DEADBEAT PARENTS PUNISHMENT ACT
Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act.A 1998 federal statute that makes it a felony, punishable by
up to two years in prison, for failure to pay child support if the obligor has crossed state lines in an
attempt to avoid paying the support. • The Act provides felony penalties if (1) a person travels
across state lines intending to evade a child-support obligation that is over $5,000 or that has
remained unpaid longer than one year, or (2) a person willfully fails to pay support for a child
living in a different state if that obligation is greater than $10,000 or if it remains unpaid for more
than two years. The Act supersedes the Child Support Recovery Act of 1994. The greatest change
in the new statute is the provision regarding the obligor’s crossing of state lines in an effort to
evade the support obligation. 42 USCA § 228. — Abbr. DPPA. See CHILD SUPPORT
RECOVERY ACT OF1994. [Blacks Law 8th]