How much back due child support is owed to go to jail?

Contact a family attorney (you can search for a local attorney at American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers). He/she can help you figure out what the procedure is for getting child support (and/or putting the other parent in jail for not paying).

My ex didn't pay child support for 18 years until I forced him.  The AG's office will hep you collect.  He is in another state, I'm in Texas and fortunately, they worked with the other state.  He now owes me $78,000 with interest.  He pays around $300 a month but not very consistently.  He'll pay for a while and then stop for a while. I'll call the AG office and file enforcement and in a few months, he starts paying again.  The interest is compounding and he will most likely NEVER pay his debt off.  But that's what he gets for abandoning his kid.   It is almost impossible to get them put in jail.  But if he adamantly refuses and the courts get tired of it, they will eventually put him in jail.  Unfortunately, you still won't get any money.  It is the lesser of two evils.  Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I have been going thru this for 23 years.  My daughter is now 23 and he is still paying back support and probably will for the rest of his life - at $98 / week. 

It depends on a lot of factors.  First of all you need to keep on top of the enforcement hearings.  Keep requesting them (I did), eventually the judge will give them a deadline to start paying and if they don't there could be a warrant issued for their arrest.  Don't back down, keep calling child support and the probation officer until you get yours.

I agree with you Sue.  You have to stay on top of it.  Every time he gets 3 months behind (i think you have to be 3 months behind to file enforcement) i make a call to the Child Support Bureau.  I request that they file enforcement.  In a short time, he resumes paying again.   With the technology they have now, they can track dead beat parents a lot easier.   Child support debts are being reported to the credit bureau.  The government is paying more attention because if the dead beat parents don't help support their kids, then the government has to step in (which in reality is 'us').  Putting them in jail is only a last resort because then no body wins.  The interest keeps compounding on the debt and the custodial parents still doesn't get any money.  The only hope is that they will get out and learn the error of their ways.  But most likely, they won't.  They'll get minimum wage jobs so they won't have to support their kids. 

Stop crying about child support, my dad raised three boys on his own my mom died there was no extra money coming in, we made it, you need to pull your family resources together, teach your kids to be self sufficiant,stop living outside your means, make it work. My dad taught me to cut coupons, taught me to balance my check book, and most importantly he taught me the difference between "Wants and "Needs", To me  Yes it takes two to make a child, but Adam didn't ask Eve to eat that fruit, You want to jump ship from a relationship man up and deal with the results of your decision, My dad always taught us , If you give, loan or even supply something to someone, do it with the intent that you will never get anything back, that way you never get let down and if you do get something back, Great.