back to court over non payment of CS
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back to court over non payment of CS
| Wed, 11-09-2005 - 11:38am |
I've been here off and on for a couple years and had a question. I've been divorced almost 3 years and my X has not paid Child Support in almost 1 year. He was in jail, for something not related to CS for 9 months then moved to a work release center where he hurt himself (which is probably a lie) and was released due to his injury. He has been home for 3 months now collecting disablity and has sent 1 CS payment since he was released early. I've thought about filing contempt charges against him because he does get a check but claims he doesn't have enough money to pay. In the mean time he lives with his girlfriend and he's had another child with her that he supports. The paperwork i'd be filing states “the other party will have an opportunity to show an inability to comply with the prior court order.” do you think the court will have pity on him for his own stupidity of being locked up and then for being on disablity?
it will cost me money to file the papers so i'm trying to decide if it will be worth it for me. he is over $2000 behind now and christmas looks really nonexistent this year.
thanks for your replies.
sara
it will cost me money to file the papers so i'm trying to decide if it will be worth it for me. he is over $2000 behind now and christmas looks really nonexistent this year.
thanks for your replies.
sara

I think you should definitely go after him to start paying no matter the circumstance. Your children have expenses and needs regardless of his situation. If you don't set up a precedent now where he has to help pay then you will forever be in this position. Your "understanding and kindness" of forgiving those payments will not make him want to pay when he can, they will allow him to remain in an apathetic state and never pay.
Be quick and be strong. And good luck!!
Go after him. No, the court will not feel sorry for him at all.
Does your state have a child support enforcement agency? Mine does. If my ex ever stopped paying child support, I could sign up for services through the state where he would pay the state and then the state would send me a check. If he ever got into arrears through the state program, then the state would prosecute him on their own.
You might want to look into what your state provides if you don't know already.
Definitely do something! He can't help bring a child in this world and not help take care of it.
This is a situation where a lot of men just don't think. They have a court ordered child support amount and couple of years down the road their circumstances change. Then they just don't pay the child support and it builds and builds to where it is impossible for them to pay it back. The moment a man sees that his circumstances are not going to get any better, he should ask the court to re-compute the amount to something he can manage. A lot of men don't do this, they just don't pay anything. But that is their stupid mistake. I mentioned this because when you do get him back before a judge, he might manage to get his monthly child support lowered.
As far as the court feeling taking pity on him, no way. If you think he's lying about his disability, have proof of it when you do take him to court. And report his a$$ to the disability office too because I don't want my tax $$ keeping him up if he's lying.
Does your state have a child support enforcement agency? My ex thought he could get away without paying me the first 7 months or so after we divorced (which was three years ago). He found out different the other day when Child Support Enforcement intercepted his tax refund and is sending it to me.
Go after him. It is his responsibility to help support the child that you two have together. I would look into seeing if where you live has a child support enforcement agency. I filed there when my ex stopped paying...and it only took a couple of weeks until I received notice that either he complied and pay so much a month to catch up, or he would go to jail. Even then, when they get out of jail they have to comply and pay or they go back. I'm sure your ex doesn't want to keep going in and out of lock up, so to speak. My ex was behind about $1500 plus medical support he's supposed to pay for dd. They made him pay $450 a month until he was caught up. He then quit his job and filed for unemployment - they took that from him.
When I went to my first r/o hearing last week there was a guy in front of the judge who had just got out of jail, having served 7 months for not paying c/s. The judge was very angry at the man and ordered him to pay 2 full months up front by the end of the month. Judges don't look kindly on a parent not paying their c/s. So, definitely go for it...your child deserves it.
Kait
I think you should make sure you are doing this in the most effective least expensive way.
i'm going to check into CS enforement to see what they can do. i've heard they take their time but evenutally get the job done. it costs the same to have him served with contempt charges as it does to open a case with CSE.
thank you everyone for answering.
such a wonderful group of ladies here.
Dear Sara,
Every state has a child support enforcement program.
Sara,
If you have a child support order signed and dated by the judge, then you need to enroll in Family Maintenance and let them take care of the rest.