SPARC Forums

Hi Soc,

My custody order took place in Montgomery Co., MD back in Sept 1998.  I was given residential custody and the father and I share joint legal custody.  Father has been sending $275 a month mostly every month.  I am in the process of buying a house through a special program for low-income individuals and they needed a copy of my support order.  I call the attorney I had and he didn't have a copy of the order so I called the court clerk and according to her, there was NO support order filed.

1.  Do I have any recourse against my attorney?

2.  I did file a case through CSE, but received a notice from them that they were closing the case because it was "Not in the best interest of the child"..does this sound right?

3.  Any suggestions you could make?

Thanks!!!

>1.  Do I have any recourse against my attorney?

Your facts state that you have a custody order, and that your attorney never filed a support order. If all you have is a custody order, then your attorney can't file a support order because there is no support order?

If you're complaining that your attorney should have requested and obtained a support order, well, you may have a case, but you aren't damaged, unless you can show that you would have received more than $275 per month during the period of time that your support order would have been in force.

>2.  I did file a case through CSE, but received a notice from
>them that they were closing the case because it was "Not in
>the best interest of the child"..does this sound right?

The only thing that comes to mind is that a support order would produce less child support than you are already receiving. However, I have never heard of a CSE agency not requesting an order, because they get federal matching funds for every dollar collected. Something is definitely strange. You should ask to speak with a supervisor and have them explain why a support order is not in the child's best interests.

>3.  Any suggestions you could make?

See #2.