Child support in 2 states? FL/GA

[mikemac]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

A little background on my situation. I was divorced in 1994 in Florida and ordered to pay child support on my 3 children then ages 5, 3 and 1. I also provide then health and dental coverage through my employer. In 1997 my former wife moved the children to South Georgia without notice to me. I found out from my oldest child about a week before it happened and not having the funds for an attorney to stop her they made the move. About a year after they moved, I also moved to Georgia settling in the Atlanta area after not finding adequate employment in the city where the children were.

Spring ahead to last year, my oldest is 18 years old and off to college leaving my 16 year old daughter and 14 year old son living with the former wife. In August of '07 my former wife and her partner were accused of child abuse by DFACS and the 16 year old daughter was removed from the home. They apparently spanked the child leaving marks on her that the school reported. This was not the first time DFACS investigated the former wife. The State refused to return the child to the Mother and I can't take custody of her because I only earn about 24k a year as a teacher's assitant while I slowly work on a teaching degree and can barely support myself much less a 16 year old with some special needs. The amount of child support that would have been available from the Mother was not enough to make ends meet. The State did make the Mother forward a third of the child support I pay through the State of Florida to Georgia for the child in State custody. I even had a CPA friend of mine run the numbers and I was WAY short of the necessary finances. Believe me I have had a tremendous amount of stress because due to finances I can't help my child. A second job for additional funds would have left no one to care for the child while I worked the second job. So now the child is in a theraputic foster home to address some of her special needs.

I opened yesterday's mail this morning and have been ordered to appear before Child Support Services to determine the amount of child support to pay! Can Georgia impose additional child support on me in addition to what I pay through Florida? I don't know if this is a serious effort to get more from me or just part of the process. I don't want to assume that if I show up with my Florida divorce decree and my child support statements that it will just go away.

Sorry for the long post and I appreciate any help you could give.

 

[CourtClerk]

You need an attorney. Tomorrow.

Georgia has the right to come after you for support because they have your daughter in their custody. Since both of you are now in Georgia, why hasn't one of you petitioned to have the case transferred to Georgia? Neither one of you has dealt with any of this correctly.

Chances are the GA will come after you for a piece of the pie, and they will go after her for a piece of the pie. There are a lot of modifications to do, and you need to get them done pronto.

 

[mikemac]

I didn't know that I was supposed to transfer jurisdiction. Honestly I trust Florida's system to work a lot more than I trust Georgia's. Misguided perhaps. So I can end up paying child support for the same child in 2 states? Lovely

Thanks for your advice though, it is appreciated.

 

[CourtClerk]

I didn't know that I was supposed to transfer jurisdiction. Honestly I trust Florida's system to work a lot more than I trust Georgia's. Misguided perhaps. So I can end up paying child support for the same child in 2 states? Lovely

Thanks for your advice though, it is appreciated.

You should not, however, it doesn't seem that you know what you are doing in this situaton. Which is why you need an attorney. Quickly. Georgia is not going to wait until you fix your child support issues in order for them to collect their money. Nor are they going to care about what is going on in your life. You're working with 2 separate issues, which need to become 1 issue.

 

[hearts41]

Just curious, you said you have a 14 year old son too, was he left in your x wife's custody?

 

[mikemac]

Yes the son is still in the physical custody of the x wife and his support is paid through Florida.

 

[mikemac]

I did see an Attorney a few days after posting the question. He told me not to panic that modifications like this are done everyday. Georgia will take jurisdiction from Florida and modify the order. Using the child support calculator that the state has online, I will pay about the same as I do now. He didn't feel that it was even necessary that he even attend the meeting unless I just had money to burn. He said they have guidelines and rules they have to go by and they just can't pull something out of thin air! He strongly disagreed that any of this was a big deal. I also ran this by an attorney friend in Florida and he said about the same thing.

 

[LdiJ]

I did see an Attorney a few days after posting the question. He told me not to panic that modifications like this are done everyday. Georgia will take jurisdiction from Florida and modify the order. Using the child support calculator that the state has online, I will pay about the same as I do now. He didn't feel that it was even necessary that he even attend the meeting unless I just had money to burn. He said they have guidelines and rules they have to go by and they just can't pull something out of thin air! He strongly disagreed that any of this was a big deal. I also ran this by an attorney friend in Florida and he said about the same thing.

Just make sure that you take a copy of your FL orders with you, so that there is absolutely no doubt that you are currently paying CS via FL.

 

[majomom1]

Just make sure that you take a copy of your FL orders with you, so that there is absolutely no doubt that you are currently paying CS via FL.

And make sure that you get court documents that GA is taking jurisdiction from FL. Please pay very close attention. Nothing personal to the attorneys here, but the State does make mistakes and attorneys generally are not as concerned as the parties, because it can be fixed. But, it will take less money to make sure this is done right, in the beginning, than it will take to fix it later...

I see a huge potential for error here because there are two children. GA is only concerned about your daughter and may only move jurisdiction for her, leaving your son on the FL order, so you need to make sure that everything gets done correctly in both states.

 

[mikemac]

And make sure that you get court documents that GA is taking jurisdiction from FL. Please pay very close attention. Nothing personal to the attorneys here, but the State does make mistakes and attorneys generally are not as concerned as the parties, because it can be fixed. But, it will take less money to make sure this is done right, in the beginning, than it will take to fix it later...

