Arrearage

[Tinkerbell48445]

I currently reside in the state of Maryland. In 1997, I went through the state of Georgia (stationed there) and filed for child support. My son's father lived in Colorado. Paternity and child support was established. Arrearage was established at approximately $25,000. He paid the support regularly and was paying $75.00 per month on the arrears. My son turned 19 and his father was paying $75.00 per month after that. The arrears didn't go down much because of accumulated interest, so he started paying more. Meanwhile I retired to Maryland and he left Colorado. He stopped sending money through Colorado and Colorado closed the case because he no longer lived there. Georgia closed their case because I no longer lived there but they advised me to go through the state of Maryland. I just found out today that Maryland will not pursue the matter because it's just arrears. That doesn't seem right to me but Maryland assures me it is. Can he just walk away and not finish paying his arrears legally? Any advice?

 

[Phnx02]

I currently reside in the state of Maryland. In 1997, I went through the state of Georgia (stationed there) and filed for child support. My son's father lived in Colorado. Paternity and child support was established. Arrearage was established at approximately $25,000. He paid the support regularly and was paying $75.00 per month on the arrears. My son turned 19 and his father was paying $75.00 per month after that. The arrears didn't go down much because of accumulated interest, so he started paying more. Meanwhile I retired to Maryland and he left Colorado. He stopped sending money through Colorado and Colorado closed the case because he no longer lived there. Georgia closed their case because I no longer lived there but they advised me to go through the state of Maryland. I just found out today that Maryland will not pursue the matter because it's just arrears. That doesn't seem right to me but Maryland assures me it is. Can he just walk away and not finish paying his arrears legally? Any advice?

Georgia has/had jurisdiction because that is where the original order was esablished. More than likely, they closed your case because even though your ex is in arrears, once the child reached age of emancipation, they were no longer legally obligated to collect on your behalf. Each state is only obligated to collect for current support.

However, your ex is still obligated to pay the arrearage until it's paid in full or upon his death. What you need to do now is file for a judgement of the past due amount in the same state the order originated in. There is a statute of limitations for filing such a judgement so go to www.childsupportguidelines.com to learn what GA SOL are. There is no guarantee he will pay as ordered, but the judgement will follow him for the rest of his life until paid.