Family reunification and CS

[sam1945]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA
Hello.
Facts:
1. My wife took my child and left while she is pregnant.
2. She filed for CS with CSE and welfare (TANF, food stamps, medical insurance etc).
3. She gave birth and used the state insurance for it.
4. After about 8 months the court ordered me to pay CS that I pay religiously, no arrears at all. There is nothing about reimbursing the medical expenses of the state.
5. Now she wants to comeback to me with the kids, and we agreed to move to Alabama.
My question:
1. How can I stop CS after moving to Alabama and living together? What are the steps?
2. Does the CA state will still come after me for it's past expenses even if there are no arrears and the circumstances totally changed?

 

[mistoffolees]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA
Hello.
Facts:
1. My wife took my child and left while she is pregnant.

(I'm assuming that you had one child already born and another one on the way. If you meant that she was pregnant with your only child, the answers below would change - the child doesn't exist in the eyes of the law until it is born).

What did you do when your wife left with your child? What were your custody orders (if any) at the time? Did you file for the child to be returned to your state? How long ago did this occur?

2. She filed for CS with CSE and welfare (TANF, food stamps, medical insurance etc).

Which she is allowed to do.

3. She gave birth and used the state insurance for it.

OK.

4. After about 8 months the court ordered me to pay CS that I pay religiously, no arrears at all. There is nothing about reimbursing the medical expenses of the state.

OK.

5. Now she wants to comeback to me with the kids, and we agreed to move to Alabama.

OK

My question:

1. How can I stop CS after moving to Alabama and living together? What are the steps?

You would file for a modification in child support based on the new circumstances. That would affect future support but would not change previous amounts.

2. Does the CA state will still come after me for it's past expenses even if there are no arrears and the circumstances totally changed?

CA will come back to you. The premise is that you should be supporting your family. If the state has to step in, they have the right (and, really, the obligation) to recover that money from the people who should have been supporting the kids.

Now, if this happened recently enough and if you had insurance, it may not be too late to get some of the medical bills paid by insurance - which would reduce what you owe the state. But other than that, you're on the hook for that amount.

 

[sam1945]

(I'm assuming that you had one child already born and another one on the way. If you meant that she was pregnant with your only child, the answers below would change - the child doesn't exist in the eyes of the law until it is born).

She left with one child and pregnant with another.

What did you do when your wife left with your child? What were your custody orders (if any) at the time? Did you file for the child to be returned to your state? How long ago did this occur?

I Did nothing in legal measures. I did not want to start a fight with a pregnant woman carrying my child. No custody order, no legal separation. It was in the same state (CA). It happen about a year ago.

You would file for a modification in child support based on the new circumstances. That would affect future support but would not change previous amounts.

I have no idea about previous amounts. There are no arrears at the court order.

CA will come back to you. The premise is that you should be supporting your family. If the state has to step in, they have the right (and, really, the obligation) to recover that money from the people who should have been supporting the kids.

So why it's not in the court order? She filed for CS 8-9 months before the court order was given. There were no arrears at all. I'm current on CS.

No medical insurance.

So how it's going to be?
I'm filing for termination of CS based on circumstances change, and the state will file an answer with a bill for me, even if it does not appear on the current court order?

 

[mistoffolees]

So why it's not in the court order? She filed for CS 8-9 months before the court order was given. There were no arrears at all. I'm current on CS.

No medical insurance.

So how it's going to be?
I'm filing for termination of CS based on circumstances change, and the state will file an answer with a bill for me, even if it does not appear on the current court order?

You're confusing child support arrears with what's owed to the state.

Your child support order will not say anything about what you owe to the state. First, you probably didn't owe it at the time of the order and second, they don't have to put it in. State law requires you to pay.

As for your action going forward, you can:

1. File for CS to be terminated going forward based on the new circumstances.
2. Your wife can request that any arrears owed to her be waived.

You can NOT do anything about the amount owed to the state. They have the right to collect it and there's nothing you can do (with the caveats I already explained regarding possible insurance coverage).

 

[sam1945]

You're confusing child support arrears with what's owed to the state.

Your child support order will not say anything about what you owe to the state. First, you probably didn't owe it at the time of the order and second, they don't have to put it in. State law requires you to pay.

As for your action going forward, you can:

1. File for CS to be terminated going forward based on the new circumstances.
2. Your wife can request that any arrears owed to her be waived.

You can NOT do anything about the amount owed to the state. They have the right to collect it and there's nothing you can do (with the caveats I already explained regarding possible insurance coverage).

Sure they have the right to collect it.
They will send me another "Summons and complaint"?
When usually do the send it?
Are they looking on my ability to pay this amount?
How can I know how much do I need to pay?

 

[mistoffolees]

Sure they have the right to collect it.
They will send me another "Summons and complaint"?
When usually do the send it?
Are they looking on my ability to pay this amount?
How can I know how much do I need to pay?

They'll tell you how much you need to pay and they'll tell you when to pay it. I don't want to try to guess when their workload will let them get around to it.

 

[CourtClerk]

The order in effect is the order in effect. That's all you owe. They won't come back after you for more. The time for them to ask for the money was when they filed, not after.

 

[mistoffolees]

The order in effect is the order in effect. That's all you owe. They won't come back after you for more. The time for them to ask for the money was when they filed, not after.

True, but they'll undoubtedly send lots of reminders if he doesn't pay.

 

[CourtClerk]

True, but they'll undoubtedly send lots of reminders if he doesn't pay.

If (as he stated in the original post) there are no arrears, there is no reminder to send...

 

[mistoffolees]

If (as he stated in the original post) there are no arrears, there is no reminder to send...

There are no arrears, but he still owes the state for medical and welfare expenses.

 

[LdiJ]

There are no arrears, but he still owes the state for medical and welfare expenses.

Not if those costs were not included in the initial child support order.

 

[mistoffolees]

Not if those costs were not included in the initial child support order.

Why not? Those costs apparently occurred AFTER the initial child support order.

 

[CourtClerk]

Why not? Those costs apparently occurred AFTER the initial child support order.

Because that's not how it works here...

 

[sam1945]

Why not? Those costs apparently occurred AFTER the initial child support order.

The big costs (the labor) were 4 months before the court order. And for clarifying, I was sued by the state and all the stipulation process was between me and the state.
I'm just hoping now that those costs will not jump at some moment in the future, causing me going to prison or something, because I have no **** way to afford 10-20k.