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I live in Maryland, but my support order for my 7 year old son is issued in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is not an interstate order. I moved to Maryland after the support order was established. I currently do not have an attorney.

I filed in Nov 05 for an increase in support. My original order was issued in 2001 and the only modification ever made was to change payments from weekly to bi-weekly.

Since I filed in Nov 05, I have had 3 hearing dates with a hearing officer. The first was Jan 24, 2006 where I appeared. To my surprise, before I even sat down, the officer told me that my date was to be rescheduled due to Father showing up without his income information.

So it was rescheduled for Feb 14, 2006. Since I live 180 miles away, I set up a telephone conference. On Feb 14 the office called and said that Father showed up 4 hours late and again with no income information, and the officer was giving him until the following Friday to produce it.

His father didn't produce the information by the said date. I called the courts 3 times in months following. I was told that the courts still had time and my case would come up to review soon and that I would receive something by mail and just to be patient.  

Well, by April 19, I still had not received anything. So I called again, and was told that the officer didn't do anything with my file back in February and the woman I spoke to said she would personally walk up my file to be handled. I asked why that hadn't happened the last 2 times I called, and she didn't know.

My next date was scheduled for June 15, 2006. Again, I set up a phone conference. At this time I was 9 months pregnant and couldn't travel. Again the officer called to inform me that the father had not shown and that his employer has yet to send the wage verification that the courts have requested twice already.

I asked the officer what can be done to stop this cycle. Why isn't his father being forced to produce this information? Why is his employer allowed to ignore the requests? He gave minimal answers that just sum up that I have to wait and be patient. And that basically there's nothing he can do.

It is now another 6 weeks since my last hearing. I called the courts again, and all they tell me is that my case will be coming up for review again soon and I should hear something in the coming weeks. :(

My questions are:

1) What can I do to move my case along?

2) Do you think sending complaints will help, or should I just be patient?

3) Are there specific forms I can file to make a complaint?

4) Is the father really able to just ignore the requests for wage verification indefinitely?

5) What responsibility does his employer have? Can I request them to send the information also?

6) I currently don't have an attorney and don't want to have to get one, but do you think this situation warrants one?

Thanks for all of your help.

~Eva (extremely frustrated)

I live in MD but my orders for child support and custody are in PA.

Yesterday, I filed for emergency relief and it was granted. My son's father's visitation was suspended until we have a hearing for him to show cause on 2/17, this Friday. I already had a request to modify my child support set for 2/14 by way of a telephone conference.

1) Should I request to postpone the child support conference since there may be a substantial change in his amount of visitation in the near future?

2) Would I be able to do it at the time of the conference since this was an emergancy situation and I will be having another hearing just 4 days later that?

3) If no, would I have to withdrawal and reapply for a modification?

4) Or should I go through with the hearing with our current custody order and then refile to modify if there are changes?

Thanks,

Just wanted to say thanks for all of your help. I was able to get my son's father's visitation suspended until we have a hearing for him to Show Cause on the 17th. Hopefully this will be resolved quickly so that my son's life gets disrupted as little as possible.

Thanks again!

I just wanted to let you know I spoke to the Dectective and will email you what he told me.

~Eva

Ok, you have mail ;)

Hi Socrateaser,

I live in MD with my 6 year old son and have primary physical and legal custody, but my order is still under PA jurisdiction.

There is a criminal investigation pending on the matter I have questions on. It is about a substantiated incident involving my 6 year old son and his 6 and 12 year old cousins, who are brothers.

Please let me know if I should post on the board or email you.

Thanks!

I live in MD but my support order is in PA. The order was put into effect in 2001 and has never been modified. I currently receive $158.00 bi-weekly. Since then, I have married and moved to Maryland in 2003.

I have primary legal and physical custody of my 6 year old son with his dad getting approx. 100 overnights a year, give or take a few. I was never married to my son's father.

Per our Custody Order, I am to do all of the transportation back and forth. I have had another child with my husband and we have another on the way. I am currently a stay-at-home mom because I wouldn't make enough to cover the costs of childcare.

 I believe that my son's father has a considerably higher paying job since 2001, but I seriously doubt that it pays more than my husbands.

Questions:

1) Does my husband's income have to be disclosed since I currently have none of my own? We do file jointly. (I would be surprised if this answer is 'no' but wishful thinking can't hurt ;c) )

2) If not, will they determine the amount of support based on only my earning capacity?

3) If I do need to disclose it, would that mean that my husband's income is 'our'  income and his expenses are 'our' expenses?

4) In my case, I take my son's to his fathers twice a month 360 miles round-trip for a total of 720 per month. Would I be able to list this as an extraordinary expense? (In our 'agreement', I did agree to do 100% of transportation, but that was before gas became ridiculous. But that's neither one of our faults.)

5) I have heard that if you have an infant at home, mothers are exempt from working for a year after their birth. Is this a myth?

I have a CS date on 1/24 and due to budget issues, can't afford to have a lawyer present so I am flying solo. Thanks for all your help and suggestions in advance. Feel free to ask any questions if something is unclear.

~Eva

Thanks again, I really appreciate your help.  Hopefully this will be the last question ;c)

1) Do you know if this form is anywhere online or where I can find out what the margins would be?  I have done some searches that have lead nowhere.

Thanks again!

EvaCollette  

Thank you for providing a template. I think it will be helpful.  I am currently retaining a lawyer in MD, but cannot afford to retain on in PA also, so it looks like I need to do this on my own.  This will help out alot. I have a couple other  questions.

1) Do I have to send more than one copy?

2) Is there a limit as to when I can send this? How much notice should I give?

3) Must it be notorized?

Thanks again,

EvaCollette

I currently live in Maryland, but my custody order, dated 9/03, is out of Philadelphia Pa, 180 miles away. In this order I was granted the ability to move my son to Maryland with me. My son's father has filed contempt against me.

 I am scheduled to appear in court in Philadelphia for contempt of custody on May 23, 2005. I am currently 30 weeks pregnant and due to my history of preterm labor, my doctor has restricted my traveling.  I will not be able to attend this hearing and need to request a continuance.  

I do have a note on letterhead from my doctor that says "XXX XXX is under our care for pregnancy, EDD 7/2/05. She has been advised to limit her work hours to the following: No traveling to work long distances due to pregnancy effective 4/25/2005."  

My questions are:

1) What points do I need to include in my request to the judge for a continuance?

2) Is there a form, or can I just write a letter?

3) Does the letter from my doctor provide enough information, or do I need a more detailed letter?

4) On what grounds could the judge not grant my continuance?

5) Is there a possibility they could proceed with the hearing without me present?

Thank you,

EvaCollette