Can you be arrested for not paying support or alimony ?

Short answer - yes. If you fall behind in your payments an enforcement order can be entered and a judge can order a warrant for your arrest and have you put on work release or have you wear a gps monitoring ankle bracelet. If you are not able to make payments you should file a motion for a modification of your support or alimony payments as well as an ability to pay hearing. Please feel free to call for more information.

If you amass support arrears you can be arrested. Having offered that statement, you should know that the court is reluctant today to issue bench warrants for arrest unless the support arrears are significant, and even if you were to be brought in as a result of a bench warrant having been issued, the court is unlikely to require that you be retained (incarcerated). Before a bench warrant would be issued against you, you would receive notice that an application was being made for such relief and you would be provided with an opportunity to be heard in defense of the request for the bench warrant.

You can be arrested for wilfully not paying child support. There is a case that held that jail can't be ordered unless the individual has an attorney. This will continue growing, however. Do yurself a favor and file a motion to reduce the child support.

You can be arrested for not paying a support obligation, particularly a child support obligation. However, incarceration tends to be a last resort for the Court to compel compliance. When possible, it is preferable to make an effort to pay a support obligation by making at least partial payments than to simply ignore the obligation completely. If circumstances have arisen that might warrant the obligations being revisited, then an application should be filed with the appropriate Court.