You are in the middle of a custody dispute. The stakes could not be higher. Every decision you make, every piece of paper with your name on it, every call that comes to your phone or your workplace is being scrutinized by attorneys, by a guardian ad litem, and potentially by a judge who will decide where your child sleeps at night.
And then a debt collector calls your employer.
Or they leave a voicemail at your home that your co-parent hears. Or they call your mother's house asking for you and mention the debt. In a custody context, these are not just violations of federal law. They are potential weapons that can be used against you in court.
In This Guide
Third-Party Disclosure in the Custody Context
The FDCPA debt collector harassment rights include a third-party disclosure rule under 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(b). That rule prohibits a debt collector from communicating with anyone other than the consumer (or a narrow list of exceptions) in connection with the collection of a debt. This means a collector cannot call your parents, your siblings, your neighbors, your co-parent's attorney, or anyone else and disclose that you owe a debt.
In a custody dispute, the harm from this kind of disclosure is amplified. If a debt collector contacts your employer, the disclosure can damage your case. That risk is even sharper during a custody evaluation where your employment stability is being assessed. If a collector leaves a message that your co-parent or their attorney obtains, it can be used to paint a picture of financial irresponsibility, whether or not the debt is legitimate. If the calls involve your former spouse's debt, our guide to collection calls about an ex's debt after divorce explains the related FDCPA issues.
Workplace Contact Restrictions
The FDCPA provides specific protections for workplace communications. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(3), a debt collector may not communicate with a consumer at work if the collector knows or has reason to know that the employer prohibits those communications. Many employers do prohibit these contacts. Even when they do not, a collector who calls your workplace and speaks to a receptionist or supervisor has likely disclosed the existence of the debt to a third party in violation of § 1692c(b).
During a custody dispute, these workplace contacts carry extra weight. If you are undergoing a custody evaluation, the evaluator or guardian ad litem may contact your employer. If the employer mentions that debt collectors have been calling, it can undermine your position -- even if you have done nothing wrong.
Harassment Provisions
Section 1692d of the FDCPA prohibits a debt collector from engaging in conduct whose natural consequence is to harass, oppress, or abuse any person. Repeated calls can fall under this provision. So can calls at inconvenient times or calls designed to embarrass you in front of others. In the custody context, a collector who calls repeatedly during visitation time may be creating a harassment pattern that violates § 1692d. The same may be true if the collector calls a number they know is shared with your co-parent.
Section 1692d(5) specifically prohibits causing a telephone to ring repeatedly or continuously with the intent to annoy, abuse, or harass. Regulation F (12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b)) creates a rebuttable presumption that more than seven calls in seven consecutive days is harassing. During a custody dispute, even calls within these limits can feel like harassment when every call carries the risk of being overheard, recorded, or reported to the court.
What to Do
Do not engage with the collector on the phone. Do not disclose information about your custody case. Do not let the stress of the custody dispute cause you to ignore the collection calls, because ignoring the calls does not make the violations go away -- it just means you are not documenting them.
Instead, document everything. Save voicemails. Screenshot texts. Log every call with date, time, number, and what was said. If the collector contacted your employer, get a written statement from your employer confirming the contact.
Then contact an FDCPA attorney. The FDCPA is a fee-shifting statute under 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a)(3). The debt collector pays your attorney's fees when they violate the law. You pay nothing out of pocket.
If debt collectors are making your custody dispute worse, contact Hyslip Legal for a free, confidential evaluation. You can also browse our legal insights library for more consumer-rights guidance.
This information is for educational purposes only and does not create an attorney-client relationship with Hyslip Legal, LLC. Legal outcomes depend on the facts of each case.