Home » Marriage / Relationships Articles » The Difficulty in Enforcing Child Support Against Native Americans
The Difficulty in Enforcing Child Support Against Native Americans
There is one group of children in this country that has fallen through cracks in the judicial system -- not because the authorities don't want to help them, but because they can't: Native Americans.
October 21, 2010 /Marriage - Relationships PR News/ -- The courts of the United States are afforded great latitude when it comes to righting wrongs; this is especially true when a father or mother is not living up to their support obligations. The court is allowed to garnish wages and seek other remedies when a parent fails to live up to his or her responsibilities.
However, there is one group of children in this country that has fallen through cracks in the judicial system -- not because the authorities don't want to help them, but because they can't: Native Americans.
While a state court may order a parent to pay support to his or her ex-spouse for the care of the children, if the parent is a Native American and receives income from the tribe, the U.S. court system is powerless to garnish that money, as most tribes function as sovereign nations, beyond the reach of U.S. law.
An astounding example of the frustrations involved in seeking support from a tribal-employed Native American is the case of Christina Brown. She is a soon-to-be divorced California woman. She and the kids are living with her mother and receiving welfare and food stamps. Her husband, however, is receiving monthly checks of nearly $20,000 from the Kumeyaay Indian Tribe -- this is the reported amount when the couple was together -- but failing to pay his ordered support obligations. Because the husband's income comes from the tribe, U.S. state and federal courts are powerless to garnish his wages to enforce the obligation.
Working To Resolve the Issue?
There is hope that something may be done to solve this issue. Under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Office of Child Support Enforcement is operating a Tribal Systems Workgroup, which is designed to suggest ways to enforce child support laws while still respecting and keeping tribal sovereignty.
The federal government is also offering grants to help tribes establish child support enforcement programs, with a promise of funding up to 90 percent of the ongoing program costs. There have been 30 tribes across the country to establish such programs, but none of those tribes is in California.
If you have an ex-spouse that is not paying child support obligations, speak with an experienced family law attorney to learn of your possible options.
Article provided by John S. Yohanan
Visit us at www.jsyohananlaw.com
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