Section 24.18 Criminal Nonsupport

• Library: Family Law Deskbook and 2014 Supp

P. (§24.18) Criminal Nonsupport

Section 568.040.1, RSMo Supp. 2011, makes it a crime if an obligor knowingly fails to provide adequate support for a spouse or child. Criminal nonsupport is a class A misdemeanor, unless the person obligated to pay child support commits the crime of nonsupport “in excess of an aggregate of twelve monthly payments due under any order of support,” in which case it becomes a class D felony. Section 568.040.5.

In State v. Davis, 675 S.W.2d 410 (Mo. App. W.D. 1984), the court held that a conviction will lie regardless of whether the child actually suffered from actual physical or material want or destitution. “The fact [that] the minor child does not suffer deprivation of necessary food, clothing, lodging, medical or surgical attention, or that such needs...