If the payor fails to pay child support, the bonding company must pay. Another possibility is to ask the judge to order the payor to purchase life insurance and name your children as beneficiaries so that if the payor dies, your children will receive money to replace the support they would have received had the payor lived. Yet another way to guarantee payment is to request a court order establishing a trust fund. The judge may appoint a trustee to take control of certain assets that are to be managed, with the income or principal from that fund being used to support the children. Liens are not only useful as direct collection devices, they are also useful tools for locating the payor and his or her property.
Most states have a central location where personal property liens are recorded.
You may request a UCC search to determine whether a certain person has any property subject to a lien. There are millions of UCC financing statements filed every year so that lenders may have enforceable liens against property, typically motor vehicles. Another good source for locating a payor is the county assessor's office in the county where the payor owns real estate. Just call the assessor's office and ask whether the payor owns any property in the county. The assessor should be able to tell you the value of any property the payor owns in the county.