Agreement to end child support

[PeteV]

What is the name of your state? NH

My wife's ex husband was paying $340 a month in child support. After dragging her to court for a series of frivolous claims to the tune of $7,000 in lawyer fees, she agreed to a cease fire agreement. The essence of the agreement is, he doesn't take her to court anymore in exchange for her dropping all future child support and the $3,000 in back child support. She signed the agreement because it was costing her more in legal fees than she was receiving in child support. It seems to me she got screwed. Does she have any recourse???

Thanks,
Pete

 

[bononos]

What is the name of your state? NH

My wife's ex husband was paying $340 a month in child support. After dragging her to court for a series of frivolous claims to the tune of $7,000 in lawyer fees, she agreed to a cease fire agreement. The essence of the agreement is, he doesn't take her to court anymore in exchange for her dropping all future child support and the $3,000 in back child support. She signed the agreement because it was costing her more in legal fees than she was receiving in child support. It seems to me she got screwed. Does she have any recourse???

Thanks,
Pete

I'm new here and not an attorney, but come on, are you serious?
This had to be a verbal agreement. No court is going to allow this as circumstances can drastically change through life and a court will allow him to file again if he has reason.
Think about what you just wrote.
Your right, she got completely screwed!

 

[PeteV]

I'm definately serious

Those are the terms of the agreement drafted by the two lawyers (ours and his). My wife agreed to it because the legal fees were larger than she was receiving in child support. My question is if such an agreement is even legal?

Pete

 

[bononos]

Those are the terms of the agreement drafted by the two lawyers (ours and his). My wife agreed to it because the legal fees were larger than she was receiving in child support. My question is if such an agreement is even legal?

Pete

My chin hit the floor!!!
I hope one of the more knowledgeable people here can help.
I can't imagine, but you never know.

 

[PeteV]

She signed it because the lawyer was costing her so much. After she had some time to think about it, she realized it wasn't right for him to keep his rights as a legal parent and not have to contribute anything. Now she's trying to find out if she can get the agreement changed.

Pete

 

[critterperson]

What is the name of your state? NH

My wife's ex husband was paying $340 a month in child support. After dragging her to court for a series of frivolous claims to the tune of $7,000 in lawyer fees, she agreed to a cease fire agreement. The essence of the agreement is, he doesn't take her to court anymore in exchange for her dropping all future child support and the $3,000 in back child support. She signed the agreement because it was costing her more in legal fees than she was receiving in child support. It seems to me she got screwed. Does she have any recourse???

Thanks,
Pete

Pete,

First of all, in order to have future child support dropped a judge would have to sign that order (I am pretty sure of this) Second, If he was truly bringing her to court for frivolous claims........ if her attorney was worth a grain of salt, he would ask the judge to order the ex to pay court costs if it was found to be frivolous by the judge. I would speak to another attorney...most will give a free consultation, and let him/her tell you what your options are. It appears to me that your wife signed an unconscionable agreement, (one party gets all....while the other party gets nothing) and would not be held up by law...Basically it appears that your wife was told that she would not have to pay all of the unreasonable fees for things that should not have been taken to court for in the first place, and in exchange he wouldn't have to pay child support (sounds like extortion).......this is melicious prosecution in my opinion, and I feel that a judge would agree with me. How old are the children...basically how many years did he get out of paying?

 

[PeteV]

There's only one child, she's 12. The bio dad had been out of the picture since she was 2. The guy was abusive and when my wife filed for divorce she didn't ask for child support. She knew if she did, he would try and get visitation. So 10 years go by and now my wife and I are married and have two more kids So a couple years ago we decide to make things legal and have me legally adopt her daughter. So she calls up bio dad, he refuses to agree to adoption. Now we're pissed off and file for child support. The court orders him to pay $340 a month. Bio dad is now upset about paying child support, hires a lawyer, and starts taking us to court for custody modification and visitation. Our lawyer fees we're putting us deep in debt, so we agreed to this agreement and now were back to square one. This arrangement works for everyone, except for the fact that if god forbid something happened to my wife, bio dad could technically say he wanted custody. TIA for any insight.

Pete