A Guatemalan family court has ordered you to pay pensión alimenticia for a child in Guatemala, and you live in the United States. Three questions follow: what the order can do to you while you are in the US, what happens if you visit Guatemala, and whether it can follow you into a US court. Short version: the order’s strongest tools act inside Guatemala (your property there, and an arraigo that can stop you leaving after a visit); into the US there is no treaty channel, only a US court’s discretion.
In short: Under Guatemala’s Civil Code the judge fixes support in money, in proportion to the payer’s means and the child’s needs (Arts. 279-280), and it ends at 18 except for a child who is habitually ill, disabled or interdicted (Art. 290). A payer who had to be sued must guarantee payment, by mortgage if they have property, and the court can annotate the payer’s assets until they do (Art. 292). Refusing to pay after being legally required is a crime, six months to two years (Penal Code Art. 242), unless you prove you cannot pay; paying and guaranteeing exempts you (Art. 245). On a visit, a judge can order an arraigo, lifted only by paying or depositing the arrears and guaranteeing future support (Procedure Code Art. 524). In the US there is no treaty: Guatemala is not on the federal list and not in the Hague 2007 Convention, so a US court would act only by comity, case by case. This page explains rules. It does not assess your case.
How a Guatemalan court sets and adjusts support
The rules are in the Civil Code (Decreto-Ley 106), Articles 278 to 292. The ones that matter from the US:
| Article | What it says |
|---|---|
| 278 | Support covers «todo lo que es indispensable para el sustento, habitación, vestido, asistencia médica y también la educación e instrucción del alimentista cuando es menor de edad» |
| 279 | «Los alimentos han de ser proporcionados a las circunstancias personales y pecuniarias de quien los debe y de quien los recibe, y serán fijados por el juez, en dinero.» |
| 280 | Support goes down or up in proportion to changes in the child’s needs and the payer’s means |
| 290 | Descendants cannot claim support once they turn eighteen, unless habitually ill, disabled or interdicted, or when their subsistence has been secured to that age |
| 292 | A payer who had to be sued must guarantee payment «con hipoteca, si tuviere bienes hipotecables, o con fianza u otras seguridades, a juicio del juez», and until then the child’s side can have enough of the payer’s assets annotated |
Two consequences for a parent abroad:
- The amount is not fixed forever. If your income in the US has fallen, or the child’s needs have changed, Article 280 is the basis for asking the court to adjust it. That request goes to the Guatemalan court, through a Guatemalan lawyer who holds your power of attorney; see our poder consular guide.
- Property in Guatemala is exposed. Article 292’s guarantee and annotation rule reaches land or other assets you own there. If you plan to sell property in Guatemala while a support case is open, read selling property in Guatemala while living in the US with that in mind.
How the lawsuit itself is filed in Guatemala is covered in our child support lawsuit guide.
The visit: arraigo
An arraigo is a court order registered with the Instituto Guatemalteco de Migración (IGM) that limits a person’s freedom to leave Guatemala. Support cases have their own rule in Article 524 of the Civil and Commercial Procedure Code: «En los procesos sobre alimentos, será necesario que el demandado cancele o deposite el monto de los alimentos atrasados que sean exigibles legalmente y garantice el cumplimiento de la obligación por el tiempo que el juez determine, según las circunstancias».
So an arraigo in a support case is lifted by two things together: paying or depositing the legally due arrears, and guaranteeing future payment for the period the judge sets. Leaving a representative behind, which lifts an ordinary civil arraigo, is not enough here.
Before any trip, run the IGM’s free online arraigo search. How it works from the US, and why a clean result is not a guarantee, is in check for an arraigo before you fly to Guatemala.
The criminal side
Guatemala’s Penal Code (Decreto 17-73) has a chapter on failure to meet family duties:
| Article | Offence or rule | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| 242 Negación de asistencia económica | A person legally obliged to pay support, under a final judgment or an agreement in a public or authentic document, who refuses to pay «después de ser legalmente requerido» | Six months to two years in prison, «salvo que probare no tener posibilidades económicas para el cumplimiento de su obligación» |
| 243 Aggravated | Transferring assets to a third person or using other fraudulent means to avoid paying | The Art. 242 penalty increased by one third |
| 245 Exemption | «quedará exento de sanción, quien pagare los alimentos debidos y garantizare suficientemente, conforme a la ley, el ulterior cumplimiento de sus obligaciones» | — |
Article 242 also says the payer is not freed from criminal liability because another person provided the support.
Arraigos differ by type. According to the IGM, a criminal arraigo has no expiry date, while the other types last one year. Whether a judge orders one in a given case is up to that judge.
Can the order reach you in the US?
Not through a treaty. The map, as published by the two bodies that run the systems:
| System | Guatemala’s status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US federal child support arrangements (foreign reciprocating countries and Hague 2007 partners) | Not on the list. El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua are | Office of Child Support Enforcement, International Parents page updated 15 September 2026 |
| Hague 2007 Child Support Convention (US party since 1 January 2017) | Not a party | HCCH status table |
Inside the US, the governing law is the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), enacted state by state. UIFSA’s definition of a foreign country whose support orders get the Act’s treatment covers four cases: a country declared a foreign reciprocating country, one with “a reciprocal arrangement for child support with this state”, one that “has enacted a law or established procedures for the issuance and enforcement of support orders which are substantially similar to the procedures under this [act]”, or one where the Hague Convention is in force with the US (UIFSA § 102(5), as excerpted by the California courts).
