In recent months, we have blogged about professional football player Terrell Owens and his repeated run-ins with the Fulton County family court system regarding his alleged failure to pay his court-ordered child support. Now, it appears that the threat of jail time for contempt has again motivated Owens to make good on his child support payments.
In May of 2007, a Fulton County family court judge ordered Owens to pay $5,000 per month for the care of his daughter. At that time, his monthly income was estimated to be more than $650,000.
After missing his payments for June and July of this year and being threatened with jail time when the mother filed a motion for contempt, Owens petitioned the court for a reduction in child support. In his motion, he claimed that he was no longer able to make his child support payments due to the NFL lockout and other factors. He asked that his support obligation be lowered to $2,500 per month. A judge refused this request and ordered Owens to make the full payments for June and July, both of which he had neglected to pay.
After Owens allegedly failed to make his August and September payments, the mother again filed a motion for contempt, threatening Owens with jail time. He then made the full $5,000 payments for each month. It remains to be seen whether this trend – missed payments followed by a motion for contempt – will continue. Owens, who has multiple children, is not currently signed by an NFL team.
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “T.O. catches up on child support payments, avoids jail,” Christian Boone, Sept. 26, 2011