Back child support & DMV

[not2cleverRed]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY
A letter from the NY DMV arrived for the ex today at my address.
Held it up to window (did NOT) open it, and it's an Order of Suspension or Revocation. Most likely due to child support arrears (well over a year). Ex does not live in NY. Has lived in MA for over 3 years (same address the whole time). CSEB was provided with his current address when I submitted my application to them this spring.

(1) Do I just hand him the envelope when he arrives for visitation - or should I be doing something to prove that he actually received the envelope?

(2) Should I inform the DMV of his current address? (When the license renewal form arrived at my address last fall, I handed it to him. I would have thought that he would just go to the MA DMV and get a license there. The NY DMV can only suspend NY licenses, right?)

(3) This is, of course a visitation weekend. He usually rents a car and drives down here from MA. If his license has actually been suspended, is it really a good idea to let the kid be a passenger in the car? Offering to chauffeur them doesn't seem like a great solution, telling him to hoof it with the kid would lead to a confrontation.

Moderators - please transfer this elsewhere if appropriate.
I've tried to limit my concerns to one post,
posting here due to the DMV action being most likely related to the child support arrears.

 

[nextwife]

IT is entirely possible he now has a MA license. If so, and that is not revoked, he can legally drive.

 

[BL]

Hand him the letter and let him deal with it .

If he were to get pulled over and his present license comes up as suspended ,I'm sure you would be contacted as to how to pick up the child .

 

[not2cleverRed]

Thanks!

Good to know that what I was thinking of as Plan A was good enough.
Would hate for him to claim later that I'd never given it to him.
And it's sad that he has let things get to this point.

 

[bl6394]

IT is entirely possible he now has a MA license. If so, and that is not revoked, he can legally drive.

And the NY suspension for Child Support MAY be irrelevant in MA.

We had a case in MO where a fellow from CA with a suspended drivers license relocated to MO. The DMV was advised of his CA status - and they refused to issue him a license. The case worked its way to the MO Supreme Court where they ruled that the suspension process for child support was NOT covered under a reciprocal agreement - and the MO DOR had to reinstate his license.

Note: if he had been suspended in CA for violations relating to the operation of a motor vehicle (DUI for instance) - his suspension would have been honored. Interesting reading if you like:

FindACase™ | Schroeder v. Director of Revenue

Until MA has cause to suspend his drivers license - he can continue to operate a vehicle using the MA license - in any state that honors it - even NY.

One final note. The MA Title XIV-D agency (Child Support Enforcement) could be asked by the NY Child Support Enforcement agency to begin enforcement actions - that could ultimately lead to his MA license being suspended as well - but that would be a separate process from what has occurred already in NY.

 

[CSO286]

Hold on....now its been my experience that CSED can interfere with an NCP's driver's license, even after they've left the state. If he held a NY license at any time and NY CSED has placed a hold for failure to pay Support. Then, when be goes to obtain or renew a license in a different state, he will be unable to do so. He'd be told that he's not clear in NY and would need to do whatever was necessary to lift the hold on his NY license before he'd be issued one from another state.

 

[bl6394]

Hold on....now its been my experience that CSED can interfere with an NCP's driver's license, even after they've left the state. If he held a NY license at any time and NY CSED has placed a hold for failure to pay Support. Then, when be goes to obtain or renew a license in a different state, he will be unable to do so. He'd be told that he's not clear in NY and would need to do whatever was necessary to lift the hold on his NY license before he'd be issued one from another state.

Clearly, case law in MO is only a precedent in MO. Hence the specific reference to the case.

MA courts could interpret otherwise. That's why I said that MA MAY choose to ignore the NY suspension - unless there has been process or cause in MA to suspend the license.

The NY CSED has the authority to refer the case to MA, but that does not happen automatically - and the NCP will have due process protections in MA that will have to be satisfied before MA will suspend. He can certainly be suspended in MA - assuming that they have a current address and can serve him with process - but I doubt it would be automatic.

Now in the cited case - if CA had referred the matter to the MO CSED - and the MO CSED had gone through the process of revoking the license - then the NCP would be legitimately suspended in MO too.

 

[BL]

http://www.mass.gov/rmv/dmanual/chapter2.pdf

It states if your drivers license is suspended or revoked in another state , your MA. license will be suspended automatically . PG. 46

Ma> shares driving record with other States.

 

[bl6394]

http://www.mass.gov/rmv/dmanual/chapter2.pdf

It states if your drivers license is suspended or revoked in another state , your MA. license will be suspended automatically . PG. 46

Ma> shares driving record with other States.

BL - I'd agree with you that in MA - based upon a literal reading of the citation - the NCP SHOULD be suspended as well.

As you may have read - the MO Dor took a similar interpretation - and fought all the way to the MO Supreme Court where they lost. MA, however, is a different jurisdiction - and may interpret the law differently.

 

[2Mistakes]

What OTHER states do has absolutely no bearing on anything. The only info that should be given needs to be relevant to the state(s) related to the OP...