Topics

1

Child Support Issues / Unclaimed funds?

« on: Sep 08, 2018, 08:15:09 AM »

My son was to receive CS since about 2002. Mom rarely paid, was in jail a couple times, wasn't in child's life very much. GS is now 19, engaged, father to be himself.
My son got a letter from CSEA (Ohio) saying they were filing a 4D MOTION TO INTERCEPT AND TRANSFER UNCLAIMED FUNDS.

They got the Obligor and Obligee right, but it's saying it's owed TO her, not that she owes it. Anyway, he's going to call Monday to sort it out.

Anyone know what this means? Who does the money go to?

2

Chit Chat / Drl Phil on Monday

« on: Dec 02, 2008, 04:07:58 PM »

Anyone see Dr. Phil yesterday (Dec. 1st)? It was about parents who abducted their kids.

I missed the first story but...

That poor dad whose son was taken to Brazil... What's the point of the Hague treaty if it's not going to be upheld? That marriage should be declared illegal (she was still married to Dad) and that boy returned to his dad. Change his birth certificate? There is only one legal one and it's from the states. "Step dad" is a legal stranger to this child.

What I find unbelievable is that "step dad" is an attorney who deals with child abduction cases! HUH?? Whether that boy has been in Brazil for 4 months or 4 years, his dad has constitutional rights. Doesn't matter that too much time has gone by. It might be different if there was a legal adoption where due process was followed. There is no process here! And children are adopted all the time after being in a place for years.

He's lost his mother. She effectively made Dad disappear. At the very least Dad needs to have time with his son.  Like someone on the show said, all you have to do is take your kid to Brazil, stay there long enough, and Dad goes away! NOT!!

And the mom who ran off with her daughter, claiming abuse...who do you believe? Sounds pretty fishy to me. Dad's attorney says there were no previous claims of abuse in court. She admitted that she wanted to limit Dad's time and he was demanding his rights. Sounds all too familiar...now mom's time is limited with the child.

Kudos to Dr. Phil this time for standing up for the dads.

3

Child Support Issues / Second Contempt in Ohio update

« on: Aug 23, 2007, 04:37:34 PM »

Son and exgf were in court last week.

To recap, she is over 12 grand in arrears, was found in contempt last summer and spent a month in jail. Worked for a couple months and was garnished. Last payment was November.

This time she had a letter from a lady whose 4 girls she is babysitting (and who she and her dh brought to the courthouse, they waited in the hall). She said she was getting paid in a day or 2, so they gave her 72 hours to pay.

She was found in contempt, and a 60 day jail sentence suspended provided she make payments, and pay a cash bond of $500 by mid November.

She did make a payment - $69. So she's dodged the bullet this time.

Can anyone explain how the cash bond works?

4

Child Support Issues / Second contempt in Ohio

« on: May 27, 2007, 05:26:16 PM »

My son's exgf was ordered to pay CS in early '03. She was garnished a couple times for a month or two and then quit. She spent a month in jail last summer for failure to pay, after which she was garnished for a couple months and quit again. Last payment was last Nov. She is over 11 grand in arrears.

They are due back in court early June (CSEA filed for it) for a second contempt. Does anyone know what kind of jail time she'll get? I think a second contempt is 60 days but my son has heard of some men getting 6 months. I'm not sure if being over 10 grand would mean prison time (federal offense?). Supposedly she has had her license suspended recently.

I guess we'll find out...

5

Shrink Rap / Re-unification

« on: Nov 22, 2003, 04:07:33 PM »

A friend who belongs to SPARC has just won a contempt motion. His exwife started denying visitation 4 years ago. The kids were 4, 6 and 8 then. He was largely unaware of his options and didn't have the funds for a contempt hearing. Mom had turned the school against him by saying he was not allowed near the kids, and that he had lost all his rights (her reasoning in court was that he had not had contact with them for over a year so he must have lost them).

In the past she alleged physical and sexual abuse but this was hardly mentioned in court. But we're sure the kids have been told that it happened. She has effectively replaced Dad with stepdad, even claiming the kids on their taxes and using stepdad's insurance (both against the court order).

Anyway, Dad has been granted shorter visits to start with, from 12 to 8pm for 2 or 3 Sundays (starting Nov. 30) and then starting overnights again a couple of weekends as well as Christmas afternoon and the day after. Then back to every other weekend and mid-week by February.

They want to get the kids into counselling to help them adjust to seeing Dad and his family again and try to counter the PAS, but nothing is court ordered.

I am wondering the best way to deal with all of this, with them? Should he be truthful about all the things they have been told? What if they are really hateful? The youngest may not even remember them. The oldest may be ok but she is the one that Mom identifies with and I'm sure she's been told that Dad is a molesting monster.

This is probably not going to be a walk in the park...

6

Dear Socrateaser / Question about service OT

« on: Nov 14, 2006, 05:59:22 PM »

A co-signer (parent) is served notice of a complaint for a judgement, by way of a notice of a certified letter left at the house (it was picked up and signed for), but the main defendant (son, who lives elsewhere) receives nothing.

1. Is that adequate notice? An answer to the complaint is expected before the end of next week.
2. If it is notice, should the answer mention that he was not served, but the parent was?

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Dear Socrateaser / speaking of child/BM conversations

« on: Jun 05, 2006, 07:31:36 PM »

I read a previous post about recording the child and the other parent and have a question or two.

Recently my exgf was jailed for a month for non-payment of CS. We are in Ohio (one-party state).

