According to recent statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, fewer than half of parents owed child support end up actually receiving the full amount due to them. Around one-third will receive a portion of what is owed, and almost one-quarter never get anything. Statistics for spousal support are not known, but it is certainly the experience of many that they can be just as elusive as child support payments.

The sad truth is that many divorced partners do not honor their financial agreements with their spouse. Fortunately, there are some remedies in these types of situations.

For child support delinquency, there are a number of remedies that the state can pursue. Among them are wage garnishment, intercepting funds such as tax refunds or unemployment insurance payments, putting a lien on vehicles or real estate, seizing and selling property to help make the payments, suspending passports or certain licenses, notifying credit bureaus, and pursuing criminal prosecution.

For spousal support delinquency, judges may order these types of actions, but this requires proving your case to the judge. Specific consequences for failing to make spousal support payments vary from state to state, but there will always be the possibility of charging contempt of court.

The bad news is that, while there are a number of remedies against a delinquent ex-spouse, the various remedies do not guarantee that the spouse will willingly cooperate. Spouses may employ various tactics to keep from having to pay, including hiding assets, tax fraud or misrepresenting their earnings.

In our next post, we'll look at strategies for increasing your chances of recovering child support and spousal support payments.

Source: Forbes, "How Can a Divorcing Woman Get the Child Support, Alimony She is Owed?," Jeff Landers, December 14, 2011.