What is a child support purge bond?

A child support purge bond is an amount of money that a delinquent parent must pay in order to avoid a contempt of support order, which can result in jail time. This order for a child support purge bond must come from a court.

When a parent has not paid child support, the court may require him to pay only a portion of what is owed rather than the full amount. This portion is determined by the court based on what the parent can afford and is called the purge amount. After this amount is paid, the delinquent parent is then required to make periodic payments until the total amount owed has been paid.