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Adult child collecting retroactive child support?

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What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? New Mexico

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide. If more information is needed, please do not hesitate to ask.

My question-

Can an adult child collect child support retroactively if there has never been a court order for the support?


This question came up during a conversation with a friend of mine concerning her daughter and child support, and I can not decipher the legalese.

My friend is an unwed mother, her daughter is 8 y/o. The mother has never collected money from the state.

She stated that at her daughters birth, the father signed papers in the hospital 'saying he was the father', but can't recall what they were. I can't say if the papers were an acknowledgement of paternity, a birth certificate or ?.

There have never been any custody/visitation orders or an order for child support, in or out of court. She stated that she has no desire to 'share' her daughter with her biological father and has decided to forgo child support while her daughter is a minor with the belief that her daughter will be able to collect the 18 years of back support from her father when she reaches the age of majority.

According to what I found on the state website, the statute of limitations for collection of past due support in NM is 14 years after emancipation. I can't determine if this is with or without a court order.

I also found the following while searching additional NM child support information. Can someone please explain if this means anything regarding my question?

State v. Gorman, No. FA 98-0331769 S, 2000 Ct. Sup. 2938-af, 2938-ah, 2001 WL 359720 (Feb. 2, 2000). “The court finds that there is no prior court order for the payment of child support. The court finds that this support petition brought pursuant to C.G.S. 46b-215 is an appropriate vehicle to establish a current support and an arrearage order. The court finds that to do same would not violate the prohibition against retroactive modifications of child support. The court finds that it is not bound by any agreement of the parties or by their actions or failure to act through the years.”


Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you.
 


LdiJ

Senior Member
SweetSunflower said:
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? New Mexico

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide. If more information is needed, please do not hesitate to ask.

My question-

Can an adult child collect child support retroactively if there has never been a court order for the support?


This question came up during a conversation with a friend of mine concerning her daughter and child support, and I can not decipher the legalese.

My friend is an unwed mother, her daughter is 8 y/o. The mother has never collected money from the state.

She stated that at her daughters birth, the father signed papers in the hospital 'saying he was the father', but can't recall what they were. I can't say if the papers were an acknowledgement of paternity, a birth certificate or ?.

There have never been any custody/visitation orders or an order for child support, in or out of court. She stated that she has no desire to 'share' her daughter with her biological father and has decided to forgo child support while her daughter is a minor with the belief that her daughter will be able to collect the 18 years of back support from her father when she reaches the age of majority.

According to what I found on the state website, the statute of limitations for collection of past due support in NM is 14 years after emancipation. I can't determine if this is with or without a court order.

I also found the following while searching additional NM child support information. Can someone please explain if this means anything regarding my question?

State v. Gorman, No. FA 98-0331769 S, 2000 Ct. Sup. 2938-af, 2938-ah, 2001 WL 359720 (Feb. 2, 2000). “The court finds that there is no prior court order for the payment of child support. The court finds that this support petition brought pursuant to C.G.S. 46b-215 is an appropriate vehicle to establish a current support and an arrearage order. The court finds that to do same would not violate the prohibition against retroactive modifications of child support. The court finds that it is not bound by any agreement of the parties or by their actions or failure to act through the years.”


Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you.
Your friend is completely wrong. While that case law exists...there is little to no chance that your friend could simply establish a retroactive order.
 
