Don't pay your child support? Car gets the Denver Boot

[Brooke]

From WBBM780 Chicago (http://www.wbbm780.com/pages/1124214.php?)

No Child Support - Lose Your License, Find You Car Booted

CHICAGO (WBBM) -- Under a new Illinois law, you could lose your driver's license and find your car booted if you refuse to pay child support. The story from WBBM's Regine Schlesinger.

The law which takes effect immediately, allows the Secretary of State to suspend the driver's license and permits local police to put a Denver boot on the cars of parents who are at least $2,500 behind in their child support and refuse to make any arrangements to pay.

Barry Maram, director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, says it's an important new weapon in the state's arsenal.

The new law also allows the state to add severence pay to the income the state can seize for child support debt. The state estimates some 3 billion dollars in unpaid child support is owed since 1975.

Is this acceptable? Is this the right way to handle things?

[Polly]

Yep. I also like the new US State Department law that refuses to renew/issue new passports to deadbeat parents.

Polly

[Danielle]

You lose your license and/or passport here as well. I think that in some instances it can be very effective and is definitley warranted- IMO there is no excuse for not paying your child support if you are physically able to work at all.

There are definite flaws, mostly due to the fact that it takes so long for bogus support arrangements to be reviewed (like spousal support that should have ended 20 years ago and is still on record) and people end up losing their license and their means of getting to and from work when it's not really warranted. I've seen this happen to several of my clients.

[Kristen]

I was wondering about that, Danielle. Aside from those flaws, it seems like a good idea. But, I'm not very well-read on this subject, so I'm teachable if someone wants to try to persuade me otherwise.