At a Family Responsibility Office default hearing, the court considered whether a payor with substantial child support arrears under a registered foreign support order had the ability to pay significant monthly amounts and whether imprisonment-backed enforcement should issue.
The payor rebutted the statutory presumption of ability to pay immediate full arrears and substantial monthly payments by filing credible financial and medical evidence showing serious cardiac and related health limitations, minimal assets, and significant debt.
The court nevertheless found that the payor had delayed the proceeding, failed to pursue a motion to change, and made only sporadic payments over time.
Balancing the remedial purpose of enforcement against the requirement that committal operate only where payment is within the payor's capacity, the court fixed arrears and ordered monthly payments of $120 with a limited three-day-per-default committal term, capped cumulatively at 30 days.