It does happen

I did not have a child support order on my daughter until she was age 14 yrs. I went on this forum 2 years ago and asked if I could get the 14 years back support for my daughter and was rudely told I was out of my mind by more then one person well to make a long story short my csea worker said I should go after the money and so I did. I contacted juvinile court and received a packet that I had to fill out and I went down and filed it on my own. Because of my finacial situation I was given assigned counsel The magistrate in the case has already had my daughter and myself turn in all our tax returns for the 14 years and we go back to court soon for him to order him to pay. I have been willing to settle this out of court since all this began in feb. but he wont so my lawyer just said to wait this little bit longer and I should receive my money or at least my order for him to pay me my money. So becareful who you listen to on here cause I know for fact that I have been sorely misinformed on this site. Just remember that most these people give you their opinion not what they know for a fact to be true. And my situation may differ from yours or my state might differ in its laws from yours. All I say is you should call juvinile court and ask them if you can go after back child care. :D And child support will not help you their job is current support orders.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
queeniez71 said:
I did not have a child support order on my daughter until she was age 14 yrs. I went on this forum 2 years ago and asked if I could get the 14 years back support for my daughter and was rudely told I was out of my mind by more then one person well to make a long story short my csea worker said I should go after the money and so I did. I contacted juvinile court and received a packet that I had to fill out and I went down and filed it on my own. Because of my finacial situation I was given assigned counsel The magistrate in the case has already had my daughter and myself turn in all our tax returns for the 14 years and we go back to court soon for him to order him to pay. I have been willing to settle this out of court since all this began in feb. but he wont so my lawyer just said to wait this little bit longer and I should receive my money or at least my order for him to pay me my money. So becareful who you listen to on here cause I know for fact that I have been sorely misinformed on this site. Just remember that most these people give you their opinion not what they know for a fact to be true. And my situation may differ from yours or my state might differ in its laws from yours. All I say is you should call juvinile court and ask them if you can go after back child care. :D And child support will not help you their job is current support orders.
The OP's question was different than yours. The OP wanted to know if AFTER the child was a legal adult that it would be possible to get an order for retroactive support. There is virtually no chance of that happening.

I would also like to point out that you haven't been to court on your case yet. So you honestly don't know whether or not you are going to win. Its not unheard of for retroactive support to be ordered, but it is fairly uncommon.
 

stealth2

Under the Radar Member
queeniez71 said:
I did not have a child support order on my daughter until she was age 14 yrs. I went on this forum 2 years ago and asked if I could get the 14 years back support for my daughter and was rudely told I was out of my mind by more then one person well to make a long story short my csea worker said I should go after the money and so I did. I contacted juvinile court and received a packet that I had to fill out and I went down and filed it on my own. Because of my finacial situation I was given assigned counsel The magistrate in the case has already had my daughter and myself turn in all our tax returns for the 14 years and we go back to court soon for him to order him to pay. I have been willing to settle this out of court since all this began in feb. but he wont so my lawyer just said to wait this little bit longer and I should receive my money or at least my order for him to pay me my money. So becareful who you listen to on here cause I know for fact that I have been sorely misinformed on this site. Just remember that most these people give you their opinion not what they know for a fact to be true. And my situation may differ from yours or my state might differ in its laws from yours. All I say is you should call juvinile court and ask them if you can go after back child care. :D And child support will not help you their job is current support orders.

And you don't have an order yet, do you? Stop counting unhatched chickens.
 
correction

Yes I have been to court, twice in fact , the first time in feb. when we were ordered to get our tax information for all those years or at least as much as we could and we went back in May with that info and they began calculating what would be owed and we now go back in sept. my attorney was going to offer a settlement but then his attorney retired so we have to wait until he gets a new one.But the gl says I will most likely receive a judgement in my favor and my lawyer says the same thing. The only reason we are willing to settle is because I need to help my daughter finacially now (she's 18 now but I filed before she turned 18) So I was willing to settle now instead of waiting til sept.
 
New Mexico

Your friend is completely wrong. While that case law exists...there is little to no chance that your friend could simply establish a retroactive order.


LdiJ, thank you for the reply. From reading other posts on this site dealing with similiar situaions, I was thinking that that would be the correct answer.

Could I please trouble you with one more question?

How would I best explain to my friend why she should not expect her daughter to be able to file a retroactive child support order?

I ask because she honestly believes that child support if for the child and that her daughter is entitled to the money, period. I am positive that she does not grasp why it matters if the child has access to the support now as a minor or if she collects it as an adult, and I want to make sure I can clearly explain this.

I hope I was able to clarify my concern.

Thank you again.
 

tigger22472

Senior Member
Does your friend have access to a computer also? Show her how to search these things..

