§ 61.14(6)(d) and (e)).

Federal law requires every state to treat each installment as a judgment by operation of law on and after the date it is due, entitled to full faith and credit in other states (42 U.S.C. § 666(a)(9)). A judgment for arrears does not stop a later contempt proceeding or a federal tax refund intercept for the same debt (§ 61.17(3)).

What is the Florida child support interest rate?

The judgment rate under § 55.03. Section 61.14(6)(d) says the depository “shall charge interest at the rate established in s. 55.03 on all judgments for support”. The Chief Financial Officer sets that rate every quarter by averaging the Federal Reserve Bank of New York discount rate over the previous 12 months and adding 400 basis points (§ 55.03(1)).

Quarter beginning	Judgment rate, a year
1 October 2026	7.87 percent
1 July 2026	8.06 percent
1 April 2026	8.25 percent
1 January 2026	8.44 percent

Source: Florida Chief Financial Officer, Judgment Interest Rates, checked 3 November 2026.

Most Florida judgments have their rate reset every 1 January, but judgments the clerk enters under § 61.14 are not adjusted each year: they keep the rate in effect when the judgment was obtained (§ 55.03(3)). Payments on a support judgment are applied first to current support, then to the delinquent principal, and then to the interest (§ 61.14(6)(d)).

The monthly amount itself does not change because arrears exist. For one child, with incomes of $4,000 and $6,000 a month and no overnights with the other parent, the guideline is $768.37 a month; arrears and interest are owed on top of the current amount until they are paid.

How does Florida collect back child support?

The courts, the clerk’s depository and the Department of Revenue’s Child Support Program use these tools. The department uses most of them without going back to court in the cases it handles.

Tool	What happens	Law
Income deduction	An income deduction order states the arrears and adds 20 percent or more of the periodic amount toward them; when a new delinquency builds up and no repayment is ordered, an extra 20 percent of current support is deducted until it is paid	§ 61.1301(1)(b) and (3)(c)
Driver’s license and vehicle registration	Suspended after a notice sent once support is 15 days delinquent, unless within 20 days the parent pays, agrees a payment plan, contests, or shows a listed exception	§ 61.13016; § 322.058
Professional, business and recreational licenses	The department can start a suspension when a support order has not been complied with for at least 30 days; the notice gives 30 days to comply, agree a plan or petition the court	§ 409.2598
Bank accounts and other property	The department can freeze credits, accounts and debts owed to the parent for 60 days and then levy on them, after a notice of intent to levy	§ 409.25656
Vehicles and boats	A lien on vehicles and vessels registered to the parent; the notice of lien is mailed only when the delinquency exceeds $600	§ 409.2575
Unclaimed property	Property held by the Department of Financial Services can be intercepted up to the past-due amount	§ 409.25658
Credit reports	Overdue support is reported to consumer reporting agencies after at least 15 days’ notice and a chance to contest the amount	§ 61.1354
Federal tax refund	Past-due support is taken from a federal refund (how the tax refund offset works)	42 U.S.C. § 664; § 61.17(3)
Passport	Denied when arrears exceed $2,500	42 U.S.C. § 652(k)
Contempt of court	The original order is presumed to show the parent can pay, and the parent must prove otherwise; the court can also order a parent who is not working to look for work or join job training	§ 61.14(5)

According to the Child Support Program’s Credit Reporting page, once the past-due balance reaches two times the monthly obligation or at least $400, it sends a notice that gives 25 days to pay in full, agree a payment plan or show a qualifying benefit before the debt is reported. The program also says that a payment agreement lets a parent pay past-due support over time and avoid enforcement actions, though the debt is still owed.

How much of a paycheck can be withheld for child support in Florida?

An income deduction order cannot take more than the federal limit in 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b) (§ 61.1301(1)(b)4):

Situation of the parent who owes support	Maximum withheld
Supports another spouse or child	50 percent of disposable earnings
Does not support another spouse or child	60 percent
Either case, when the support is more than 12 weeks overdue	55 percent or 65 percent

When can a driver’s license be suspended for child support in Florida?

Once a parent is 15 days delinquent. In a Department of Revenue case, the department can mail a notice of the delinquency and the intent to suspend; in other cases, the depository or the clerk must do so when the parent owed support asks (§ 61.13016(1)). The suspension covers the driver’s license and the registration of every vehicle the parent owns (§ 322.058(1)).

Within 20 days after the notice is mailed, the parent can avoid the suspension by any of these (§ 61.13016(1)(c)):

• paying the delinquency in full, with costs and fees;
• entering a written payment agreement with the department, or with the parent owed support in other cases;
• filing a petition in circuit court to contest the delinquency, which stays the suspension until the court rules;
• showing that they receive reemployment assistance, are disabled and unable to support themselves or receive SSI or SSDI, receive temporary cash assistance, or are paying under a confirmed bankruptcy plan.

