Husband's ex-wife won't pay support

My husband and I received custody of his two children by ex-wife. She moved out of state and was supposed to start paying us support June 2,2000. How do we enforce this? What do we say to her to convince her she needs to pay? Also, she did not show up her last weekend to get the kids or even call. We're not comfortable with the kids leaving the state, do we have to let her take them?

[usmcfamily]

Some answers to at least some of your questions....
Most importantly DO NOT DENY HER VISITATION - that is a quick way to end up in court for contempt (to your question of letting her take them.). Instead, I would suggest you carefully read the original order - what specifically does it say in regards to her visitation.....ie supervised? in - state?...those details really count. If you truly consider a "flight risk" -- kidnapping threat - I would suggest immediately going about filing for a modification to supervised or at least area-restricted visitation....you would go through a hearing to state your reasons to the judge and depending on how real a threat she is you just MIGHT get it - doubtful though. If she DOES take them and not come back then she is kidnapping - once you find them (the hard part)you will have no problem modifying the order and then go from there but I hope it won't have to come to that!!!
As to the enforcement of support - you need to take the signed support order to the "support enforcement" division of the same courthouse your order came from - if you are not sure what department handles this try talking to the clerk of the court - explain you need to file for enforcement/garnishment and she will put you in touch with the right people. Or you can also use the state enforcement division (all states have them - sometimes easiest to get the info from the welfare office - they will give you the #'s). You need to start enforcement now (get registered with one of these agencies) as they can track your arrearages for you and that will also come in handy if you end up back in court so you can PROVE she is not paying support.
I know this can all be overwhelming and scary(worrying about kidnapping) but you aren't alone .... there are a lot of us who have gone through this before you and there will be lots after so don't hesitate to ask for help!
Prayers be with you

Assuming that the child support is court-ordered, there are several means for enforcing orders of the court, including child support orders. One method is to ask the court for a wage garnishment and to have the child support taken directly out of her paycheck. Another means, if she is unemployed or if you do not know where she is employed, is to ask the Court to hold her in civil contempt for disobeying the orders of the court and to compel her to pay or face sanctions. If you do not have an order for child support to enforce, then that is your first step.

Regarding visitation, if the visitation is court ordered, then you should comply in the absence of a modification of the order. If there is no order for visitation, then it is the non-custodial parent's obligation to approach the court for an order of visitation. It is not uncommon for noncustodial parents who live out of state to receive out of state visitation in the absence of allegations of serious endangerment to the child.

Finally, you cannot force a parent to visit his/her children. However, there are means to collect child support regardless of visitation. In some jurisdictions, the court will restrict visitation when the noncustodial parent refuses to comply with orders of child support.