Don’t Lose Your Passport Over Unpaid Debt

Traveling internationally with your children is a dream for many families. Even if you can only afford to take them on one international trip during their childhood, it creates a lifetime of memories; they might text you about these memories later, while doing a study abroad semester in college, for example. Preparing for the trip requires a superhuman amount of planning and a huge financial investment; this is true if the parents are together, but it is even more pronounced if they are divorced, and only one parent is going on the trip. Coparenting is an enormous source of emotional and financial stress, but taking on additional debt, or even falling behind on your bills, seems like a small price to pay to take your children on a summer vacation in which you cross international borders, even if you are just driving across the U.S.-Canada border to Niagara Falls to spend a few days. Until you are in the car or on the plane, you can’t be sure if the trip is going to happen, but this year, a new rule could complicate your plans. It is actually a new rule, but the federal government has recently decided to enforce it consistently. The gist is that, if you owe overdue child support, the government can take away your passport. For help addressing your debt problems so that you can pay your overdue child support obligations, contact a Philadelphia debt relief lawyer.

Federal Government Announces Plan to Revoke Passports of U.S. Citizens With Unpaid Child Support Debt

Some debts are little more than wishful thinking on the part of creditors. Doctors issue medical bills that they know that patients have little chance of paying; when the patients default on the bills, the doctor’s office sells the debts to a collection agency for pennies on the dollar, and the collection agency settles them for whatever the debtor is able to pay. With credit cards and personal loans, you can settle them with the creditor or discharge them in bankruptcy. The chances of selling your house while you still owe a mortgage balance or refinancing your mortgage loan are greater than the chances of staying the course throughout your entire 30-year mortgage loan until it is paid off.

Court-ordered child support obligations are different. The balance does not budge until you pay it or petition the court to retroactively modify your obligations, even if your children are so far into adulthood that no one cards them when they go to a bar. In other words, you should settle or consolidate your other debts to free up funds to pay your child support, especially this year, if you are planning on traveling internationally. Since 1996, a law has been on the books that the U.S. State Department can invalidate your passport if you owe unpaid child support, but this year, thousands of American parents have had their passports taken away or their passport applications denied for this reason.

Contact CONSUMERLAWPA.com About Coping With Debt as a Single Parent

A Philadelphia consumer law attorney can help you if you are falling behind on your other debts to keep up with child support.  Contact at CONSUMERLAWPA.com to set up a free, confidential consultation.

Source:

msn.com/en-us/travel/news/thousands-of-americans-to-be-stripped-of-us-passports-from-may-8-under-newly-enforced-debt-rule/ar-AA22ImLm?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ACTS&cvid=69fe753fc94340e2ad964a08d84a1dcb&ei=31