On a petition filed within those 20 days, the court can direct a license restricted to business purposes, if the parent agrees to a payment schedule on the arrears and keeps paying current support (§ 61.13016(2)(a)). The license is reinstated once the department or the clerk certifies that the delinquency is paid, a written agreement is in place, a court has ordered reinstatement, or one of the exceptions applies (§ 322.058(2)).

Can you lose your passport for back child support?

Yes. Under 42 U.S.C. § 652(k), when a state certifies that a parent owes more than $2,500 in child support arrears, the U.S. Department of State refuses to issue a passport and can revoke one. Florida’s Child Support Program says the denial covers renewals, replacements and added pages, that a parent has 30 days from its notice to show the balance was below the threshold or ask for an administrative review, and that the Department of State began revoking passports of parents with past-due support on 8 May 2026.

Can you go to jail for not paying child support in Florida?

Yes, in two ways.

Contempt of court (civil). When a court enters a support order, it must find that the parent has the present ability to pay, actual or imputed. If the parent later does not pay and a contempt hearing is held, that order creates a presumption that the parent can pay and can purge the contempt, and the parent carries the burden of proving otherwise (§ 61.14(5)(a)). A parent who willfully fails to follow a court order to look for work or join job training can also be held in contempt (§ 61.14(5)(b)).

The crime of nonsupport. Under § 827.06(2), a person who willfully fails to provide support they are able to provide, to a child they know they are legally obligated to support, commits a first degree misdemeanor: up to one year in jail (§ 775.082) and a fine of up to $1,000 (§ 775.083). A court order to pay support can prove the parent knew of the obligation (§ 827.06(5)(b)).

How much back child support is a felony in Florida?

Situation	Offense	Maximum penalty
Willful nonsupport by a parent able to pay	First degree misdemeanor (§ 827.06(2))	1 year in jail; fine of $1,000
The same, when the parent has owed the child $5,000 or more for more than one year	Third degree felony (§ 827.06(3))	5 years in prison; fine of $5,000
A fourth or later conviction	Third degree felony (§ 827.06(3))	5 years in prison; fine of $5,000
Federal: willfully not paying support for a child in another state, unpaid more than two years or over $10,000	Federal felony (18 U.S.C. § 228)	2 years in prison

On a conviction under § 827.06, the court must order restitution equal to the whole unpaid support at the time of sentencing (§ 827.06(4)). The penalties come from §§ 775.082 and 775.083.

Can back child support be forgiven or reduced in Florida?

Not by changing the order afterwards. The judgment by operation of law is final for every installment that accrued up to the date either parent files a motion to modify the order, “and such judgment may not be modified by the court”; installments that accrue after that filing can be modified (§ 61.14(6)(a)3). A modification can be made retroactive to the date the petition to modify was filed, and no earlier (§ 61.14(1)(a)). Federal law requires the same: an installment is not subject to retroactive modification except from the date notice of a petition to modify was given (42 U.S.C. § 666(a)(9)).

A parent who cannot pay can still ask for a reduction for the future: the court can reduce support whether or not the parent has paid the amounts already owed (§ 61.14(4)). For how a Florida modification works, see changing a Florida child support order.

The statutes cited here do not provide a way to cancel arrears. Section 61.14(6)(a)3 keeps relief under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540, the general rule for relief from a judgment, available.

What happens to back child support after the child turns 18?

It stays owed. Unless the court orders otherwise or the parents agree, current support for a child ends at 18, but that “does not otherwise terminate the obligation to pay any arrearage, retroactive support, delinquency, or costs” (§ 61.14(9)). See how long child support lasts in Florida.

In a case the Department of Revenue handles, when current support ends because the child is emancipated, the parent keeps paying at the same rate as before until all arrears, retroactive support and costs are paid in full or the order is modified. The same applies when support for several children is reduced because one child is emancipated, if the order allocates support per child (§ 61.14(10)).

Is there a statute of limitations on back child support in Florida?

The unpaid installments are judgments (§ 61.14(6)), and Florida’s general limits for judgments apply to judgments of its courts: an action on a judgment of a Florida court of record must be commenced within 20 years (§ 95.11(1)), and no judgment is a lien on property after 20 years from the date it is entered (§ 55.081). This guide does not cover how courts count those periods for each installment.

Can child support be ordered for the time before a Florida order?

Yes, in the first order. In a paternity case, a divorce, or a petition for support during the marriage, the court can award support back to the date the parents stopped living together with the child, for no more than 24 months before the petition was filed (§ 61.30(17)). The court applies the guidelines in effect at the hearing, using the paying parent’s actual income during that period if they prove it and their current income if they do not; it credits every payment either parent made for the child; and it considers an installment plan for paying the retroactive amount.

What this guide does not cover

This guide does not cover how a court decides contempt in a particular case, defenses in criminal cases, bankruptcy, arrears owed to the state for public assistance, collecting arrears from another state or country, or alimony arrears. It does not calculate arrears or interest: the calculator gives the current guideline amount only. The figures are not legal advice.