When payor former spouses obligated by court order to pay alimony and/or child support fall behind, the focus of the law is on helping parents and former spouses collect delinquent support with minimum costs. (1) Regardless of the reasons why alimony and child support are not paid--loss of employment, underemployment, chronic disease, injury, obstinacy--there are many available collection methods, including income withholding; (2) revocation of driver's licenses, motor vehicle and vessel registrations; (3) suspension of professional, recreational, and occupational licenses of parents; (4) denial of passports; (5) federal and state tax refund offsets; (6) liens on property; (7) attachment and garnishment of financial accounts including IRAs; (8) qualified domestic relations orders (QDROs) to recover all or a portion of alimony or child support arrearage from the owner of a retirement plan, (9) and contempt of court. (10) All methods are cumulative and can be used until the amount owed plus interest is paid in full. (11) Can a circuit court impose an equitable lien against homestead realty owned by a payor former spouse/parent for delinquent support? If a payor former spouse/parent owns homestead realty, does Fla. Const. art. X, [section] 4(a) constitute a complete defense to an equitable lien when a former spouse/parent tries to recover delinquent child support or alimony from a payor former spouse/parent? Florida district courts of appeal have ruled that courts may impose an equitable lien on homestead realty beyond the exceptions provided in Fla. Const. art. X, [section] 4 when a nonpayor former spouse/parent has used the homestead exemption to avoid alimony and child support obligations by the use of fraud and egregious conduct. (12) In Havoco of America v. Hill, 790 So. 2d 1018 (Fla. 2001), the Florida Supreme Court held that the homestead realty exemption in the Florida Constitution protects a homestead acquired by a debtor using nonexempt assets with the intent to hinder, delay, or defraud creditors. (13) Havoco of America appears to be controlling authority to shield homestead realty from all claims of creditors, including those by former spouses/parents against payor former spouse/parent owing delinquent child support and/or alimony. However, footnote 12 of Havoco of America (14) questions and leaves open for future consideration rulings by district courts of appeal that permit equitable liens on homestead realty when a payor former spouse/parent has used the homestead exemption to avoid his or her alimony and child support obligation. (15) This article will discuss why it is a violation of Fla. Const. art. X, [section] 4(a)(1) to impose an equitable lien on homestead realty owned by a payor former spouse/parent, where the payor former spouse/parent has used the homestead exemption to avoid his or her alimony or child support obligation.
