Problems here with child support garnishment being stopped

[stepmomofone]

Hi, I'm new here and about at my wits end. Back 5 years ago my husband found out via mail that he was being sued for a child he knew nothing about. So we got a lawyer and requested a paternity test. Found out that the child was his. We've been having his child support payments garnished by the state for 4 years or better and the child turned 19 this year. The child support was supposed to stop when the child turned 19. We went to the child support office to talk to them about it and they ASSURED us that the garnishment would stop automatically. Well, hasn't stopped yet! I call and call but they say that they don't take incoming calls and we must come down there and see them, to which I explain that we've already done that. Now I find out by phone from another office that my husband's name is not even in the records!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is it just us they're picking on or what??? :( These past years it's been hard to feed and clothe our own children, they've done without, bills have been paid late, etc and thank God we've survived, but now they're doing this to us...
HELP!!!

[stepmom74]

Are you being charged for the years you weren't paying child support?  Mothers can get back support for years if they want it.  Maybe this is the problem.  My husband got charged back child support for 6 months because he was living with his ex and not paying her with checks.  He helped buy what she needed with cash and the courts said he had to pay for those months that weren't accounted for.  Ridiculous!!

My husband and I had trouble understanding the child support agencies for years.  They are not willing to help the father who is paying.  They are not even decent to the mothers who are trying to get the support from what I've been told.  I don't know why they think they don't have to treat us with respect but my husband and I have been treated just terrible by these agencies for years!  We have always paid our support and they have never had a problem with us but they still treat everyone like dirt.  It's completely sickening and I feel for you.  I hope you get it straightened out.  

You could talk to your husband's employer too.  They have paperwork showing for how long they are supposed to be taking it out of his paychecks.  Maybe they are screwing up and the child support people are just taking the money?  Who knows with those people!!

Good luck,

Stepmom74

[stepmomofone]

Hi Stepmom74,
First off, yes we are still being charged for back- years back child support even though we knew nothing about the child!!
Your''re right they don't care much about the father's rights. We've seen it. They were very quick to start garnishment but when it's time to stop it, where are they at :(
But
Well, it's fixed now.. here's an update.
My husband went to his people at work and they got after the CS agency.
Finally they got someone who let us and them know what's been up.
CS was supposed to send a letter to my husband's work that tells them to STOP the garnishment. They (CS) said that they sent it to husband's work but now they tell his employees that  they FORGOT to send it!!!
So, in around a week or so the CS$ should stop being held out.
Here's the kicker-if me and my husband had not said anything, made any calls and went to his work with this, they would have let the garnishment keep on for who knows how long!!!!!

ps- when the mom found out that cs was stopping, she had a fit.
Said that her child cannot be emancipated and payments stopped because the child is still in HS!! Yep,
19 years old and still a junior in school.

[KAT]

Send her a certified demand letter requesting the extra child support she recieved in error be immediately refunded. If not, file in small claims court. Personally, if there was a court order that states support stops at 19 (high school or not) then the employer should have immediately terminated support. That's just a bunch of bull. Here in VA it's until 18, 19 if still in H.S. Mr. KAT's company out of CA had no problem terminating insurance on SD when she turned 18 this past May & stated since it's in the court order, they aren't going to have a problem stopping the garnishment when SS turns 18 in 14 (WHOOOOHOOO) months.
Still JR. high school eh? Boohoo. See, I betcha a bunch of quarters that's what she thought when she failed him educationally...more money, mo' money. Hag.  If you dig into case law, even providing support (according to your state code) you'd probably find that he had to make a reasonable effort to graduate. Do you think he's going to graduate now? NAH. SS is 17 & in the 9th grade too....well, if he goes back that's where he'll be anyway. It's kinda hard passing a grade when you are absent every Mon & Friday. And when you get suspened (& arrested) for having pot, they give you 10 days but you take 12....Wow, that really hurt the teachers now didn't it?
Take her to court...better yet, get her up on Judge Judy! hehehe And of course let us know what happens!
Best of luck! Hey, it's over! Breath!
KAT

[stepmom74]

I think you should go after the child support agency who was taking the money in the first place.  What mother would give back free money from someone she thinks owes her anyway!!  

That's what kills me about these hags for moms.  It takes two to get pregnant but its always the fathers who have to pay for it.  In my state they don't take the mothers income into account at all.  My husband's income is the only one the courts look at.  I know many other states look at how much both parties can contribute to the support and then split it.  I wish ND wasn't such a backwards state when it comes to equal parenting.

If it has been quite a bit of money you've lost, I would take it to court too.  Not only is the mother wrong but the agency taking it knew they were wrong and figure there is nothing you will do about it.  That's how they are.

My husband owed back support so they were taking both of our tax returns for about 3 years and sending to his ex.  We found out one year that they wait to give it to the mothers for over 6 months after they get it so they can collect interest on the money.  (His ex called us wondering where her check was and why we weren't giving it to her and that's when I called to find out where it was).  The CS agency told me that they can't give it to the mother's unless they know for sure that there wasn't a lien on it for something else.  They said the government doesn't notifiy them right away.  Later someone else told me that they hang on to it in their own accounts until they are told by the parents to send it or after a year is up.  Those agencies are crooks and should be punished for treating us so crappy all the time.

Anyway, if you have a lawyer anyway, it wouldn't hurt to talk to him and see if there is something you can do about it.  That was your hard-earned money and nobody has the right to take it away from you by mistake.

Good luck,

stepmom74

[wendl]

A JR in high school at 19 geez how many times did he get held back.

I was 18 when I graduated my sister was 17.

I am glad you got it all worked out.

**These are my opinions, they are not legal advice**

[stepmomofone]

"Still JR. high school eh? Boohoo. See, I betcha a bunch of quarters that's what she thought when she failed him educationally...more money, mo' money. Hag. "

You hit the nail on the head with that one Kat. Yep, she was figuring that if she didn't push him on getting better grades and even showing up in school like he was supposed to that she could drag that money out.
And drugs were a problem for some time, maybe still is.. both with her and schild..

19 and still a junior. It's all going to be over soon though and I was just thinking.. We havn't heard from  her or schild in a couple of years, most likely we will be hearing from them now that csupport will be cut off.... I thank all of you so much for support in this. Our own kids have done without things we've wanted to give them for so long..

[stepmomofone]

Oh yes, they've been taking our tax returns for years and still do..
Now when we found out about him having a child by her- shock- this woman *if you want to call her that* told him she couldn't get preggy :(

Now when we went to court, the garnishment was supposed to start and hadn't yet- we didn't know why.. This woman calls us up wanting to know why it hadnt started yet :( Like it was in our hands..
Unbelievable! Totally unbelievable. Meanwhile, she was making money under the table we found out from schild. She was claiming no income whatsoever and was taking the money- her and her druggy guy she was with- for god knows what.

Helps to know I'm not the only one living through this.. thanks girls :)