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You wouldn't need to come up with the full amount all at once. You would be asked to pay a certain amount every month in arrears until the arrears are paid. Ex could easily return that money if they wish (but, as I said, I doubt that they would really do this).

You can probably find the answer to your question elsewhere on this site - try searching for it since it has been answered several times. I don't remember, but it's something like 25% of income for one child and 40-50% for two or more (but I could be way off, so do a search and you'll probably find it. There are also a lot of good articles on the main page).

>The cs case was closed in 2001. She just decided to reopen
>the case. If she agrees to waive the back child support will
>the courts recognize that?
>

They will CONSIDER it, but the court's interest is in making sure the kids are supported. How would the kids benefit if she waives support?

More importantly, why would she do that? The fact that she's reopening the case at all says that she wants the money.

If there's some reason why she wants only future money but wants to waive the back child support, the easiest thing is for her to collect the child support and then reimburse your husband as a gift. Even though the net effect is the same as if your husband never paid at all, there's a world of difference legally. The down side is that he has to come up with the money to pay her and then she can reimburse him.

There are all sorts of things you can do to contest it, but none of them are likely to result in any change. The only thing that would be likely to have any impact would be asking for a paternity test.

Your best bet is for him to get a job and start paying support for his child. Basically, he's neglected supporting his child for 13 years and the bill is now due.

How much money is involved? If it's not much more than $500, you have nothing to lose. If it's several times that figure, I'd personally play it safe and use the attorney, but I tend to be overly cautious. I would also ask the court to award me attorney's fees.

Yes, get a lawyer. IMHO, trying to straighten this stuff out without one is a losing game. Follow their advice.

As for the rest:

1. Verbal agreements are worthless. All that matters is the court order. What does the court order say about custody?

2. Let her do whatever she wants on the tax deduction. You have a valid court order that says you get the deduction. When you file, claim the deduction - even if you think she has claimed it, as well. She has no right to it, and you do. If you get audited, you show them the court order that says you get the deduction and she will be the one to get in trouble. Also, try to get your taxes in early. It won't change the end result, but if your taxes are in first and she then claims the deduction, then they're going to go after her and ask her to prove that she's entitled to it.

3. I don't understand your sentence starting "With the deduction, she paid me 5 K....". When she wrongly claimed the deduction, did she reimburse you for the money you lost or not? If she did, let it go. If she didn't, then I would file an amended return claiming the deduction since you're clearly entitled to it. They'll then change her return and she'll owe some money. You'll get a refund.

Go with what your attorney says, but my inclination is:
- Do not bother with contempt on the tax issue. Rather, file an amended return to straighten it out (unless you've already reached agreement on it).
- If your custody orders entitle you to time and she is not allowing it, then definitely file for contempt.
- If she owes you money and is not paying it, then you can file for contempt, although (depending on the nature of the debt), there may be easier ways to collect it.

What does your attorney say? That's what really matters here.

While it's not going to help you now, you should have been able to get a copy of your tax returns for past years directly from the IRS even if your ex wouldn't let you into the house to get them. Furthermore, your temporary order should have included wording allowing you to go into the house to get your business materials. You need to get your attorney working on this.

As for the money issue, have the attorney send a subpoena to the bank where you had your savings. You're going to need to prove what assets you had both to collect your share, but also to prove that she's lying.

No, it never ends --- but it does get easier.

Unless there's been a significant change in circumstances (ex can no longer work, for example), you're going to be OK. Show DCSS the docs again. If they want to make an issue of it, go back to court - and ask the judge to force your ex to pay your expenses since she's clearly stirring the pot.

There is one loophole in your case that might make it a little less slam-dunk - or at least it might be a problem in my state (OK). Even though my ex and I each have 50:50 custody (alternating weeks), our incomes were different enough that I'm paying substantial child support. My attorney said that even if our incomes were very similar, there would probably be some child support involved - since the judges in my state don't like zero child support. Even if our incomes were identical, I would probably be paying $1 per month in support - the judges would rather see a very low calculated number than a waiver.

Since your judge signed your agreement, I doubt if that's the issue, but I thought I'd mention it for thoroughness.  I'd stick with my original advice. You should be OK.

There's one BIG issue for you to consider. Your ex is trying to make your life miserable but doesn't realize that this can backfire. You say that she took the child away from his caretaker and put him in a daycare center. Is this during your parenting time? If it's during your parenting time, I would file for contempt. Give her a taste of her own medicine and maybe she'll settle down.

It seems that there must be some way to get documentation from FL that the case is closed.

Maybe:
- Send a certified letter asking for the status. They will likely send a written response that they're unable to provide a status because the case is closed.
- From the FL office, call the TX office and ask them to restate that the case is closed.

It seems that when you get the TX payment history showing a $0 balance that this should be good enough for FL, anyway. What more do they want?

That was my initial comment. I don't see any evidence of a change in circumstances.

As I said, do yourself a favor and go with what your attorney tells you (unless you have reason to think the attorney is incompetent - in which case you should get a different one).

>My attorney says i have to go a full custody suite again to
>try get him back. I been told from couple ones that if he
>comes for visit and refuses to go home and cops show they can
>not  make him go as long as he says he not wants to go home so
>I trying find out for sure on this


Do yourself a favor and go with what your attorney tells you. You're setting yourself up for a battle and/or a contempt charge.