Give her these links:

http://www.alllaw.com/calculators/Childsupport/new_mexico/

http://www.state.nm.us/hsd/csed.html (this talks about enforcement but also other things... she can't enforce something she doesn't have)

http://singleparents.about.com/cs/childsupport/a/NM_csnews.htm

http://www.divorcelawinfo.com/intro/child_support_issues.htm#The Nature of the Child Support Order

http://family-law.freeadvice.com/child_support/child_support.htm



What is child support?
Child support is a payment by one parent (often the "non-custodial parent") to the other parent for the support of their common child. (See Child Support and Visitation.) It is in the best interest of a child for both parents to be obligated to pay for the support of their child. An order for child support transfers the income/wealth from one parent to the other so that the combined incomes/wealth of both parents is available to use for the support of the child.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=child support


2 entries found for child support.
Main Entry: child sup·port
Function: noun
: payment made for the support of the children of divorced or separated parents while the children are minors or until they reach an age set by the separation agreement or in a court order —compare ALIMONY
NOTE: Child support is usually paid by the parent who is without custody. In the case of joint custody, both parents usually pay child support.


Source: Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.


child support

n : court-ordered support paid by one spouse to the other who has custody of the children after the parents are separated




She's not going to just take your word for it if she's feeling this strong about it... you're going to have to show her proof.
 

nextwife

Senior Member
SweetSunflower said:
She stated that she has no desire to 'share' her daughter with her biological father and has decided to forgo child support while her daughter is a minor with the belief that her daughter will be able to collect the 18 years of back support from her father when she reaches the age of majority.
So Mom feels that she should be able to, AFTER the fact of the child's majority, "collect backwards" what she feels is her right, but that Dad should NOT have any potential parental rights until it is too late for him to exercise them? Doesn't SHE spend differently based upon her KNOWN financial obligations? If she did or did NOT have a house payment or car payment, wouldn't she handle her finances differently?

Say she lived at home with her parents and child for 18 years, and when those 18 years were over they said she "owed them" 18 years worth of rent, because she knew she'd been living there and should "owe" it to them? Would waiting 18 years to disclose a financial expectation be right? Would it be wrong to "surprise" her with the expectation of payment after so many years of NOT letting her know it was expected? And what if she had not saved or put away for an expectation she had no knowledge of all those years, and then they suddenly wanted a lump sum? Maybe she had two other kids by then and no extra disposable income? Should her later-born kids be made to suffer because she didn't know she'd need to pay and no legal obligation to pay had been established?
 
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nextwife

Senior Member
Even if this were legally correct, it is plainly riduiculous to expect that if one waits 10 or 15 years the other party will necessarilly have the same or better financial capablility! Heck, my dad was terminally ill when I was in my early teens, and deceased before I was 18 - if my mom had been an unmarried single waiting for some supposed windfall when I turned 18, she sure as heck would have been in for a nasty surprise to discover her windfall was dead and there was no estate to go after.

Making presumptions about a person's future financial capabilities is NOT a good plan. Both my hubby and I today make LESS than we did when we were younger, and, because of the changes in BOTH our industries, neither of us may again make our peak incomes. People in our businesses just don't get paid that much anymore because the profits just aren't there, and many of the old line businesses are now bankrupt and gone..
 

TNBSMommy

Member
I think it is sad the OP's friend isn't raising an independent, self supporting young woman, she is raising a "you-owe-me-b/c-you-never-gave-me- anything,-and-now-you-have-to,-and-I-don't-care-what-anybody-says,- GIMME-GIMME-GIMME!!" selfish child, and the poor child doesn't even know it.

OP, ask your friend what she would do if her child's father dropped dead of a heartattack tomorrow, or an aneurysm, like both of my parents had by the time I turned 18. Or was in a car wreck... how selfish that she is not only denying her child a chance to know who her father is, but is teaching her the only thing he will or should ever be is a wallet!!!! How utterly SELFISH!!!! My ex owes 30 thousand in arrears to me, and yet I STILL do my best to shut my mouth, and keep my feelings to myself when it comes to my children's relationship with him. Yes, I have slipped when caught at a bad time, but for the most part, I bite my toungue, and keep in mind what I would give to have my father alive, and in my life.

Yet another young adult who will be turned loose on the world thinking everyone owes them a handout. What is so freaking wrong with teaching kids they don't need anybody but themselves to depend on.

