Child Support - Problems

lisar wrote: For anyone who uses the child support enforcement in thier states, do yall have problems getting them to enforce your case. Here is Florida they SUCK... My ex Lexi's sperm donor (he has never met her, not that I didnt try) hast made a payment in 2 weeks. I call them and they flat out told me they havent done anything to enforce it. Well I told them that he quit his job. They dont care. I keep tabs on him. He is really loaded so I know he can afford to pay even if he doesnt have a job. I mean I dont depend on his money at all. So it doesnt hurt me when I dont get it. Its just the fact that he gets away without having to pay. He is $23,000.00 behind in child support. Yes thats twenty three thousand.

luvbug00 replied: Here in va i know they are VERY strict about it. If i were you I'd get a lawyer for that amound that is some serious collage money for her. what a Jerk!

lisar replied:
Thanks Nadia. I did find out today that he bought at house for $350,000.00 three hundred fifty thousand dollars. I was so mad. I called child support enfc. back and they told me that his drivers license were suspended. They do that here in florida to make them pay. Well he has a new job they told me. They told me that I should be seeing a check really soon. I also had her note it in the file that he just bought that kind of house. I was so mad though.

jacobsmama replied: They are also pretty stict in Indiana, If they don't have a job to pay it then they will make them sit at the court house every day until they get one or they will go to Jail...I agree...what a JERK!

Cece00 replied:
I have a few suggestions- demand that they file contempt charges and be brought in front of the judge and ask the judge to have him put in jail and make him pay a purge to get out, usually like 1/4- 1/2 of what he owes.

ALSO- are you eligible for any type of govt benefits? A quick way to light a fire under SES's butts is to go get on welfare/benefits...they want you off of them, so they try to collect from the NCP.

Also- DEMAND that CSE put liens on his property & vehicles. He can not be forced to sell the cars or house but when he DOES sell them, you will get your back support before he gets any money.

My last suggestion- pay for an atty and take him into family court and file contempt charges against him. Family court will go MUCH faster and probably get you more results. It will, however, cost you. BUT- you can ask the judge to make him pay for the atty's fees b/c if he was paying his support, you wouldnt have had to take him to court.

redchief replied: Know any mafioso?

lisar replied:
Dont tempt me.

lisar replied:
demand that they file contempt charges and be brought in front of the judge and ask the judge to have him put in jail and make him pay a purge to get out, usually like 1/4- 1/2 of what he owes.

I cant do this with CSE...

ALSO- are you eligible for any type of govt benefits? A quick way to light a fire under SES's butts is to go get on welfare/benefits...they want you off of them, so they try to collect from the NCP.

I am not eligiable in any way. I was on welfare when I started this case 5 years ago. But havent been on them in 4 years.

Also- DEMAND that CSE put liens on his property & vehicles. He can not be forced to sell the cars or house but when he DOES sell them, you will get your back support before he gets any money.

CSE here wont do that, that I know of.

My last suggestion- pay for an atty and take him into family court and file contempt charges against him. Family court will go MUCH faster and probably get you more results. It will, however, cost you. BUT- you can ask the judge to make him pay for the atty's fees b/c if he was paying his support, you wouldnt have had to take him to court.

I was thinking about this one.


Are you a lawyer?

Cece00 replied:
Nope, I'm not an atty but I do know a lot about family court laws. Mostly the ones here in MY state but some are kind of across the board so I'm pretty educated about it. I taught myself a lot after my husband got screwed by SES with his kid's mom. I am also starting a case with SES with my ex, who was paying voluntarily for about 2 yrs (or should I say his parents were paying me voluntarily but they have since cut him off...I dont blame them, but it sucks for me...) but only gave me a partial payment last month and this month hasnt paid me.

