Does a Person Have To Pay Child Support when They’re in Jail?

There are some things in life that are difficult to get out of: your cousin’s wedding, that blind date that just won’t end, and child support.

Child support in Utah is so difficult to get out of that it follows people to jail (or prison, as the case may be).

At first, being responsible for paying child support while in jail doesn’t make sense.

How can you pay child support in jail? It’s almost completely impossible.

It just seems mean to hold someone responsible for something they can’t possibly do.

There’s pretty good logic to it, though.

Being a criminal is a decision.

Admittedly, it’s a bad decision, but it’s a decision people make every day.

The decision to do criminal things comes with certain, let’s say, potentialities, like, let’s say, jail time.

All criminals know they could serve jail time. It’s why they try to not get caught.

So, if a parent decides to do criminal things and knows very well he or she may go to jail for doing those things, why should that parent’s child suffer for that decision?

In other words, a child shouldn’t be deprived of support simply because a parent does something criminal and gets caught. It’s not the child’s fault, so the child should suffer as little as possible.

Utah has dealt with a case about this very matter.

In Proctor v. Proctor, 773 P.2d 1389, Utah App. 1989, a father was incarcerated for his volitional criminal activity.

Rejecting the father’s argument that his jail sentence precluded him from paying anything more than nominal child support (about $30 per month), the Court of Appeals stated: “We agree with the trial court that an able-bodied person who stops working, as an exercise of personal preference or as a result of punishment for an intentional criminal act, nonetheless retains the ability to earn and the duty to support his or her children.” 773 P.2 at 1391.

So, in the end, yes, a person does have to pay child support when they’re in jail.

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When I started my case with Brown Family Law, they had 650 positive reviews. Now, about a year later, they have 820. Not sure how much else you need to convince you, but do yourself a favor and stop looking. You're in the right place.We worked with Nathaniel for nearly a year on our case, and trusting someone with something so vulnerable and close to you as a custody case is difficult, but he made it easy. His knowledge of law and experience with the court system allowed us to make educated decisions quicker. He helped me feel confident in very unfamiliar territory, and having someone like Nate on my team allowed me to make the best decisions possible for our family. He thought of many things I didn't, and gave us the roadmap to success for navigating a complicated and stressful situation. I found myself constantly bragging about our lawyer to family and expressing how impressed I was in his skill and his fearless nature of getting sh** done. Nate got that dawg in him, yanno what I mean?I like the way Brown Family Law works with their clients; it's different than other law firms, and I can see the benefits of those differences. It's always easy to contact someone at the office, and I get a response very quickly. They are extremely communicative, fast, and thorough. They run a tight ship, and it's obvious the quality differences from other law firms.This is a big and heavy decision, but Brown Family Law will take a lot of that weight off your shoulders. Ask for Nate--you won't be led astray.

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I can't say enough about Russell Yauney at Brown Family Law! He has helped me on multiple cases over the years and has always exceeded my expectations. Russell is one of the good guys who isn't afraid to tell you how it is and isn't afraid to stand up and fight for what is right. I'm glad that I have Russell and his team in my corner!

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very helpful to fathers who have been broke by the system and targeted for vaporization(1984). Thank you brown family law.

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Used Nathaniel Garrabrandt for a child custody case. He is very good, very professional and available. Having been through this a few times that communication is very important. The only warning, and this isnt just Nate per se, but very very costly.

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