Child Support Enforcement/modifications

[HelpingHands]

 A little background history: Our child spent 45 continuous days in the summer with me, went back to mom's for less than a month. I was awarded primary custody in Aug 2006. Mother and I shared  joint custody. Mother appealed the decision in Va. , but I had already filed within my home state an application for child support services, because no order was made re: CS during that trial(aug 2006)- as the judge said they didn't have jurisdiction. (mom in Va, court in Va and I live in Tn) New trial heard in Va Dec 06. I was awarded custody(not joint) and her generous visitations.

Chld Support part of order reads: Given the mother's disabilities and the costs attendant to her traveling to TN, no child support is ordered at this time.

However, it states that there is a duty of support owed by mother for our dependant child.(in the statutory notices section of the order) and lists our information for record.


The judge states in the order that I make approx $280 more per month than I do. Also states that mother has not worked outside the home since 2005 as a result of her disability. This is not true. She has worked through several temp services throughout the year(s) and other employers long enough to earn and claim EIC tax credit.

What can I do to have my home state look at the order to get child support from the mother? She lied to the court about not working. She works long enough to file taxes and get the EIC credit(she's not been entitled per old court order) and the amount it states I make is in error. She does receive Social Security Disability and claims she lost her SSI payments when she married her DH- one week prior to the last court hearing in Dec. though no proof was offered in court.

Tn's guidelines state 15% change for modification. There hasn't been a change, it's just reported incorrectly. If they based it on OT, for a couple of weeks I was trying to make up for missed time due to court, that is not the norm. I normally get 35-38 hrs a week. OT is only during holiday season when the demand is higher and never throughout the yr.

Do I just call the CS office here and explain? What happened with the original CS application I filed in Aug for child support? Can the CS agency in this state order her to pay the minimum allowed by law? I've never heard of ordering NO support, as the guidelines state a min of $65 her state/$77 my state.

Child support would be used primarily to counter the costs of us meeting at the half way point for holiday breaks(a 4 1/2 hr one way trip)

Thanks for any help or insight into your experiences with something similar.

[Giggles]

You live in TN and mother lives in VA?  You now have custody and want CS from the mother right?

You have an uphill battle :-(

I live in MD and my DS's father lives in WI.  I went to the MD CSE office in July of 2005 to file for thier services.  I just recieved the order from WI (Dec of 2006) that states there is no arrearages and that the order starts Jan 1, 2007.  How the hell that happened I don't know??  I'm pretty sure that they will base the support on HER state, not your own...which I think is BS because they're not the ones living in that state...ugh its a mess....good luck!!

[mistoffolees]

If I'm understanding correctly, you're going to have a hard time because the judge considered child support and said that she didn't have to pay it. For $65 per month, you're not going to recover your legal expenses for a long time, if ever. And if her income is low enough that she's getting EIC, you may never collect anything, anyway.

I would probably notify the court and CS in writing that she lied on her statements about not working. They might take care of it without you spending any money. You have nothing to lose by contacting CS, but since there's a court order that she doesn't have to pay, I wouldn't be too optimistic.

Alternatively, you could file for a change in circumstances pro se, but you're going to spend a good deal of time researching and filing, and it may not pay for $65 per month.

[HelpingHands]

I don't know what happened to the first half of my post. Anyway, yes, mother lives in Va. Child and I live in TN. Order is out of Va, however judge put in order that support and child custody is to be transferred to TN as they have jurisdiction.

TN CS office said that yes, SSD is considered earned income for child support calculations. SSI isn't.

BTW, if child support were being paid based upon the income share guidelines like it is for everyone else, she would owe $385 month.

[Tennessee Dad]

Yes, it can happen.  When I was given custody of our daughter (Sept. 2004), our Judge also ordered no support (in Tennessee) as Mother was not working.  However, BM's disability was finally approved (Oct. 2006), and now I receive a check each month from Social Security for the benefit of daughter.  

Needless to say, BM is livid, and says I am taking "her" money.  According to SSA, benefits are for daughter, and even if I refused them BM would not get them.  

Sorry, don't know anything about interstate jurisdictions (thankfully!).

We muddle through as best we can.  I am just thankful I have daughter safe and sound, and never asked for any support.  Needless to say, the disability was an unexpected blessing (not to say I couldn't use the money, and DO use it strictly for daughter).  

My best to you; this is hard, even in the best of circumstances!

[Mamacass]

So you may not get child support, but from what it sounds like, the BM is receiving a disability check, right?  In that case, the government also gives a check to BM's dependants.  Now since your child isn't old enough to be responsible for the check, someone has to be appointed as the payee.  Social Security prefers that the parent with custody is the appointed payee.  All you have to do is go to your local SS office and bring with you your ID, the child ss# and the original court order giving you custody (a copy is not sufficient, trust me, we wasted hours and have to go back b/c we brought a copy the first time).  

A little tip, call ahead of time and make an appointment, otherwise you may be waiting for a few hours.  

I'm not sure, but they may give you back pay, since you've had the child for several months.  It is supposed to be fraud for someone to get benefits for a minor who they are not caring for, and I think the BM may have to pay back any benefits that should have been going to you since you got custody.  Not too clear on how that works, but since we're in the same boat as you, I guess we'll find out.

[awakenlynn]

LOL, we are the opposite.  We have been paying faithfully in IL who had jurisdiction.  The SDu continues to have jurisdiction even though the court doesn't because ex has not established jurisdiction anywhere else(TX).  She filed for the IV-D dept in TX to start taking child support stating we were not paying.  TX will not speak with IL and IL cannot speak with TX since ex did not have an interstate case started.  Even if she tried that, it would have to be IA where we live, not TX where ex lives.

And supposedly, the child support is supposed to be based on the state the NCP lives UNLESS the custodial parents state has long-arm jurisdiction(not in our case) or unless we sign a waiver stating we give TX jurisdiction (which we haven't yet).  

Ex or TX will need to go to IA if they want to collect support.

But in the meantime, ex has given false information, inaccurate information and "forgot" to close the file she started in 2003 (when IL did have FULL jurisdiction).  

So now it shows that we have $2200 in arrears because ex did not close the case in 2003 and because she has stated that we haven't been paying support.  IL on the other hand says we have overpaid $178.

What fun! What fun!

[HelpingHands]

When I spoke to the SSA when I first recieved custody in AUG. SSA stated that because she was disabled prior to earning any substantial amount of wages, she did not qualify to recieve benefits for our daughter. The woman did say however, that the mother could 'sign away' a portion of her benefits to support her child if she wanted to. That certainly won't happen. If it matters, BioMom was disabled at age 20-21.

I think I will make a personal trip to the SS office and present the paperwork and ask to file for any benefits due to our child.