Texas attorneys may be missing out on a great opportunity to enforce child support orders through the use of liens and foreclosures.
It is quite galling to someone struggling to meet the basic needs of their child because ordered child support is not being paid, to see the obligor enjoying the use of his lavishly furnished lakeside vacation home complete with jet skis. The Texas Family Code provides for liens and seizures of certain property but many Texas attorneys do not attempt this. The reluctance of many attorneys to consider the seizure of personal assets of the obligor may be from them incorrectly thinking that the exemptions provided in the Texas Constitution would make finding non-exempt property all but impossible.
However, child support is an expressed exception to the property exemptions of Property Code Sections 42.001 and 42.002.
In the case of Dryden v. Dryden, 97 S.W.3d 869 (Tex.App--Corpus Christi 2003, pet. denied), a Sherrif's sale was ordered for failure to pay child support and the Court of Appeals approved the sale of items including a second vehicle, jewelry, athletic equipment, sporting goods, and furniture.
If a seizure is sought, it is important for the attorney enforcing a Texas child support order to first file either an abstract of judgment or a child support lien notice. Only then should a Writ of Execution be filed.
Texas Family Code 157.311-331 details the procedures of filing a lien.
