custodial parent paying support to disappeared non-cust, parent

[jen-n-juice]

state of florida


original court order Final judgement of paternity, custody and support

support: the father shall pay guidelines support in the amount of xxx,xx
bi-weekly, plus 47.83 toward any outstanding arrearage, plus 5,25 clerks fee by income deduction order commencing 7/10 1998 and payable every two weeks thereafter until the child is 18 or emancipated.


the guide lines work sheet that was filed with the court shows percentage of support 37% mother 63% father it also shows a monthly support obligation of x amount of dollars of each parent.


currntly the children were removed from the mother and placed in the custody of father because of abuse and abandonment. court order atates father 's child support obligation is suspended until further court orders because he is the custodial parent.


state of florida suspended drivers licence for child support. after about 2 years state petetioned court to reestablish past due support and arrears
in the amount of 28,000 dollars.


hearing officer said amount could not possible be right and had the court to recalculate amount , reinstated drivers license, and ordered costs reserved.


received letter from court stating ther calculations came to be 13,000.
the state sent me a letter stating that there is no ordered payback and to aviod going back to court to come in and sign a monthly payback amount. my attorney said not to sign and wait for them to bring me back to court.


the state has no clue to the were the mother is and still claim to be collecting on her behalf and the children who I am the cutodial parent of
and have not received support and denied assisstance.

the state local office now claiming thet there is a payback amount based on  the original order. tallahssee still says there is no orderd payback amount.


the state has suspended license again, froze my accounts holding 100% of my disposable income( employer pays by direct deposit only) and almost caused me and the children to become homeless i was forced to allow them to levy on the accounts or be months behind in my mortgage this was threw thanksgiving and x-mas.


sfter speaking with the levy coordinator she says the state is only interested in about 5900. dollars.  this amont is the same as what was first ordered and payed on by income deduction order 0f 47,83



questions:


1.  the state claiming that the payback amount is based on the original court order why wouldnt they take it by income deduction as the original order states?



2.  since the state is using the original order for there bases for payback amount could i file a motion for retoactive support based on the mothers percentage and monthly obligation filed with the original court orders?



3. would it be just and proper for the court to use the mothers obligation amount to offset the alleged past due support and arrearage?

4, wouldnt that be in the best interest of the children if they cant get  money for the children to at least stop taking it from the children?


5. could you help me word a motion to present to the court requesting relief by an offset based on the info i provided?


thank you very much for your priceless time

questions:


1.

[socrateaser]

>questions:
>
>
>1.  the state claiming that the payback amount is based on the
>original court order why wouldnt they take it by income
>deduction as the original order states?

I don't know. I'm guessing you have a judgment of arrears, and since the State can execute against your assets, rather than your income, for the arrears, that's what they're doing.

>2.  since the state is using the original order for there
>bases for payback amount could i file a motion for retoactive
>support based on the mothers percentage and monthly obligation
>filed with the original court orders?

No. Retroactive support is only available for amounts accrued from the time that a motion to modify or show cause order is filed. However, you are entitled to credit for the unpaid support owed by the other parent that accrues every month. You could get a judgment on the arrears and then have the court offset that judgment against the judgment that you owe -- unless your arrears was a judgment to pay the State back for welfare benefits that the other parent obtained by assigning her support rights to the state.

>3. would it be just and proper for the court to use the
>mothers obligation amount to offset the alleged past due
>support and arrearage?

See above.

>
>4, wouldnt that be in the best interest of the children if
>they cant get  money for the children to at least stop taking
>it from the children?

Who cares? The state wants your money and you want to avoid paying. This has nothing to do with the child's best interests.

>5. could you help me word a motion to present to the court
>requesting relief by an offset based on the info i provided?

I thought that you had an attorney? Please explain your relationship. I cannot write pleadings for you as long as you are represented by someone else. However, FL uses form pleadings so you should look on the State Court websites to find a motion to modify support and then maybe I can help you fill in the blanks -- assuming you have no attorney.

