If you owe large sums of overdue child support, a new Texas program may keep you from registering your vehicle.

The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) is now denying motor vehicle registration renewals to noncustodial parents who have gone six months or more without making a child support payment, as provided by state statute. The goal of the initiative is to obtain compliance with court orders and get lawfully obligated money to children and parents.

Both the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and the TxDMV send a notice of denial due to child support delinquency approximately three months ahead of the vehicle’s registration expiration date. Once the parent makes a payment arrangement and the first payment is received, the registration hold will be released. The full payment is not required to have the hold released.

“Our goal is to give children the best possible opportunity to thrive, by providing them with the support they are owed,” says Annette Hernandez, Director of Communications with the Office of the Attorney General – Child Support Division. “More than $460,000 in child support has been collected since the program went into effect last fall.”

According to the OAG, the denial of motor vehicle registration renewals utilizes existing law that allows them to deny the renewal of Texas licenses, registrations, and permits held by delinquent obligors.  The law specifically applies only to child support cases that have been referred to the OAG’s office.

To learn more about this program and how it’s helping Texas children, visit www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/cs/noncustodial-parents-and-tax-assessors.

Published on the Cross Timbers Gazette on February 11, 2017.