Just over a week ago she called my cell phone and asked to speak with my son (he's 7). It happened to be on speaker. She was making plans with him to visit her at the facility (not the jail, some other low-security arrangement). I didn't feel that was a good idea. She had sent a letter to him along the same lines that he has not seen. She is always making plans with him before consulting me, and often cancelling those plans so that my son is disappointed.

She then asked him if he was mad at her for being there. He said no. Then she asked him if he was mad at dad for putting her there. He said no. I took the phone from him and told BM the conversation was over and there was a heated discussion (away from child).

1. Since I have legal custody, would I be out of line to monitor her calls to my son by using the speaker phone?

2. Could I also record the calls (if I had the equipment)?

8

Dear Socrateaser / The hearing that wasn't...or was it?

« on: Nov 03, 2005, 08:51:33 PM »

My son's exgf gave him temp custody in 01, and permanent in 02. At the time there was no child support ordered as per their agreement. Child will be 7 in December.

Since she never helped out as promised, my son filed for CS in Jan. 03. She was ordered to attend a work program in May.
They brought her back to court in March of 04 and was ordered to start paying within a month or spend a month in jail. Two weeks later they ordered her back to the work program. She showed up there on the last day of the deadline.

The first payment was garnished from her wages in early April of this year. Four small payments were made in April. She then quit working when she spent 2 weeks in a psych ward. This summer was one ailment after another (par for the course).

They finally called for a hearing late last month to see if she was able to work. My son was invited. He showed up with his gf, and me and a friend. In the hall the assistant prosecutor met with him and told him that mom had called in saying she had no vehicle to get there. We told her she could have had one.

She told my son that mom was now working (she started that week) and they were going to garnish her wages, and that if he stopped getting payments, to let them know and they'd file contempt.

She asked my son if he wanted to address the court, but he was so ticked that mom was not going to even get her wrist slapped, he said no.
And we all left.

Today he got the Findings and Decision of Magistrate (we're in Ohio). It reads:

Present before the Magistrate were (son); and XXX, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for XX County CSEA. (Mom) was present by telephone.

It lists findings, which are that mom is employed at XXX, and she will pay CS through a wage withholding order.

Decision is that she is ordered to maintain employment and pay CS etc. and that court costs are waived. We are obviously happy with the decision (if she follows the orders).

They never even saw the magistrate. Son was not witness to the phone call. PA had not even verified mom's employment.

1. Is this standard procedure when the parties come to an agreement in the hall?

2. Is this anything worth objecting to, even if the orders are acceptable?

9

Dear Socrateaser / Praecipe For Transcript

« on: Aug 22, 2005, 08:35:22 PM »

Do you know where I could find a form for this? It's not for an appeal or anything, I'd just like a transcript of our hearing last week so I know exactly what the judge said.

I'll probably just write up a simple request. Our county courthouse has few forms to give out, let alone online.

FYI, we had the hearing for the HB130 Ohio POA. We are officially the first in our county to get an extension for another year.

We saw the judge rather than the magistrate that we usually deal with. I like this judge.

The judge wanted to know, from both of us, the reasons for it. Dad admitted that his living arrangement is not suitable for grandson and said he probably wouldn't need the whole year to get his life in order.

Judge asked if the CSB (cps) was involved in getting dad help in reunification, we said no, because child is being well cared for.

He asked about mom, we told him about her mostly psychological troubles.

Judge said this was meant to be a temporary help for families, not an extended thing, but he did grant us another year. He told Dad to write to him when he was ready to terminate the POA. He said if I had any concerns at that time, I could contact CSB to do an evaluation. I think I'll pass unless it's really necessary.

In short, I did take to heart your concerns about a conflict of interest. I am saving all my evidence for now and see what kind of progress Dad makes.

Thanks.

10

Dear Socrateaser / Filing second POA tomorrow

« on: Aug 08, 2005, 09:28:01 PM »

I wrote to you a while ago about the Ohio HB130 grandparent power of attorney. (http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=125_HB_130)

Both parents and I have signed and notarized a second one, as the first will expire in early September (a year) and my grandson's school requires it to be filed with court and a copy for them.

The filing of a second one requires a hearing to be held within 10 days of filing, to determine if the POA is in the child's best interest (Sec. 3109.76 and 77).

My son, who has legal custody of the boy, has in the past been very resistant to a suggestion of a change of custody to me. Part of the text of this law states that one of the options the court "may" do is treat this as a petition for legal custody and grant it to the grandparent who is the attorney in fact.

My son and bm are unaware of this option. I'm not sure if she'll even get notice of the hearing since she also signed. I don't know if the options will be listed on the notice of hearing.

Since this law is just over a year old, I'm not sure if this magistrate is aware of this option. I had thought of including, with the filing, a copy of the pertinent paragraphs - but techically my son is filing it, and I wouldn't want the mag asking him if he was petitioning for a change in custody. I may ask the clerk if she knows of others on file or if they have had second ones filed. They may not have expired yet.

I am thinking I may need to tell my son, before the hearing, that in order to make our case I'll need to point out some less than favorable things about him and/or his situation. But if I overdo it, I risk getting son riled up and maybe taking GS when he is ill-prepared to do so. Some issues include son's diagnosed depression and social anxiety that he self-medicates; living upstairs from a bar that he frequents; lack of finances and support to us; lack of significant contact with GS, etc.

I'm not sure what to ask you.

1. Any ideas on how the heck I ask for custody without coming out and saying it?

2. Should I just point out the reasons for asking for the POA and hope for the best? (we have had him for over a year.) Maybe mention the options but say that we haven't asked for custody because son was opposed to it and we want to keep peace in the family?

Any ideas welcome and thank you in advance.