Child support questions, child now in different state from where divorce was filed.

[mii1]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TX and MS

My divorce was in MS, my ex moved to TX with my son several years ago. The divorce states joint legal and physical custody and states that I pay her $250 per month child support.

Several years ago I could not pay for a few months, which I made up for by increasing my payments to $400 per month until caught up.

Now she is telling the state of TX that I am behind for those months I did not pay.

Does TX even have any jurisdiction over this if the divorce was filed and finalized in MS? If not, do I just ignore it? If so, what action can they take against me? They have threatened to take tax refund checks, garnish wages and provide derogatory information on my credit report. They say they have stopped these actions pending my providing bank records, which I have ordered. None of the communication was even certified mail. Can they do this?

I have sent my ex two payments since all this started, they don’t even recognize that I have sent her those checks because I didn’t send them directly to them I guess. My caving in to this, to me, is an admission of guilt to something I am not guilty of.

Also, they talk of some "review" of the child support amount. It sounds as if they plan on just arbitrarily increasing the child support, again I ask, how can they do this? I thought all this had to go through the court system in the state where the divorce occurred or some court system somewhere!? Is TX different than the other states? No action has been taken to move the case to TX, I checked with the county where it was filed.

 

[haiku]

Texas can ENFORCE your MS order.

You need to send your checks through child support enforcement because they will not acknowledge payments not sent directly to themunless your ex does.

 

[mii1]

Can they increase my child support? if so, does the percentage of child support follow MS or TX guidelines?

 

[CJane]

Of course they can increase your CS. It's even likely if it's been 7 years since the amount was assessed. It's likely that MS guidelines would be used and Texas would collect the CS and forward it to MS.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TX and MS

Does TX even have any jurisdiction over this if the divorce was filed and finalized in MS?

Yes, they can enforce the existing orders and work with MS to increase child support if the income levels warrant a modification.

If not, do I just ignore it?

That would be about the stupidest thing you could do.

If so, what action can they take against me? They have threatened to take tax refund checks, garnish wages and provide derogatory information on my credit report.

They can do all of that.

They say they have stopped these actions pending my providing bank records, which I have ordered. None of the communication was even certified mail. Can they do this?

Yes they can.

I have sent my ex two payments since all this started, they don’t even recognize that I have sent her those checks because I didn’t send them directly to them I guess. My caving in to this, to me, is an admission of guilt to something I am not guilty of.

It was dumb to send the payments directly to your ex. She has involved the state, therefore your payments need to go through them. You have no choice regarding that.

Also, they talk of some "review" of the child support amount. It sounds as if they plan on just arbitrarily increasing the child support, again I ask, how can they do this? I thought all this had to go through the court system in the state where the divorce occurred or some court system somewhere!? Is TX different than the other states? No action has been taken to move the case to TX, I checked with the county where it was filed.

Child support is fluid and modifiable as the incomes/circumstances of the parties change. If your income has increased over the last 7 years, then you can expect that your child support will increase. A "review" is a recalculation of child support.

250.00 is quite a low child support amount. That's more or less what someone pays who makes minimum wage.