What happened to my tax refund?

Were you expecting to receive a tax refund based upon your recent tax filings? Have you received a notice of that refund has been seized and that you will not be receiving your money? If you are ordered to pay child support in the state of New Jersey and have not remained current with your obligation, any tax refund you may otherwise be entitled to receive will be seized and paid to the recipient. If your refund is less than the amount of the child support arrearages then the remaining arrearages will continue to appear  on your record. However, if the refund is greater than the amount of the accrued arrearages then the remaining funds can be released to you.
The state of New Jersey takes enforcement of child support obligations very seriously. This is why the public policy is to seize tax refunds and make sure that the parent who would have received the funds does not benefit from that money while child support goes unpaid.
If you find yourself unable to meet your child support obligations you should take steps to get the amount reduced or suspended as soon as possible. Simply ignoring the situation and allowing the arrearages to continue is not an appropriate response. Similarly, you cannot “agree” with the other parent to simply not pay child support.  To avoid the forfeiture of the tax refunds, the loss of your drivers license, or the imposition of any of the other penalties are failing to pay child support you should meet with an experienced family law attorney to seek the relief you may be entitled to.