Confused...

[treici]

My husband is behind in his support.  We are aware of it and don't deny that his ex is owed that money.  We ran into hard times and are struggling to catch up.

HOWEVER, she filed through CSE in one state, we contacted them to straighten out an accounting error (she is neglecting to claim roughly 9 months of payments that she received), and soon after we received papers from the circuit court where we live where the order has been registered here.  Today, we received a letter from HER state again stating that either party can review CS for increase/decrease?  

It sounds like she is invloving both states?  We assume that the one registered here is the one we need to deal with, is that correct?  Is there anything we can do regarding her claiming more than she is owed?  He is planning to request a hearing to straighten out the accountung, but can anything be done to her for a false claim?

[leon]

nothing can be figured out untill it is resolved who the controlling state is.
The false claim, can be easily accounted for, as long as it wasn't cash,
but you need"they need to decide who the controlling state is, and the other one then can go to hell.

[treici]

I have no idea which state is controlling though.  Original order was IL.  BM lives in MO and turned it in there and they sent a letter.... and then right after that we got the letter from the FL court saying that it had been registered and that H had 20 days to respond.  But then another letter from MO today.  

He's just going to have to deal with both and let them fight it out I guess.

[MixedBag]

interstate experience here....

At one point, I too asked for a CS review and my state would have sent it to his state and therefore two states would have been involved.

Like the other person said, you gotta figure out who the controlling state is and it's my guess that it's Missouri if the Mom and child have lived there for 6 months and Dad doesn't live in the original state anymore.

I suggest you WRITE all agencies only using priority confirmed delivery or certified mail.  That way they can't play dumb when they say "We didn't GET your letter and don't remember your phone call."

One of the other things I'd be doing is crunching numbers to see if the move makes the CS go UP or down...

One comment that was made to me a long time ago was that when two states are involved, (I'll use your geography as an example), Missouri has control over the order now after it's registered.  Missouri will enforce (don't laugh), contempt issues.  But Missouri has no jurisdiction over the non-resident parent.  Florida does....so actually, FL will (might) use their calculators in determining support.  Illinois is completely out of the picture and need to be notified.  

Sounds complicated....but think about it.  If I as a CP move to a state where I know CS is set higher, how right would that be for the NCP to pay at "my state's" rate when the NCP lives in a "lower cost of living" state?  

DOn't ignore letters -- but understand that many times, it's a stupid computer sending them and not a real human being.  Well, sometimes, it is a human and that human has tons of cases, not just this one.

Frustrating.....but manageable.

[treici]

The letter is notice of registration of a foreign judgment...so it would seem that FL has assumed jurisdiction.  So next step (besides requesting a hearing to contest the arrearage amount) is to send copies of this registration to both IL and MO so that they will close their files.

BUT, the judgment registered is the original IL decree from 2000.  Custody and visitation were modified by MO in 2004....CS was not modified by either party at that time.

Honestly, we have no idea how FL even became involved unless BM was not satisfied with the speed MO was doing things and went to FL next.  

[MixedBag]

Does DAD live in FL?

that would be my guess on how FL got involved.

And then have FL do the calculations and they will send it to MO who will send it to Mom.

See, I'm in AL.  Dad was in CO.  AL said they would contact CO and that CO would use THEIR calculator to adjust CS UNLESS Dad lets AL do all the litigation and he comes here.

Then Dad would pay CO, CO would send it to AL, and AL would pay me.

But as an NCP, STBX#3 went to NV and let NV do the calculations when really, it should have been AL.  He could have appealed all that, but the subject of custody was more important and also being litigated.  Custody jurisdiction is/was NV where the child lived.

[4honor]

FL assuming jurisdiction.

It is more like a LAPD cop coming to Las Vegas and being acknowledged for being a cop...It is common courtesy to notify one jurisdiction that a court order is operating while in the confines of their jurisdiction.  It facilitates the take over of one jurisdiction, but it isn't a done deal until a modification is requested in the new jurisdiction.

CS jurisdiction is normally released more easily to the NCP's state if neither parent is still in the originating state.

NOTE: I am not a laywer, just a collector of information. Please consult with a lawyer to ascertain the accuracy of this information with respect to your state.

[treici]

Neither parent is in the originating state (IL).  NCP father in FL.  CP mother in MO since '01, KS prior to that.  

Registration occured in FL (was already registered in MO for purpose of modifying custody/visitation)

The order has been given a case number and instruction to pay through FL.  We created a log in for the FL circuit court and they accepted payment through their website.  If nothing else, there is a record of that payment.  

BM was not seeking a modification (yet that we know of) she was seeking enforcement.

The only thing we intend to contest is the amount of the arrearage.  He is not receiving credit for approximately $5000 (paid between 2000 and 2001--was mailed directly to BM so the IL doesn't have a record of payment and BM neglected to mention that she received it).  We are still going through bank statements and check registers to get the exact number, but we do have proof of what he paid in that time frame.  Otherwise he doesn't contest the C/S amount or the validity of the order.  

Going through FL would actually be the most convenient for us.

[MixedBag]

Socrateaser's board right now.

Wallyworld also has jurisdiction questions.

He's in IL, mother in NY, and she recently moved from FL (less than 6 months).  She wants to sign custody over to dad.

IL has jurisdiction over custody stuff, but notice that Soc said NY guidelines will be used to determine new support.

Because NCP lives there and IL has no jurisdiction over mother for CS to enforce it.

I think for your situation, the best you can do is to find cancelled checks for the period of time that you're talking about and work with FL to get them recognize those payments.

ALSO you might want to double check IL law and FL law to see IF payments made directly to the other parent can be deemed as a gift.  See OH clearly says this in their statutes, WV doesn't.  I was surprised to read this in EX#3's decree.

PROVE you/he made those payments and go from there.

[treici]

The checks have always been made out directly to her...order was dated 8/2000 and was worded that the checks would be written to the mother and mailed to the circuit court for transmittal....so basically all they did was check it off and forward it to her.

From 8/2000-8/2001 DH apparently did not understand how it was to be handled....so he was mailing them to her but then in the memo box wrote that it was child support and put the date and I THINK the case number but I am not positive.  The roadblock now is that his OLD bank from 7 years ago only keeps records of cancelled checks for 3 years.  So we are going to end up paying for copies of all his statements and hope that we still have all the registers and carbons.  At least then we would have the carbon and the statement to show the date it cleared...  

Thanks for all your help!