Double Standards on Support Arrearages

[joni]

My DH just renewed his professional license several weeks ago. I did it for him online. One of the questions was regards to child support. If he had an arrearage, he could not have renewed his license. Without his license, he could not work....period.

We don't have an arrearage but for grins and giggles, I called the License Renewal and they stated he would have to pay his entire arrearage to get his license renewed. I created a scenario for them, stating the court was aware of the arrearage and his was current with his repayment plan. Didn't matter that it was all he could afford, still had to pay the arrearage in full to get his license.

Thank God it wasn't applicable to us.

But this lien on arrearage, as many of you know, falls way beyond just professional licensing. You can't get driver's licenses, license plates or your income tax refund. Even if you're current on your arrearage repayment plan through the court, when the opportunity arises, you get everything taken from you.

Now this is where it gets interesting.....

Although my DH pays CS, he had an overpayment of over $5000 because of a retroactive filing. In March 2004, he filed for a reduction. Mom fought it to trial, the final order, entered in our favor was received last week. So between child support and child care over the past 16 months, mom owes us $5000.

So we have to wait for repayment at $200/mo for the next two years of so. I called the state. There is no lien against this mom's income tax for our overpayment because she's the custodial parent. Mom can still have her license renewed and the plates renewed on her car. Mom can still get her teacher's license renewed.

The hypocrasy of this double standard has got to end. How many noncustodial parents never receive their refund when they wait for it when their child turns 18? Many states won't even let a NCP get their abatement from when the children were in their care until child support obligation is done. Do you think these CP pay them back? Without the same diligence in laws available for NCP like going after licenses and income tax refunds...of course not.

[norm9838]

What state are you in? Never heard of such a thing?

[KimK]

Here are a few more of the DOUBLE Sstandards:

1. Custodial parent can hire the Title IV prosecutor as her "Attorney" for Child support but if the NCP wants to modify his support through them, they are told to "seek private counsel".  (Have letter of verification on this)

2. NCP has a court order addressing arrearages, due to the courts lack of a swift order (3 1/2 years to make support obligation post job loss) - Title IV prosecutor freezes all bank accounts and retirement accounts and forces a sale to get all arrears paid to current - even with a court order in place that had been followed for 4 years, and noted by the state!

3. In decree of divorce the law stated that retirments and stocks held prior to the marriage and brought to the marriage still had to be split 50/50 - but when frozen assets and retirements are questioned as to the 50/50 split for current wife, prosecutor states that because second wifes name was not on the accounts - second wife has NO LEGAL claim to these assets, but yet first wife got 50/50 of everything but nothing was in HER name.

4.  When speaking to the prosecutors office, and the state child support collection agency on the freezing of all moneys and the inability for us to make the next months rent and that we had small children in the home, they stated that their priority was the child from the FIRST marriage and subsequent children were "OUR PROBLEM"!  (Guess they get to pick and choose whcih kids are protected and which are thrown out like trash)

5.  According to the prosecutors office - it did not matter that the court had ruled on our order - they can still take what they want if they want, and it did not matter if we lost our home.

6.  In speaking to the state department - they told us that the county had the final say on the freezing of our assets, but the county said that the state could take our money that was under a county ruling.  

Liberty and Justice for who?