No Court Order

[caringstepmom]

CP resides in IA, NCP resides in IL.

Background:  NPC and CP were never married.  No court order has ever been sought, and NCP and CP have agreed on child support between themselves for past 9 years.  NCP is listed on birth certificate.
NCP is having trouble getting CP to return a form for child support increase, which is a little odd since this is in CP's favor.  NCP recently married, and income has increased.
A couple questions:

1.  Can the NCP hold off on an increase in support until paperwork is signed by CP and returned?

2.  Can NCP obtain documentation from child's school (i.e. report cards and progress reports) if no court order has ever been in place?  NCP has asked the school to send information directly to him, but the school has refused based on "not knowing if it is legal for them to do"

3.  Can there be any penalty to NCP if a court order is to be sought out after 9 years?

4.  What are NCP's rights as far as visitation is concerned when there is no court order in place?

[socrateaser]

>A couple questions:
>
>1.  Can the NCP hold off on an increase in support until
>paperwork is signed by CP and returned?

If no court or State agency has ever judged the NCP liable for child support, then the NCP is not liable to pay child support, except under whatever provable agreement exists between the NCP and CP, and that agreement is voidable by the court if it violates the State uniform child support guidelines.

So, when you ask whether the NCP can hold off on any increased support until the paperwork is signed by the CP, my question is "what paperwork?" If you mean some private contract between NCP and CP, then the NCP can do whatever he/she wishes, until a court considers the legality of the contract.

>2.  Can NCP obtain documentation from child's school (i.e.
>report cards and progress reports) if no court order has ever
>been in place?  NCP has asked the school to send information
>directly to him, but the school has refused based on "not
>knowing if it is legal for them to do"

If no court order finding and concluding paternity of the NCP has ever issued, then the NCP is a "legal stranger" to the child and has no rights, and no duties, regarding the child, whatsoever.

>
>3.  Can there be any penalty to NCP if a court order is to be
>sought out after 9 years?

Well, that's an interesting question. Assuming that the NCP is legally determined to be the father and liable for child support, the court would probably consider the fact that the father has been paying support to the mother prior to the court judgment, and determine that it would be inequitable to assess arrears. There is also a question of whether IA law permits the assessment of arrears against an NCP where no judgment of support was ever entered, and no public assistance from the state was ever provided. My guess is that there is no such law, and that the court would be without authority to assess arrears at law.

If the court were to assess arrears on purely fairness, then the NCP could argue Laches, i.e., that the CP's delay in taking legal action combinded with the prejudice against the NCP from having already paid an agreed upon amount of support and establishing a lifestyle based upon those payments, and that this should prevent/estop the CP from obtaining any arrears.

In short, while it is "possible," that the NCP could be assessed arrears, it is not very likely, but you'll need to consult a local attorney if the issue is raised, because it requires a thorough understanding of specific IA law -- which I don't have.

>4.  What are NCP's rights as far as visitation is concerned
>when there is no court order in place?

Until a court orders custody/visitation rights, the NCP has none. In court, if the NCP has an established and maintained a parent/child relationship, and has been paying support without a court order, then I'd say that the court would probably express complete amazment and treat the NCP as having the right to joint legal and perhaps even substantially equal custody -- but, at least the same amount of custody/parenting/visitation, that the NCP has been afforded up until the court's involvment (which is known in the law as "maintaining the status quo").

[MyAngels4]

Here is the Iowa child support web sight, maybe it could answer some of the questions.

https://childsupport.dhs.state.ia.us/welcome.asp

MyAngels4