Finally I'm getting child support and I have a few questions

[thankyou]

I finally got my order for child support today after waiting for my hearing
for almost a year! Not as much as I expected but better than nothing!
Now I'm wondering why they only make him pay $50 a month towards
the $4500 dollars of arrears he owes. It will take about 7 years for him
to pay it off at that rate. Is this fairly typical?

I paid for half of the DNA test and my atty said it would cost more
in attorney fees than I paid for my half of the test to get him to pay me.
She said most people just let that go. That doesn't seem fair to me but
what do I know. How could I go about trying to get the judge to order him
to pay my for the test without going through my expensive attorney who
has already charged me nearly 3,000 just to get an order for paternity and
child support?

 

[nicetryadmin]

I finally got my order for child support today after waiting for my hearing
for almost a year! Not as much as I expected but better than nothing!
Now I'm wondering why they only make him pay $50 a month towards
the $4500 dollars of arrears he owes. It will take about 7 years for him
to pay it off at that rate. Is this fairly typical?

Yes because law allows a certain percentage (usually 10-20%) of the arrearage to be factored into current support. Keep in mind that interest is tacked onto any arrearage.

I paid for half of the DNA test and my atty said it would cost more
in attorney fees than I paid for my half of the test to get him to pay me.
She said most people just let that go. That doesn't seem fair to me but
what do I know. How could I go about trying to get the judge to order him
to pay my for the test without going through my expensive attorney who
has already charged me nearly 3,000 just to get an order for paternity and
child support?

Your chance to do this was during the establishment of support. I am surprised your lawyer didn't suggest this. Unless you had an alternative no or lower-cost way of legally going about it (i.e. CSEA).

 

[ptrc]

I don't know what state you are in, but in IN my ex owed approximately 3500 in back support and they only allowed 25.00 extra a paycheck to pay arrears. Doing the math, about 3 years. He had no other expenses either. No rent, car payment, utilities, nothing. Only 100.00 a week and I had to pay those things for my son. He also made 3.00 more on the hour than I did. Doesn't seem fair, but the laws and guidelines have been written. l

 

[saintkbsmom67]

I finally got my order for child support today after waiting for my hearing
for almost a year! Not as much as I expected but better than nothing!
Now I'm wondering why they only make him pay $50 a month towards
the $4500 dollars of arrears he owes. It will take about 7 years for him
to pay it off at that rate. Is this fairly typical?

I paid for half of the DNA test and my atty said it would cost more
in attorney fees than I paid for my half of the test to get him to pay me.
She said most people just let that go. That doesn't seem fair to me but
what do I know. How could I go about trying to get the judge to order him
to pay my for the test without going through my expensive attorney who
has already charged me nearly 3,000 just to get an order for paternity and
child support?

If your ex is working, they could intercept his return to pay off some or total arrears so really it wouldn't take 7 years to pay it off. But again if your ex is working (and files taxes).

 

[bononos]

If your ex is working, they could intercept his return to pay off some or total arrears so really it wouldn't take 7 years to pay it off. But again if your ex is working (and files taxes).

Untrue.
As far as I can tell, these are retroactive arrears, the refund intercept does not come into play.
Should he not pay his support for typically 3 months, then the arrears are basically in default and the full amount is due therefore can have a refund intercept.

 

[thankyou]

I asked my lawyer about bringing up the DNA test costs during the
conference and she said it was ONLY a conference for establishment
of arrears and child support. She said we'd have to do that seperately
and it would cost me more in her fees than it would to get the $300 I paid
for the dna test.

 

[saintkbsmom67]

If your ex is working, they could intercept his return to pay off some or total arrears so really it wouldn't take 7 years to pay it off. But again if your ex is working (and files taxes).

Wouldn't the fact that he hadn't been paying already the temp order put in place, plus the retro make it an offset?