Need Advice on New Jersey Child Support Issues

[kikinguel15]

[HIGHLIGHT=#ffffff]If a parent in new jersey gives up their legal custody to their child can a court still order to garnish his/her wages for child support.

My fiance hasn't seen his kids in 7 years (not by choice) yet his ex wife is still sucking child support from him, even though she said she don't want the money, she just prefers him to suffer.

We have a child to be born next month and are about to be homeless because new jersey is taking over 50 percent of his wages.....Can he give up his part of custody and his wages will not be garnished anymore? (not sure how it works in new jersey, you can do that in the state we live in now)   [/HIGHLIGHT] [HIGHLIGHT=#ffffff]
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[Giggles]

Technically, the only way to have his support end is if he terminated his parental rights.  Now most courts especially NJ will NOT terminate rights unless there is another individual willing to adopt the children.

He has a legal obligation to support his children whether the BM wants the money or not.  My suggestion is for him to try a downward modification but even that is iffy.  If they are taking 50% then he must have some sort of arrearage?  The only other suggestion is for him and BM to come to some sort of agreement on the amount of CS and see if that will fly in court.  NJ is tough and will suck him dry as long as they can....oh and most states do not care if you have an additional child...and I do believe that NJ is one of them.  Be prepared to pay CS until his first children are well into their 20's!!

[MomofTwo]

Giggles is right.....

The state will not allow him to terminate his parental rights because he does not want to pay child support.  Additionally, if the CP has someone who would adopt them, that would not get him out of paying arrears.  He would still be obligated to pay that off.

Most states do not consider subsequent children as a reason to deviate downward from the guideliens. Attitude is pretty much if you can't afford the first ones, why are you having more ??  The first children will not go without or less because their parent opts to have more children.

Additionally, there is no fixed age in New Jersey when support stops.  Once your child turns 18 and/or becomes financially independent, either you or the other parent must file papers with the court asking that the order be terminated or adjusted.  Based on the facts, the court will decide if the child still needs support from the parents.  Generally, the court presumes that children under 18 need support from their parents.  In some cases, support may continue through college or longer.   If he owes arrears, it will definitely not stop at the age of 18.

[kikinguel15]

not wanting to pay child support is not the only reason, he's sent money through the courts to support his kids and none of which has really been accounted for thats why he cant afford the child support, and thats another thing i dont understand is he wasnt even aware of being put on child support until his ex wife contacted him 1 month ago and told him of this and said she just wants him to suffer so how could he be so far in the rearages that their taking over 50 percent of his wages

[MomofTwo]

There are no reasons the courts would allow him to terminate his parental rights and not pay child support without having another person, stepfather, who wants to adopt the children.


It depends when she filed for it.  If she filed a year ago or even  more, the arrears accrues from the date it's filed for.  Some states allow up to 65% of net income to be garnished for child support + arrears.

CP never have to account to the NCP of what child support is spent on.  No court is going to make her specify to him what the money was spent for.   

[Kitty C.]

not wanting to pay child support is not the only reason, he's sent money through the courts to support his kids and none of which has really been accounted for thats why he cant afford the child support, and thats another thing i dont understand is he wasnt even aware of being put on child support until his ex wife contacted him 1 month ago and told him of this and said she just wants him to suffer so how could he be so far in the rearages that their taking over 50 percent of his wages

I'm not quite understanding.......is the CS order brand new?  You say he's been sending CS, but the BM only notified him 1 month ago that it was ordered?  It's not making sense to me.  If there is a CS order, he would be better off with a  garnishment order as well, so that the state can take the CS directly out of his check from his employer and that he doesn't have to hassle with it.

One other thing to keep in mind........unless the CS order specifies that he send the CS checks directly to her (normally it's either by garnishement or it's sent to the county/state for them to disburse to the BM), ANYTHING he sends directly to her is considered a gift and is not counted against what he owes for CS.  And if that's the case here, then he could very well be in serious arrears because the court has no record of receiving CS from him.  And it is NOT up to the CP/BM to notify the court that she's received anything.  My ex did that once and I did notify the county that I had received it.  At least I was honest about it...I knew that it was for CS and didn't want to see him get into trouble or get behind because he hadn't sent it through the county.  I also informed him that he really needed to go through the county so that they had a record of it.

Every state has guidelines as to what the maximum percentage of a parent's wages can be taken for CS.  I've heard it as high as 60-65%, but you need to research to find out what the max. % is for NJ.  Plus, if his wages have changed (especially decreased), his only option is to file for a downward modification.  Problem is, this is a long process with no guarantees.

We really need more details to know exactly what's going on in order to better give you any definite information.  Like when the order was written, if there is a garnishment, and what specifically the BM contacted him about 1 month ago.

