A Maryland driver was pulled over by police for a traffic violation and received a nasty surprise. Their license had been suspended because they are late on child support payments. Now this parent has a court date for driving without a license on top of trying to find work and make their back payments. But this isn’t a Maryland-only problem, all 50 states have a similar law.

Can your license be suspended for unpaid child support?

Absolutely. All 50 states have penalties for unpaid child support ranging from a suspended driver’s license to a suspended professional license (such as a license to practice law). How much child support you must owe, and how late the payments must be–before a suspension–varies by state.

Some states have a dollar threshold, such as South Carolina. South Carolina might suspend your driver’s license once you’ve left $500 unpaid for 60 days. Other states have a delinquency threshold, such as Mississippi. Mississippi may suspend your driver’s license once you are 30 days late on your child support payments.

Could your driver’s license be suspended without you knowing it?

Every state has strict rules for notifying drivers of a suspended license. It is very rare that your license gets suspended without you knowing. But if you have the wrong address and contact info on file, it is possible.

After the Maryland driver who didn’t know their license was suspended was pulled over, they asked for help on Avoo.com. Lawyer John Russel of Frederick, MD, explained that you aren’t technically guilty of driving with a suspended license if you didn’t know your license was suspended. The only problem is convincing the judge you didn’t know. You’d likely have to demonstrate the notifications were going to the wrong physical address and email address to get off the hook.

It’s difficult to work to make child support payments without a license

States need to get delinquent child support payers’ attention somehow. But there’s a major problem with suspending someone’s license. Few folks in the U.S. even have the option to take public transit to work. And professional drivers need their license to get paid. So how do you work for the money you need to pay child support without a license?

Many states have exemptions for exactly this reason. For example, in Kentucky, commercial driver’s licenses are exempt from suspension over child support. Fifteen states grant temporary or provisional licenses so you can commute to work or parenting time. The Maryland driver from the introduction found the State’s Attorney willing to work with them, offering classes and a fee in exchange for dropping the charges for driving with a suspended license.