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Deadbeat parents

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safeber

Member
What is the name of your state?VA

How is it that so many parents simply skip Child Suppport payments with no effective action taken against them? Especially with the staggering amounts in arrears that I see in this forum.

As I understand, an Income Deduction Order (IDO) makes it quite impossible to skip payments if the noncustodial parent receives a check of any kind from the employer. What is the delay in attaching and or seizing assets, bank accounts, etc... Isn't jail time the ultimate penalty?

I must be naive. Give me the Cliff Notes explanation.

Thanks
 


brisgirl825

Senior Member
It's rather simple.

CSE is a govt agency which is understaffed, underpaid, and overloaded. So the result is that they go after the people who are the easiest to catch ie parents that are in arrears due to a disablility, lay off, etc.

Those who really don't want to pay support and help with their kids, will go to extreme measuers to avoid paying, even at their own expense. CSE doesn't have the time, money, patience to track them down.
 

Content

Member
Anyone who really and truly wants to get out of paying will always find a way to do such. There are jobs working under the table that never get garnished. If a NCP has a job like this then it's impossible to garnish their check thus making income withholding useless.
 

safeber

Member
Yes, I do agree that government resources are strained and that those looking hard enough to avoid CS payments will do so.

For those NCP's that do make a pay stub "disappear" must they also physically "disappear" even when getting paid under the table? I would think that if the CP knew where the NCP lived and/or worked that they could ultimately be taken into custody. But then again we are talking about the government with limited resources to apprehend noncompliant NCP's. Sounds like a never ending game of cat and mouse. Do I get the picture yet?

Thanks
 

tigger22472

Senior Member
Reality is that most (not all but a LARGE majority) of the NCP's that are very high in the arrears (usually 5k or more) don't see their children. Although CS and visitation are separate if there is visitation there is going to be an address to attempt be served for CS. So in reality the CP's don't always know where they are at. They can have an idea and they may even have an address but that doesn't mean the NCP will let themself get served.
 

safeber

Member
brisgirl825 said:
It's rather simple.

CSE is a govt agency which is understaffed, underpaid, and overloaded. So the result is that they go after the people who are the easiest to catch ie parents that are in arrears due to a disablility, lay off, etc.

Those who really don't want to pay support and help with their kids, will go to extreme measuers to avoid paying, even at their own expense. CSE doesn't have the time, money, patience to track them down.
OK, one detail question. Why does the CSE consider those that are layed off and in arrears easy to chase down and collect from? I would think that those NCP's with a steady check would bring in more money and are easier to garnish.
 

tigger22472

Senior Member
safeber said:
OK, one detail question. Why does the CSE consider those that are layed off and in arrears easy to chase down and collect from? I would think that those NCP's with a steady check would bring in more money and are easier to garnish.

Unemployment is a government check. They know right away where their money is coming from.
 

safeber

Member
OK, sorry for the dumb question.

New path...A prior post stated that the court does not care what if any bad luck the obligor runs into...CS must be paid every month.

We all know how pitiful even the highest unemployment checks are. So how does the court expect you to live off of that much less give out any more. Yes, children need support but in all likelyhood there is another parent that can pick up the slack for a few months until the "down on his/her luck" parents gets back in the saddle. Without such logic no wonder there are so many cases of large arrearages.
 

tigger22472

Senior Member
safeber said:
OK, sorry for the dumb question.

New path...A prior post stated that the court does not care what if any bad luck the obligor runs into...CS must be paid every month.

We all know how pitiful even the highest unemployment checks are. So how does the court expect you to live off of that much less give out any more. Yes, children need support but in all likelyhood there is another parent that can pick up the slack for a few months until the "down on his/her luck" parents gets back in the saddle. Without such logic no wonder there are so many cases of large arrearages.

The majority of arrears cases I have seen come from either just flat out UNWILLINGNESS to pay and will dodge any effort, or those that do get laid off and fail to file for a modification. The whole, 'Can't get blood from a Turnip" thing doesn't fly here. The state will take what they are allowed to per their state guidelines and until a modification is done what isn't paid goes into arrears.
 
B

betterthanher

Guest
People who get unemployed, unfortunately, don't know where to turn. But I am sure if the obligee became unemployed or disabled, they would know where to get to file to get a modification and more support.

Did anyone notice late last week the budget bill that was passed through the House? It proposes tens of billions of dollars to programs that are aimed at low-income people. Included in that bill: child support enforcement.

If this bill passes through the Senate without being retooled, those who depend on child support can only expect the system to get even worse, as funding for cs enforcement will be slashed drastically.
 

tigger22472

Senior Member
betterthanher said:
People who get unemployed, unfortunately, don't know where to turn. But I am sure if the obligee became unemployed or disabled, they would know where to get to file to get a modification and more support.


****I'm sorry but are you now blaming CP's for knowing how to get a modification? Do you know how stupid that sounds?

Did anyone notice late last week the budget bill that was passed through the House? It proposes tens of billions of dollars to programs that are aimed at low-income people. Included in that bill: child support enforcement.

****No I didn't, however, why shouldn't it be?


If this bill passes through the Senate without being retooled, those who depend on child support can only expect the system to get even worse, as funding for cs enforcement will be slashed drastically.
Well, maybe people (including myself) will make better choices in who they pick to have children with
 
safeber said:
What is the name of your state?VA

How is it that so many parents simply skip Child Suppport payments with no effective action taken against them? Especially with the staggering amounts in arrears that I see in this forum.

As I understand, an Income Deduction Order (IDO) makes it quite impossible to skip payments if the noncustodial parent receives a check of any kind from the employer. What is the delay in attaching and or seizing assets, bank accounts, etc... Isn't jail time the ultimate penalty?

I must be naive. Give me the Cliff Notes explanation.

Thanks
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Here are a couple more scenarios:

1) 40yr divorced mom gets CS for 6yr old daughter from out of state ex. Mom finds successful single guy, gets pregnant, marries guy, has kid #2. Makes secret deal with dad of 6yr old to let him stop CS (that Dad #2 thinks she saves for college)payments until 6yr old is college age and he will pay 100% college. Result: Dad # 2 pays for wife/his kid/other kid...Ex # 1 secretly skips 11 yrs of support, then mom gets divorced, Ex 1 sends mom 10K to buy condo.

2) I personally know three different divorced moms that let dad stop CS without any effort to collect. I even prepared all court papers to file. They blew it off! Reason? Too much trouble**************more common is mom finds new live in boyfriend, does not want ex trouble, so she lets him skip(boyfriend supports now)
 

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