Definition
Arrearages are sums of money that are past due and unpaid. The term refers to the accumulated backlog of unpaid obligations — amounts that should have been paid at an earlier time but remain outstanding. Most commonly encountered in the context of periodic payment obligations: rent, child support, spousal support, and loan installments. The term captures both the fact of lateness and the cumulative total of what is owed.
Three overlapping senses appear in legal usage:
1. Money unpaid at the time it was due, particularly recurring obligations like rent or support payments.
2. The remainder of an account still outstanding after partial payment has been made.
3. Money held by an accounting party — a person responsible for rendering accounts — that remains unsettled.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Plural of arrearage; amounts overdue and unpaid.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Not separately entered; treated as a variant of "arrear," meaning that which is behind in payment; the state of being behind.
The common and legal meanings are closely aligned, but the legal term carries procedural weight that the ordinary usage does not. In litigation — particularly domestic relations and landlord-tenant matters — arrearages are not merely descriptive; they are a computed, enforceable sum. Courts enter judgment for a specific arrearage amount, which then becomes subject to collection mechanisms, interest accrual, and contempt enforcement. The casual sense of "being behind" does not capture this.
Common Confusion
Arrearages vs. Arrears: The two terms are used interchangeably in most legal sources, and the historical dictionaries treat them as synonyms. Some modern domestic relations practice uses "arrearages" specifically for child or spousal support arrears to distinguish them from other past-due debts, but this distinction is contextual rather than formal. Researchers should treat the terms as functionally identical and search both.
Why It Matters in Research
Pattern: Straightforward single-meaning term with strong jurisdictional application in family law and landlord-tenant contexts.
The term is stable in meaning but variable in procedural consequence across subject areas. In family law, arrearages carry special significance: child support arrearages are generally non-dischargeable in bankruptcy, may trigger license suspension, and accrue interest by statute in most jurisdictions. Support arrearage orders are independently enforceable and may outlast the underlying support obligation itself. Researchers working in domestic relations must distinguish the arrearage amount from the ongoing support order — they are separate legal objects with different enforcement postures.
In landlord-tenant law, arrearage is the predicate for eviction in nonpayment proceedings. Historical sources use the term most often in this context, so researchers pulling older materials may find rent arrearages heavily documented while support arrearages are sparse or absent — reflecting the pre-20th-century state of domestic relations law rather than any narrowness in the term's meaning.
In accounting and equity, the "money in the hands of an accounting party" sense appears in older chancery materials. This usage is largely obsolete in modern practice but will surface in historical sources and estate litigation records. Researchers encountering this sense should not conflate it with the more common past-due payment meaning.
Search tip: Historical sources index this term under both "arrear" and "arrearage" without consistency. Run both forms, particularly in pre-1900 materials.
Historical Dictionary Support
Bouvier and Black converge entirely on substance: arrearages are money unpaid at the due time, the remainder after partial payment, or funds held by an accounting party. Both sources cite Cowell (John Cowell's Interpreter, a 17th-century legal glossary) as the underlying authority, signaling that the term's meaning was fixed early and has not meaningfully evolved.
Black's supplemental edition cites three cases that illustrate the term's application: Hollingsworth v. Willis for the basic definition in a Mississippi court, Wiggin v. Knights of Pythias for a federal circuit application, and Condit v. Neighbor from New Jersey — demonstrating that the term was in consistent judicial use across jurisdictions by the late 19th century. Bouvier adds the Mississippi citation (64 Miss. 157) for the "overdue and unpaid" formulation.
Neither historical dictionary addresses child support arrearages, which is expected given the vintage of these sources. The modern weight of the term in domestic relations practice is entirely a 20th-century development not reflected in the historical record. Researchers should not read the historical dictionaries' silence on support arrearages as indicating any limitation on the term's applicability to that context.
Jurisdictional Note
Arrearages as a concept are universal, but the consequences attached to them vary significantly. Child support arrearage enforcement — including license suspension, passport denial, and contempt — is structured by both federal statute and state implementation. Interest rates on unpaid arrearages differ by state. Researchers should confirm the applicable jurisdiction's arrearage enforcement scheme rather than generalizing from any single source.