Anyone know about family law??

[roger teekell]

Here is the deal..

My fiancee' has let her husband slide for years on paying all of his child support..

She did so to keep the peace..

He would give her $100 every two weeks pretty consistantly..But in the divorce agreement he was SUPPOSED to be paying 27% of his salary...Which would have been MUCH more...$700-$800/Month.

Now he is living in Kansas and hasn't sent her a dime in over a year..So she is doing something she swore she would never do..Taking him to court..

She wants to know what to expect but can't afford to pay an attorney a lot of money..

So does anyone know basically what she can expect??

What the laws are concerning this type of situation..

Any help will be appreciated..

Thanks

Roger

[RTchoke]

Having a family member that was in a similar situation, all I can tell you is what she did. She turned him over to the State and let them get the money for her. Having spent many dollars and days in court in the years before that and getting nothing, that was the route that finally got her the money.

Your mileage may vary. :)

[sircharliebrown]

Since she already has a court order for child support, she should be able to sign up with Support Enforcement and they would start collecting for her by garnishing his paycheck. It won't cost her a dime. It may take some time for them to process the paperwork and set up the garnishment, but they will start collecting and collect the past due support as well.

Granted, he has to have a job in order to have a paycheck that can be garnished. But job or no job, he is still liable for the support and the arrears will continue to accrue and they will still attempt to collect.

In my state, if you fail to pay court ordered support, they will eventually yank any licenses you have - driver's, business, etc, and eventually they will just throw you in jail. (Although, don't ask me how you are supposed to then pay support if you are in jail, but I digress)

Good luck!

[USMCmom]

Child Support Enforcement is most definitely the way to go...that is what I had to do and if not for them I would of never of received any support at all. They were also fair to both parties and since I started using them I have never had a problem receiving my support. As for what to expect the attorney's basically do everything, I never had to go to court...I did have to fill out lots of paperwork. Other than that it just took some time to get it done. Not only that but the boy's dad had to pay the attorney fees, we would of split them but because he wouldn't pay any support voluntarily the judge ruled in my favor for the fees.

I hated the idea of creating any problems, but my caseworker was great and made me understand that their dad has an obligation to his kids regardless of whether or not he wanted any contact with them! Hope all works out well for your fiance....
Take care & God Bless

[Seanachie]

An offshoot of all of the above is Federal Law that allows for the 'taking' of his income tax return refund to satisfy arrears from a Court Order. This is usually done through the County Probation Department or whatever name for that Agency is used by your State. Getting the Court Order to set arrears is the way to go. Some States also have a mechanism that will suspend your DL or any professional license you may possess till all obligations are satisfied. The State will also require that any monetary welfare benefits garnered by a recipient be returned to them 1st by the obligated
(her X) before satisfying the recipient of the arrears and obligations.

Good Luck,

Jim

[jwil59]

I don't know much about the law Roger but you guys have my prayers for a speedy settlement from this deadbeat dad.

[Calibabe]

Here is the deal..

My fiancee' has let her husband slide for years on paying all of his child support..

She did so to keep the peace..

He would give her $100 every two weeks pretty consistantly..But in the divorce agreement he was SUPPOSED to be paying 27% of his salary...Which would have been MUCH more...$700-$800/Month.

Now he is living in Kansas and hasn't sent her a dime in over a year..So she is doing something she swore she would never do..Taking him to court..

She wants to know what to expect but can't afford to pay an attorney a lot of money..

So does anyone know basically what she can expect??

What the laws are concerning this type of situation..

Any help will be appreciated..

Thanks

Roger


Oh the fond memories of divorce.

A lot will depend upon the relationship your fiance has with her ex. Does she know where he is? If so, why doesn't she either write or call him first. This way she is making contact. If she receives no answer or the phone call is non productive (say he says that he will send her $100 in 2 weeks and doesn't) then it is time to get an attorney involved as she did all she could do nicely to get him to pay his support.

Now, for the not so good news. There are no free attorneys. Not unless through where you live there is a legal aid office where they take these kind of cases. She can file what is called a "pro-bono" case and explain to the judge her story and see what he says but I will tell you that he is going to scold her some for not taking what the court originally ordered. Their opinion will be well you let him slide on the original and now that he hasn't paid, you are coming and asking when he should have been paying the original amount all along.

Secondly she could try to negotiate or meet with an attorney that does child support cases and see if she can get an agreement on a fee that she could pay the attorney each week or month until the case is satisfied. Since it seems she knows where he is, this should not be a hard deal.

Hopefully when faced with the possibility of going to jail, he will do what he is supposed to do.

[itsrea]

Here is the deal..

My fiancee' has let her husband slide for years on paying all of his child support..

She did so to keep the peace..

He would give her $100 every two weeks pretty consistantly..But in the divorce agreement he was SUPPOSED to be paying 27% of his salary...Which would have been MUCH more...$700-$800/Month.

Now he is living in Kansas and hasn't sent her a dime in over a year..So she is doing something she swore she would never do..Taking him to court..

She wants to know what to expect but can't afford to pay an attorney a lot of money..

So does anyone know basically what she can expect??

What the laws are concerning this type of situation..

Any help will be appreciated..

Thanks

RogerAccording to the court order I had and in my personal experience, if her child support is court ordered she doesn't need a lawyer, she can go to the Child Support Division of the District Attorney's Office and fill out the paperwork that the order be enforced.

Doesn't matter how much she accepted, doesn't matter what verbal agreement they may have had for awhile or during an emergency - the court order stands as ordered - nobody has the legal ability to negate it other then the courts..

[Rupperov91]

According to the court order I had and in my personal experience, if her child support is court ordered she doesn't need a lawyer, she can go to the Child Support Division of the District Attorney's Office and fill out the paperwork that the order be enforced.

Doesn't matter how much she accepted, doesn't matter what verbal agreement they may have had for awhile or during an emergency - the court order stands as ordered - nobody has the legal ability to negate it other then the courts..

Exactly. No lawyer needed. File, show up, win. I believe they will garnish any tax refund, unemployment or even potentially put him to work in prison if I remember correctly.

My wifes ex owes roughly $50,000. He has fallen off the radar. Man I wish that POS would rot in jail.

[itsrea]

Exactly. No lawyer needed. File, show up, win. I believe they will garnish any tax refund, unemployment or even potentially put him to work in prison if I remember correctly.

My wifes ex owes roughly $50,000. He has fallen off the radar. Man I wish that POS would rot in jail.If she has an aggresive D.A. doesn't matter where they 'fall' to - the D.A. will find them cause the Post Office is now required to help, and so does SS..

They tracked my ex through three fake post office boxes to a place in Alaska. All these years he told us (his kids and myself) that he and a friend were rebuilding a old pioneer town to make is a tourist attraction - I didn't push for support because I was told he didn't HAVE any money by his family.

He recently told one of my sons and his wife tat he was working for the State of Alaska all that time. Either he was lying then or he's lying now.

If I'd stuck with that D.A. I'd have known IF he was lying to me all those years ago.