Have you called SES and asked (demanded, really...thats what I would do) them to do the stuff I suggested? They absolutely should be able to do what I suggested. You need to call your caseworker and tell them you want contempt charges filed. He is contempt like 100xs over if he is that far in arrears. SES works for YOU, they are supposed to be a tool for CP's to use to collect money for their children when either you can not afford to go to family court yourself with an atty or when court orders are put into place and an NCP is not following them, they are supposed to enforce an order. They also come into play when a CP is on welfare/govt benefits, to try and get support collected in an attempt to get a CP off of those benefits, or lessen the amt they have to pay.

I know in my state, SES will do these things, so there is a chance they are supposed to in your state as well. After all, if they are not enforcing the order- what is the point of having an SES? I cant believe they told you they are not enforcing the order, that is such BS...its their JOB. Its the purpose of their agency!

I will tell you that if you are not on benefits, you are not a first priority to them, so it still make take longer, but it should still be a priority case as he is so far behind. You need to fight hard for this b/c once she turns 18, you will be even less of a priority.

If he has bank accts, SES should be able to freeze them and take the money from the acct, even if he is on the acct with another person (wife, parents, whomever...)

Are you not even eligible for medical benefits through the state? That may be enough for them to try to enforce the court order he is not paying.

I'm sure you've heard the saying "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." before. BE the squeaky wheel. Be a total PIA to your caseworker until he/she DOES something. Call them every day and talk to them or leave messages or go down there...do what you have to do.

Have you considered educating yourself on your state's family court laws and representing yourself in family court? Even if you go with an atty, its good to know the laws in your state so that you can follow what is going on, what is supposed to happen and what you can do when an NCP is not paying.

Also- you may be able to file liens against anything he owns yourself. Like I said, he can not be forced to sell his home, cars, possesions, etc to pay off the arrears BUT if/when he would sell them, if there was a lien against these things, you would get your money.

You also have the option of TPR and having your husband adopt your child, if this is something your husband would like to do. Your ex will not be responsible for any further support payments but the arrears WILL NOT go away. He will be responsible for them forever, OR (if your state has one) until the statute of limitations comes around.

You may also be able to collect from his estate when he dies...even if that is 10-20-30 years from now.

When I get some time, I will look into Florida's SES website...BUT, this is what I would do (in this order...)

-Call SES and ask why they will not file contempt charges against him, ask why they will not file for a lien to be placed on any property/possessions that have his name on the title/deed, and ask why they will not freeze his bank acct. Tell them you consider it unacceptable that they are not enforcing the order and want something done about it! They are supposed to work in the best interest of the child and it would be in her best interest to be supported by BOTH parents. In some states being more than $5k in arrears is a FELONY (for example, in my state...Louisiana) and I believe you can even have a federal case for non support if he becomes too far behind.

-If they WILL do these things, file the paperwork with them so they can have it brought to court...file for enforcement of the order, file for contempt and request he be jailed until he pays and that his license be suspended immediately, file for liens to be places against his property. Ask if you can file felony charges against him for being so far in arrears.

-If they tell you they will NOT do these things, consult with a local family law atty to ask them if its legal, because I really do not think it is. A lot of family law attys will give 30-60 min consultations for free, or a minimal fee ($50 or so). Ask the atty his/her opinion on going to family court to file the above mentioned things.

-Educate yourself on the FL family court laws. You may end up knowledgeable enough to fight him yourself, with no atty. I wouldnt suggest starting out that way if you can afford it, but its still a good idea to learn.

-If SES wont help you or they are taking too long or doing a crappy job, by all means get an atty and take it to family court. It will be MUCH faster, and often more effective, than SES will be.


If he is extremely determined to not pay...well, I hate to say it that way, but there are people like that who will do everything possible to keep from paying and occasionally they do get away with it. BUT- that doesnt mean you shouldnt exhaust EVERY effort to try and collect.


OH- and ask SES to file to intercept his tax returns if they are not already doing so. And ask them to file the arrears on his credit report.

Feel free to ask me any more questions you have about this.