Guatemala meets neither of the two federal categories. Whether any individual state has its own arrangement with Guatemala, or a court has found its laws substantially similar, is a state-by-state question we did not survey. The federal office’s instruction for every international case is: “Contact your child support office to learn how international cases are handled in your state.”
For a country outside all four categories, the federal child support office’s training module on non-Convention cases says a US tribunal “may apply principles of comity, if appropriate, to recognize a support order issued by a foreign nation” that falls outside UIFSA’s definition of a foreign country. It explains that comity “is extended to an order, not a country”, so each order is decided on its own, and that “The recognition is not as a matter of legal requirement.”
The same module describes a second route that does not use the Guatemalan order at all. In states that enacted UIFSA’s Alternative A for Section 307, the state agency “must provide appropriate services in a UIFSA proceeding to all petitioners regardless of where they reside”, and a request from a parent abroad is processed as a domestic case, with the state’s own law governing the support duty and amount. States that enacted Alternative B have discretion. The federal office also says residency or citizenship is not required to apply for its services.
What this adds up to, as our reading of those sources rather than a ruling: a Guatemalan order has no automatic force in a US court, but it is not irrelevant either. A US court may recognise it by comity, and the other parent may be able to open a case with your state’s child support agency under that state’s law.
If you want to pay, or to settle it
- Pay through the court case. Article 245 of the Penal Code ties the exemption from punishment to paying what is owed and guaranteeing future payments, which is also what Article 524 of the Procedure Code requires to lift an arraigo in a support case. Arrange both through a Guatemalan lawyer in the case file, so there is a court record of each payment.
- Adjust instead of ignoring. If the amount no longer matches your income, Article 280 is the route to change it. An unpaid order does not shrink on its own.
- Get legal advice in both countries if the other parent has started, or may start, a case in the US.
The other direction
If you hold a US support order and the other parent lives in Guatemala, the path runs through Guatemala’s rules on foreign judgments, with five conditions and a default-judgment trap: see enforcing a US child support order in Guatemala. A child taken across the border is a different system again: the Hague abduction convention between the US and Guatemala.
Related
- Check for an arraigo before you fly to Guatemala
- Child support lawsuit in Guatemala
- Poder consular from the US
- Divorcing in Guatemala while living in the US
Sources: Civil Code (Decreto-Ley 106), Arts. 278-280, 290 and 292, CENADOJ annotated edition updated to 8 August 2025 (read 23 September 2026); Civil and Commercial Procedure Code (Decreto-Ley 107), Art. 524, WIPO Lex copy (file dated 2014; later amendments not checked); Penal Code (Decreto 17-73), Arts. 242-245, OAS copy (read 24 September 2026); IGM on arraigo durations (Wayback copy of 11 May 2026); US Office of Child Support Enforcement, International Parents page (updated 15 September 2026) and training Module 9, Processing of a Non-Convention Case (read 24 September 2026); HCCH status table for the 2007 Child Support Convention (read 23 September 2026); UIFSA § 102(5) as excerpted by the Judicial Council of California (read 24 September 2026). General information, not legal advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Guatemalan child support order still apply if I live in the US?
The order was issued by a Guatemalan court and remains in force in Guatemala whatever your address. Where it bites is on what you have or do in Guatemala: property there, and your ability to leave the country after a visit. Whether a US court will enforce it against your US wages is a separate question, covered below; there is no treaty that makes it automatic.
Can I be stopped from leaving Guatemala over unpaid child support?
Yes, if a judge orders an arraigo. Article 524 of the Civil and Commercial Procedure Code says that in support cases the defendant must pay or deposit the legally due arrears and guarantee future payments for the time the judge sets before the arraigo is lifted. The IGM runs a free online search you can use before you travel.
Is not paying child support a crime in Guatemala?
It can be. Article 242 of the Penal Code punishes with six months to two years in prison a person legally obliged to pay support, under a final judgment or an agreement in a public or authentic document, who refuses to pay after being legally required to, unless the person proves they have no means to pay. Article 245 exempts from punishment whoever pays the support owed and sufficiently guarantees future compliance.
Can a Guatemalan child support order be enforced by a US court?
Not through any treaty. Guatemala is not on the US government’s list of countries with child support arrangements (updated 15 September 2026) and is not a party to the 2007 Hague Child Support Convention. Under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), a US tribunal may still recognise an order from a country outside those systems on the basis of comity, which the federal training materials describe as a case-by-case decision, not a legal requirement.
When does child support end under Guatemalan law?
Civil Code Article 290 says descendants cannot claim support once they turn eighteen, unless they are habitually ill, disabled or legally interdicted, or when their subsistence has been secured up to that age.
Can the amount be changed?
Yes. Civil Code Article 280 says support is reduced or increased in proportion to changes in the needs of the person receiving it and the means of the person paying. A change is asked for in the Guatemalan court that handles the case; from the US that means through a Guatemalan lawyer holding your power of attorney.
