Mass DOR Child Support Questions

[askray]

I am a single Dad of a 4 month old girl living in Mass.  I am on the birth certificate as her father and have been paying a genereous amount in child support to my x-girlfriend as well as paying for all diapers, formula, bottles, clothes, etc.  I've kept good records.  There is currently NO child support agreement in place.

Recently, my x-gf filed for a child support order, (she was mad at me for something), and I received a letter from the Mass Dept. of Revenue, (DOR), pretty much saying that my x filed for child support.

In the letter, it says not to pay the custodial parent directly because I will not receive credit for payments that DO NOT go through the DOR.  I called the DOR to make sure I understood the letter correctly and they said I shouldn't pay anything to my x directly, verifying the info in the letter was accurate.  I asked how to schedule payments through the DOR and when my x would get paid and they said she wouldn't get paid until there is a court order that establishes how much child support she should be getting.

My x says she called the DOR and they told her that I SHOULD be paying her directly, just to keep good records for when we go to court.  She also said that even though there is no order in place, I will owe her retroactive child support, (arrears), since the last date that I paid her.  Can anyone verify if that is true?

If I pay her directly right now, am I guaranteed to receive credit, (if needed), in the future from the judge?  I can't seem to find any info indicating that I am guaranteed credit if I go against the instructions of the DOR and pay her directly.

Thanks

[gidgetgirl]

because my understanding is that anything you give her from at least the date she filed, if not the DOB, will be considered a "gift" and it will not count as a credit.

Did you keep notes from your conversation with DOR?  If so, you can give her the name/number of the person she spoke to.  Perhaps she can also provide you with name/direct number of the person she spoke with.

[SadStepMom]

I don't know about Mass., but we went thru this same thing.  We get the letter saying we can't pay her directly (I think it even said/implied that it was illegal to pay her) and that we had to pay the State.  But the state wasn't "ready" for us to be paying them (we had objected due to the amount that she claimed we owed).  It took them 9 months to get set up.

After the fact, when we had a lawyer, I asked about this and she said we could have still paid her directly.  

My advice - ask a lawyer.

If you aren't to pay her, and you can't pay the state, then I would set up a separate savings account and deposit that money in there unti you can pay the state.  I don't know for sure if it woudl help, but if it should ever come around that you supposedly weren't paying childsupport, you would have that bank account with the monthly deposits to show that you were trying to do what you could with the limits put on you

[cinb85]

back to the date that she filed, so you WILL owe quite a bit once it is started.

[gidgetgirl]

set up a separate savings account so you will have the money ready when you need to pay.

Also look up the guidelines for MA, so you have an idea of what you will be ordered to pay.

[Stirling]

If you continue to pay her without having a CS order in place all the money that you give her will be considered a gift.  Your Ex is lying to you!  No CS is legally due until there is a valid court order for it.  The DOR has told you directly that you will not get credit for payments made outside of the "system".  Your Ex started this mess, so she is accountable for the natural consequences of her actions which is she will likely not get any child support for a while since first a court order will need to be secured and second the court order will have to be entered into the collection system.  All this will take time.  As far as the court order being applied retroactively goes, this is typically not automatic, but at the discretion of the Judge.  Also, the Judge can only order retroactive support to the date of filing.  I would strongly suggest that you stop paying your Ex directly.  Wait until the court order has been granted and your account is set up in the DOR's system.  Also, I would suggest that you set aside child support money in case the judge does order retroactive support.  that way you will be able to pay off any arrears right away.  

[askray]

UPDATE: Thanks everyone for your advice.  Setting up a seperate savings account is an excellent idea!

Because I was getting so much conflicting info about the retroactive child support, I decided to call the DOR back directly and this is what they said:

I would owe retroactive child support if there was an order already in place and I was late in paying, (which is not the case, there is no order yet),

OR

if my x is on or goes on welfare.  If she does go on welfare, I will owe whatever was paid to her by welfare.  *To my knowledge, she isn't on welfare and I don't think she would qualify, she makes too much $$.

Your comment about child support not being due until there is a court order for it was right on, at least according to the two different DOR people I spoke with today.

I can pay her directly, but it is up to the judge to decide if that is applied to any retroactive child support due...  So in other words, it's a gamble...

I'll verify when I get an attorney but I found some info on DORs website that appears validate this...  http://www.cse.state.ma.us/parents/top10.pdf
Myths # 5 and 6

[dontunderstand]

Just make sure that you have all of your records of payment until this date in order so that you can show the judge that you have made all of your "payments" in good faith, and with a little luck, s/he will sway in your favor.  Good Luck!