In Arrears

[dungang]

I am not sure about what my best defense is in my case, hopefully somebody will be able to guide me in the right direction.

First of all, I am the NCP and required to pay Child Support.  I was divorced in Texas while I was in the military in 1997.  My CS was garnished automatically from the time the order was submitted until I got out in 2001.  There were no problems there.

When I got out of the military, I accepted a job with another company and sent in my withholding order, and my CS begin without a problem.

During the time that I was with that company, apparently my CS was switched from going to the District Court to the Texas State Attorney Generals Office.  It was a smooth transition, because my payments were not missed and I didn't even know about it.

The problem is, when Sept 11, occured, my job was forced to lay me off.  When they did, I was now responsible to send my payments in manually.  I did not know that they were being sent to the Attorney Generals Office, so I continued to send them to District Court.

When my Ex moved to the state of VA, she filed a case with DSS stating that I was not paying my CS.  The amount that she claimed was a little over $3,000.  I admit, during the time that I was unemployed, I missed 3 1/2 months, which I am paying.  When the state of VA opened the claim, my ex submitted the District Court payment history, which shows a gap of 4 months, so they added that.  I have every payment stub showing that CS was taken out during that time.  When I called DSS in VA, they would not speak to me concerning the matter.  They stated that since the payment history was certified from the district clerk, that is the only legal document that they will allow.

Does anybody know if there is a way to get this fixed?

I am currently seeking an attorney to fight for a custody modification, and my attorney said that the ex will more than likely need to pay me for the 6 months that I continued to pay her CS, when she joined the military for her training and the child lived with me.  I am just trying to fix my arrears before we begin the precedings.

I apologize if this sounds confusing, if anybody needs further information on my situation in order to assist, feel free to contact me.

[Troubledmom]

Each state is a little different, so I am only speaking of what I know is available through my state.
You can request an audit of your CS payment history through the Court. At the audit, you can present any documents that you have that show payments were made that the CS enforcement agency does not show.
That audit should be more accurate. Ask your attorney if this option exist for you in Texas.
Good Luck
TM

[kiddosmom]

you can ask for an audit in tx.