Like you have been told before, child support is to SUPPORT The child. It is not an ALLOWANCE!!!! OF course in this case the man doesn't owe any anyhow, since there has never been an order. No one, not the mother or the child, could collect on a debt that doesn't even exist.
 
hold up

He also knew he had a daughter who he chose not to support or stay in contact with I never told him he couldnt see her he picked his future wife over our daughter because she didnt want our daughter in his life so how is it I stopped him from having a relationship with our daughter? the reason I didnt go after him for support when she was born was because we were young (I was 15 and he was17)and at the time I thought I was getting him in trouble if I told so I didnt when I was old enough to know better I didnt think I was still able to after all that time plus I did not know where he was.when i did go to csea he had every oppertunity to see our daughter and try to have some kind of positive relationship with her I did not stand in the way and I respected her right in this matter to know her father. He chose to use his time with her by bereting me and saying things that not only werent true but he really should not be saying to a 14 yr. old girl.I ended up putting her in counseling because she ended up aggresive and hurt by this man. When she was 16 he sent a certified letter to my home saying that he wanted no further contact with our daughter.So after almost 2 yrs. of waiting to see if he would regret his actions and make peace with our daughter ( I was afraid if I filed right away for the money it would stop him from contacting her to make peace )which he has not done, I filed.I felt that since he was the way he was he owed it to her to help her with college. So stop acting like I kidnapped her from him he made his choice not to have "visitation" he could have took me to court at anytime he chose not to.I chose to take him to court and no matter when I did it the fact remains he has an obligation.If you ran your phone bill up and after 2 years you still havent paid it they dont just go away they get a collection agency .Well he ran his bill up in his share of finacial obligation and now he must pay.
 
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Ok

But if he wanted to have a relationship with our daughter (which he dont) but if he did and she was 14 should i say to him that he waited too long and that the time limit on said relationship is up?Then he would be encourged by you to file a court case against me for visitation and you wouldnt be telling him he waited to long.He chose not to raise this child I never told him to stay out of her life.In fact, I let him see her whenever he wanted to when she was born until he took off when she was 4 yrs.old I did not ask him for anything except to see his daughter and be in her life but he wanted no strings. And in his eyes she was a very long string.So now after the last 4 yrs. where he has treated her like crap I decide to go after him for what he rightful owes me.He didnt want the day to day hassle of raising a child and his wife didnt want a stepchild in the way well they got what they wanted I did the raising and the caring for and the loving not knowing that someday I could go after this money but now that I know I can why shouldnt I ? Why shouldnt my daughter benefit in the same way his other child does? There is no college fund for her because I had to scrap all her life to get us by like alot of parents do and now that I have the chance to be able to help her I should throw it away? Im not asking for welfare or government assit. Im asking for something that I should have always had.Why should he not pay?Why should he get away with being a dead beat rotten father?Why am I the bad guy for only wanting what I should have always been entitled to?I did not run I stayed and raised her he chose to treat her like a piece of garbage. Why do you defend a person like that? :mad:
 
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Rushia

Senior Member
queeniez71 said:
But if he wanted to have a relationship with our daughter (which he dont) but if he did and she was 14 should i say to him that he waited too long and that the time limit on said relationship is up?Then he would be encourged by you to file a court case against me for visitation and you wouldnt be telling him he waited to long.He chose not to raise this child I never told him to stay out of her life.In fact, I let him see her whenever he wanted to when she was born until he took off when she was 4 yrs.old I did not ask him for anything except to see his daughter and be in her life but he wanted no strings. And in his eyes she was a very long string.So now after the last 4 yrs. where he has treated her like crap I decide to go after him for what he rightful owes me.He didnt want the day to day hassle of raising a child and his wife didnt want a stepchild in the way well they got what they wanted I did the raising and the caring for and the loving not knowing that someday I could go after this money but now that I know I can why shouldnt I ? Why shouldnt my daughter benefit in the same way his other child does? There is no college fund for her because I had to scrap all her life to get us by like alot of parents do and now that I have the chance to be able to help her I should throw it away? Im not asking for welfare or government assit. Im asking for something that I should have always had.Why should he not pay?Why should he get away with being a dead beat rotten father?Why am I the bad guy for only wanting what I should have always been entitled to?I did not run I stayed and raised her he chose to treat her like a piece of garbage. Why do you defend a person like that? :mad:

Why would we defend a person like that? YOU chose to raise her without the financial help of her father and now you are trying to cash in on it. You are no better than the women that don't tell about a child and then come back after several years later. He was NOT a deadbeat as there was no order in place. I cannot believe that a judge is even considering this. I hope that it ends up being thrown out on you or at the most that you would win from the date of filing and then you wouldn't get very much. Before you sling around any insults perhaps you should look in a mirror.
 

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