[jen-n-juice]

no i do not have an attorney, the state levy coordinator says  the state is only interested in 5900.00 this is for assistance they claim she received i have court documents showing at least 3900. as being payed.


i was able to locate the mother once and had another parent serve her before she disappeared again but, the court said she had to be served by professional process server or sheriffs office. the state cannot locate her.



i know the state wants money but, the court should be concerned with the childs best interest and maybe grant some relief i thought perhaps some type of motion could do it since the mother cannot be found.


question:


1. any advice on how to proceed would greatly be appreciated?


2. how can i find out if the state has a judgement and for how much?

[socrateaser]

>any advice would greatly be appreciated?

Your prior post states: "my attorney said not to sign and wait for them to bring me back to court."

1. Has your attorney withdrawn from the case since this occured?

2. If so, then I need to know exactly what if any legal actions are currently pending against you (motions, writs, etc.). The state can't just seize your account without some sort of order.

[jen-n-juice]

the last order stated that the court would recalculate the amount of past due spport  and or arrears and costs reserved.

and previous order said that my child support obligation was suspended.


i no longer have an attorney since this accured

[socrateaser]

Is the last order a temporary order?

[jen-n-juice]

 atates of floridas motion:
 to abate ongoing support and establish arrears


petitioners move this court for its ORDER abating ongoing child support, and in support thereof state as follows
     1. the minor children have resided with respondent since 12/16/2002
     2. respondent is the natural father of the minor children

     WHEREFORE, Petitioners respectfully move the court to enter an order abating ongoing support and establishing arrearage owed by respondent and payments thereon to individual petitioner and dept of revenue.


final order:

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED AS FOLLOWS:
current support is abated retroactively to 12/16/02. clerk of court to recalculate arrears. costs reserved.

[socrateaser]

> atates of floridas motion:
> to abate ongoing support and establish arrears
>
>
>petitioners move this court for its ORDER abating ongoing
>child support, and in support thereof state as follows
>     1. the minor children have resided with respondent since
>12/16/2002
>     2. respondent is the natural father of the minor
>children
>
>     WHEREFORE, Petitioners respectfully move the court to
>enter an order abating ongoing support and establishing
>arrearage owed by respondent and payments thereon to
>individual petitioner and dept of revenue.
>
>
>final order:
>
>ORDERED AND ADJUDGED AS FOLLOWS:
>current support is abated retroactively to 12/16/02. clerk of
>court to recalculate arrears. costs reserved.

OK, we keep batting this ball back and forth and I'm not getting very far. In order for the state to collect on the arrears, there must be a judgment of arrears to collect on. I will assume that such a judgment exists.

Your court order above states that the clerk of the court is to recalculate your arrears. I will assume that this has occured. However, the order of the court to the clerk is entirely open ended. There is nothing that denies you the opportunity to have the arrears recalculated multiple time. This indicates that your debt is not liquidated (fixed), which means that the state cannot collect on the judgment of arrears. But, the state appears to be doing this anyway.

What you need, in my opinion is an order staying any further collection by the state until such time as the child is legally emancipated and no longer entitled to support, or until the other parent appears such that she can be lawfully served and support recalculated.

Now, as I've mentioned before, FL is a form pleading jurisdiction. It seems to me, that because the FL child support unit is collecting on behalf of the mother, that you must file a motion against the mother and then ask the court to enjoin FL child support enforcement from continuing to collect as an agent of the mother.

As you've pointed out, you can't find the mother to serve her with the motion. But, if you show the court that you have made a diligent search and have failed to locate the mother, then the court will permit you to serve her by "publication" in a local newspaper.

So, as I've already mentioned, FL is a form pleading state, which means that there may be a form for a motion requesting leave to serve by publication. Look on the FL State court website and see if you can find such a form. If none exists, then find a form for a general family law motion, and we can fill that one in.

You will need to support the motion with an affidavit/declaration stating what diligent efforts you have made to locate the other parent. You can retain a locator service on the internet and if they cannot locate the parent after a diligent search of all the public records, then a statement from the locator service to that effect should be all the proof necessary.

Then, you get your order to serve by publication, and then you file the motion to stay support and collection on the arrears.

Alternatively, you can hire an attorney to do all this for you.