Cece00 replied: Here is a link for SES (its called CSE in your state, apparently...) for FL's child support webpage.

http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/childsupport/works.html

Here is the important section...

ENFORCEMENT TOOLS
Getting noncustodial parents to pay the full amount of support can be difficult, however, CSE has a number of enforcement tools at its disposal. These include:

Income interception from:
IRS tax refunds.
Lottery winnings.
Workers' compensation benefits.
Unemployment benefits.
Insurance settlements.



Asset enforcement - CSE can freeze and/or seize financial accounts. All in-state and some out-of-state financial institutions participate. Institutions check their records against child support delinquencies to provide account information to CSE for action.


Liens against property such as personal property, vehicles, boats mobile homes and real property legally prohibit any sale without satisfaction of the lien.


Reports to credit agencies - Support delinquencies are reported to credit agencies. The noncustodial parent must pay the past due support to remove the delinquency notice from the credit report.


Suspending licenses - The types of licenses/documents that can be suspended include:
Driver licenses.
Passports.
Professional licenses.
Vessel registrations.
Recreational licenses.



Judicial intervention - CSE can refer cases to the court system for judicial intervention. Possible penalties vary depending on the parent's past behavior and the court's determination.
Arrest order (civil) for failure to appear.
Jail time for up to 179 days for contempt of court.
Full or partial payment to purge contempt.
Misdemeanor and felony criminal prosecution by state attorney.



And another one...

Custodial Parent Rights
A custodial parent has the right to:

Confidential treatment of all private information given to CSE.
Genetic testing to determine the father of the child if paternity has not been legally established.
Request a review of a case if there is a question about a support collection or payment. (****This one is important for you! You need to request a review and inquire why they are not enforcing this!!****)
Get an update on a case by calling our toll-free number 1-800-622-5437.
Ask for a review of the amount of support payments.

C&K*s Mommie replied: So far, I have not had experience with the CSE here in Florida, Lisa so I have nothing to add other than what you stated previously. THEY SUCK! This is from what I have heard time and again from friends whose ex sperm donor themselves are in arrears with their own children.

Crystal (Cece00) gave good advice, I hope that helps you.

lisar replied:
Thanks Crystal I am on the phone with them now requesting half of this. Thanks...

Cece00 replied:
Let me know what they tell you and if you need any more help.

akbutterfly83 replied: I don't have anything to add... but good luck....

I think I will be going threw something like this when this next baby is born.... the daddy isn't answering my calls or anything.... so I don't know what to do... other then go after CS or ask him to relinquish his parental rights... we will see what happens.....

GL on everything though.... your in my T&P's

amberlynnie replied: I dont know if you would be interested in this, but check out the link. It says no up front fees, so you dont have to pay up front like you would a lawyer. they say they have a really good recovery rate. Support Kids I see commercials on TV for them all the time, talking about dead beat parents. Good luck, i know how you feel, i have 2 dads doing the same to me, except they have no money, so.... i get NOTHING. lol

Cece00 replied: Support Kids is no better than SES if you know how to deal with SES. They also take something like 30% of what is collected as a 'fee', which would be near $7k for Lisa. Not to mention if an NCP is determined not to pay, not even support kids can make him/her.

sem replied: My ex was laid off a few weeks after our divorce was final, so I never went throught the state as there are no wages to garnish. I keep having to explain to my ex that he still has to pay child support. Luckily he has not missed a payment YET. What really bugs me, though is that everytime we get in to an argument, he threatens to not pay. I don't understand him. He truly still believes that paying child support is optional and he is doing me a big favor by paying.

blondemom replied: I am very sorry you are having to go through all this, I am very lucky in a sense that the boys dad's both pay child support.

boyohboyohboy replied: lisa, if this is to personal then please ignore me, but what happened with the lump sum pay off?
do you still have that lawyer that could just make the call to SES on your behalf?

My3LilMonkeys replied: Lisa's original post was in 2006.