Texas Deadbeat Parents Will Have Their Vehicle Registration Renewals Blocked

If your ex-spouse isn't paying child support, the Texas Attorney General’s Office is going to make it impossible for them to get a vehicle registration renewal.

Beginning this fall, parents who haven’t paid child support for at least six months will block them from being able to renew their registration. The AG's office already has the power to revoke driver’s, professional, or recreational licenses of deadbeat parents, and they hope that this will be another way to get people to pay their lawful child support.

It sounds like a great idea, but some family law attorneys think it might actually make it even harder for some parents to catch up on their payments by making it impossible for parents to have a vehicle in which to get to and from work.

The new rule will apply to vehicle registrations up for renewal beginning in December of this year and Texas residents who are at least six months in arrears in child support payments will get a notice with their standard three-month renewal notice. They will also be notifed by the Child Support Division about the registration renewal block.