[gemini3]

Most states DO include the other children the person is responsible for in the calculation of CS.  NJ is one of them.  See the NJ child support guidelines, page 10 section a: Other Legal Dependents of Either Parent:  http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/csguide/app9a.pdf (http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/csguide/app9a.pdf)

Also, NJ does set an age for child support to terminate, which is 18 unless there is post secondary eductaion, or some other extenuating circumstance, and then other rules apply (Page 22 Section 18)  Also, unless he has an order from Child Support Enforcement, he CAN send payments to her.  However, if he was ordered to send it through them then he won't get credit for anything he sends to her directly.

My advice would be for your fiance to meet with the division of child support enforcement and try to hash out credits for what he has paid.  Hopefully he's kept records or he's out of luck on that one.

Secondly, he should ask for a modification hearing after your child is born.  The new caculation should take into account his new child, and his new income.

Beyond that... something in his story is not adding up.  If he's been sending her money through the court then there must have been an order in place.  He can get a copy of it, if he doesn't have it, by contacting the division of child support enforcement.  He also would have been notified if there was a hearing, and he would have had to provide income information.

Demand to see a copy of the CS order.  How he treats his first child is a very good indicator of how he will treat his other children - so I think you have a vested interest in this.  You need to know what the real story is.  You're having this guys baby, and you're about to marry him.  Time for full disclosure sweetheart.

Also... I do not recommend garnishment.  It's too difficult to coordinate if an adjustment is made, and you could end up paying more than your supposed to for months.  If that happens, you won't get it back.

[MomofTwo]

I would like to clarify what I wrote eariler...there are quite a few states that will not consider subsequent children..that is true, particularly when you are the one requesting a downward modification due to a subsequent child being born.  Many states do not allow that to be used as a reason to reduce child support (FL, New Mexico, Minnesota...).  Some states will  allow that as a reason not to increase an existing child support order when an upward modification has been requested.  New Jersey will consider subsequent children  but in raising that issue (I have other children...) NJ will look at the other parent's income (ie, yours).  I know several cases where this has been requested in NJ and denied (downward modfication because of subsequent children) because they told the other parent of the subsequent children they earned enough to support those children and there was an existing order for previous children.  Also, in those cases, there was no order for the subsequent children (the two parents lived together or were married) and therefore because there was no order for the additional children, there was no consideration of them.  It gets tangled quickly.   

Thanks Gemini for bringing that up!

[gemini3]

I would like to clarify what I wrote eariler...there are quite a few states that will not consider subsequent children..that is true, particularly when you are the one requesting a downward modification due to a subsequent child being born.  Many states do not allow that to be used as a reason to reduce child support (FL, New Mexico, Minnesota...).  Some states will  allow that as a reason not to increase an existing child support order when an upward modification has been requested.  New Jersey will consider subsequent children  but in raising that issue (I have other children...) NJ will look at the other parent's income (ie, yours).  I know several cases where this has been requested in NJ and denied (downward modfication because of subsequent children) because they told the other parent of the subsequent children they earned enough to support those children and there was an existing order for previous children.  Also, in those cases, there was no order for the subsequent children (the two parents lived together or were married) and therefore because there was no order for the additional children, there was no consideration of them.  It gets tangled quickly.   

Thanks Gemini for bringing that up!

MomforTwo, please get your facts straight when giving advice to people.  You're not clarifying anything.  You're confusing the issue, and stating things as fact that are not.   

What other states do doesn't apply to this poster because she is in NJ - AND the info you're giving regarding other states is incorrect.  For example, Minnesota does consider nonjoint children in the calculation of child support.  (https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes/?year=2008&id=518A.33 (https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes/?year=2008&id=518A.33))  I'm not going to waste my time quoting each states legislation to you, since it doesn't apply to this poster.

I'm not sure how you think that subsequent children born to an NCP would result in an increase a support order - except that you are unable to comprehend what the "legalese" meant in the link I provided.  Then you try to support your erroneous interpretation by saying "I know several cases..."  I call BS.  You don't know what you're talking about.  As usual.  Feel free to provide me with links to cases that were decided otherwise, if you wish to prove me wrong, I would be happy to read them.

Whether or not there is a child support order in place has absolutely NOTHING to do with whether or not the support of that child will be considered in the calculation of support for previous children.

Stop giving bad advice.

[MomofTwo]

Excuse me....this is mom OF two and you seem to constantly mix the two posters. 

As I am a paralegal in Philadelphia, directly across from NJ, we are very familiar with NJ as well. 

This site has become very unusable to posters because the people replying on here are often condescending and critical with absolutely no need to be. 
I have never been that way to you and it's a shame your posts have relegated this site to being useless.