I see a huge potential for error here because there are two children. GA is only concerned about your daughter and may only move jurisdiction for her, leaving your son on the FL order, so you need to make sure that everything gets done correctly in both states.

I would think that since we all now live in Georgia that they would want to move jurisdiction for both children here. That way they collect the fees for processing payments if nothing else.

If I had the $1500 that the atttorney quoted me for the prep and attendence of the meeting I would gladly go that route. Should I find an attorney that is located closer to the meeting location? From where I live it's almost 40 miles through Atlanta traffic to get there and the atttorney reflects that in his charges. He figured about 6 billable hours for the preparation, travel, wait time and the actual meeting.

Several days back I was offered a job back in Florida that would put me in a financial position to get custody of my daughter, which I could afford to do after several months working down there after I paid some bills.

How would moving back to Florida affect this proceding since the meeting in Georgia isn't until the end of August and I could re-establish residency in a matter of a couple of days after moving back?

Last question: should I pay an attorney to move jurisdiction to Georgia before the meeting at the end of August, assuming that would be less expensive than having him go to the meeting?

 

[majomom1]

I would think that since we all now live in Georgia that they would want to move jurisdiction for both children here. That way they collect the fees for processing payments if nothing else.

If I had the $1500 that the atttorney quoted me for the prep and attendence of the meeting I would gladly go that route. Should I find an attorney that is located closer to the meeting location? From where I live it's almost 40 miles through Atlanta traffic to get there and the atttorney reflects that in his charges. He figured about 6 billable hours for the preparation, travel, wait time and the actual meeting.

Several days back I was offered a job back in Florida that would put me in a financial position to get custody of my daughter, which I could afford to do after several months working down there after I paid some bills.

How would moving back to Florida affect this proceding since the meeting in Georgia isn't until the end of August and I could re-establish residency in a matter of a couple of days after moving back?

Last question: should I pay an attorney to move jurisdiction to Georgia before the meeting at the end of August, assuming that would be less expensive than having him go to the meeting?

Yes, it would make sense to move the entire case, but you didn't start this action. I wouldn't be as concerned if you had.

The State started this action due to the circumstances of your daughter. I am not sure that they have the power to move the entire case. I would pose that question to the attorney and just make sure.

GA is at least going to take jurisdiction over your daughter. Your possible move back to FL isn't going to change that, at this point and really just complicates things even further. I could be wrong, but I believe the only way for you to stop, or change any of this now would be to take custody of your daughter now... that may be cheaper in the long run.

 

[mikemac]

Yes, it would make sense to move the entire case, but you didn't start this action. I wouldn't be as concerned if you had.

The State started this action due to the circumstances of your daughter. I am not sure that they have the power to move the entire case. I would pose that question to the attorney and just make sure.

GA is at least going to take jurisdiction over your daughter. Your possible move back to FL isn't going to change that, at this point and really just complicates things even further. I could be wrong, but I believe the only way for you to stop, or change any of this now would be to take custody of your daughter now... that may be cheaper in the long run.

I see your point about the state having initiated the action and not me. I talked with Florida and as of Friday afternoon they have received nothing from Georgia about changing jurisdiction. So maybe I can still initiate the action?

My impression from the letter I received is that georgia is not even aware there is an existing order. They seem to think they are doing an original child support order not a modification. If I can get the jurisdiction changed myself or at least have the process well under way before the end of August they will have to consider both children. I have no clue as to how long the process of changing jurisdiction could take.

Certainly hiring an attorney to change the jurisdiction couldn't possibly cost as much as attending the meeting since it would be filing paperwork and no meeting with child support services would be involved, wouldn't it? Time to talk to the attorney again.

 

[majomom1]

I see your point about the state having initiated the action and not me. I talked with Florida and as of Friday afternoon they have received nothing from Georgia about changing jurisdiction. So maybe I can still initiate the action?

My impression from the letter I received is that georgia is not even aware there is an existing order. They seem to think they are doing an original child support order not a modification. If I can get the jurisdiction changed myself or at least have the process well under way before the end of August they will have to consider both children. I have no clue as to how long the process of changing jurisdiction could take.

Certainly hiring an attorney to change the jurisdiction couldn't possibly cost as much as attending the meeting since it would be filing paperwork and no meeting with child support services would be involved, wouldn't it? Time to talk to the attorney again.

That right there was my main concern. Definitely ask an attorney. It is not too expensive to ask questions just to cover all the bases, otherwise you may have to do it all again. It might be that you can somehow get them to move the entire order and not have to worry... so just make sure.

And stick around here for Senior posters. Sunday gets kinda slow - but I'm sure others will have better info or more suggestions. Good luck.

 

[mikemac]

Everything I'm reading in the statutes and on the "help" websites indicated that they would have to transfer the whole order from Florida to Georgia and not pick and choose. I will consult a different attorney for another opinion. I did talk to Georgia child support today and they indicated that they would tranfer the jurisdiction of both children to Georgia.

 

[mikemac]

Looking ahead to next year when I'm scheduled to take a job in Maine. Assuming Georgia modifies the order and it becomes a Georgia order. When there is a modification request from the ex, or the state in my situation, will I have to physically travel back to Georgia to settle the matter? Or will I be able to go through Maine child support services?

I can't imagine that the state would expect me to travel 1200 miles to turn in a financial affidavit and renegotiate my child support.