Penalized for Processing time

[coolnate]

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

The child support order is legally eff 2/1/2015 but the court date was not until 5/5/2015.

now that the amount has been decided they want me to pay back child support for the months of Feb, March, April while they were processing the case. Now i am swamped with back child support and they are garnishing my wages because of it.

I am just upset because the original support amount was calculated based on my income, but now that my income is being garnished shouldn't that change the support amount as well based on my new income being reduced?


any advice? should I appeal?

 

[ajkroy]

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

The child support order is legally eff 2/1/2015 but the court date was not until 5/5/2015.

now that the amount has been decided they want me to pay back child support for the months of Feb, March, April while they were processing the case. Now i am swamped with back child support and they are garnishing my wages because of it.

I am just upset because the original support amount was calculated based on my income, but now that my income is being garnished shouldn't that change the support amount as well based on my new income being reduced?


any advice? should I appeal?

Were you supporting your child during the months of Feb, March, and April? Do you have receipts from the other parent proving it?

Is your income is being garnished for only this one support order? Or multiple orders? If only one, I don't understand why you think your support amount should be reduced. Do you think it was miscalculated in some way?

 

[LdiJ]

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

The child support order is legally eff 2/1/2015 but the court date was not until 5/5/2015.

now that the amount has been decided they want me to pay back child support for the months of Feb, March, April while they were processing the case. Now i am swamped with back child support and they are garnishing my wages because of it.

I am just upset because the original support amount was calculated based on my income, but now that my income is being garnished shouldn't that change the support amount as well based on my new income being reduced?


any advice? should I appeal?

Re the bolded...are you SERIOUS? Are you honestly saying that your child support should be recalculated because you are taking home less after child support is deducted? Your income has not been reduced. Your income is the same as it has always been. Its simply now that your child support is being garnished.

If you are saying that your income before child support has been reduced, through no fault of your own, that might be a different story.

 

[coolnate]

i am still paying the monthly amount in full based on courts decision.

they are taking an additional garnish from wages because of the back support, and because of that i am fighting to stay afloat so i dont end up homeless or eating top ramen for the rest of my life

 

[Proserpina]

i am still paying the monthly amount in full based on courts decision.

they are taking an additional garnish from wages because of the back support, and because of that i am fighting to stay afloat so i dont end up homeless or eating top ramen for the rest of my life

Child support typically goes back to the date of filing - NOT the date it was ordered.

And yeah - are you seriously asking if you can modify because you're... paying child support?

Please.

 

[Proserpina]

And let me put this another way:

Did your child have to eat any less during those months? Stopped growing? No longer had need for basic care?

 

[coolnate]

awesome, good to know this forum is full of senior trolls.

im not trying to get out of child support. i care for my son and i pay the support. you dont even know the whole story *******s

 

[Just Blue]

awesome, good to know this forum is full of senior trolls.

im not trying to get out of child support. i care for my son and i pay the support. you dont even know the whole story *******s

Charming.

 

[Silverplum]

awesome, good to know this forum is full of senior trolls.

im not trying to get out of child support. i care for my son and i pay the support. you dont even know the whole story *******s

Every legal answer you received was true.

Every moral or intelligence discussion in your thread was valid.

 

[CdwJava]

awesome, good to know this forum is full of senior trolls.

im not trying to get out of child support. i care for my son and i pay the support. you dont even know the whole story *******s

We don't need to know the rest of the story. You were required to pay support during those three months and did not. The fact that you are now being compelled to pay the additional amount does not effect your calculation.

You can always consult an attorney to see if there are other options available to you, or, try and go back into court to plead poverty and make some other arrangement, but, it will likely do you little good.

There are many people in your same shoes that feel that their child support is putting them on the brink of disaster ... let me tell you as one who does not have to pay child support as I am still with the mother of all my children - they are far more expensive under the same roof! Food, clothing, phones, entertainment, sports, water, power, toys, gadgets, etc. can be very, very expensive and not limited to some predictable, finite monthly amount each month. If you are nearly on the brink paying support, you'd have likely gone over the edge with your child(ren) still at home with you and their mother.

 

[single317dad]

You are always, at all times, in every state that I'm aware of, required to support your children, by law.

That there is now a court order which determines a specific amount of money you are to pay the custodial parent -- said amount which represents your personal contribution toward supporting your child(ren) -- does not in any way diminish the legal responsibility you had since the day they were born to support them.

That you paid nothing during the months the ordered amount had not yet been determined was your mistake, and has come back to take the proverbial bite out of your proverbial backside.

 

[stealth2]

awesome, good to know this forum is full of senior trolls.

im not trying to get out of child support. i care for my son and i pay the support. you dont even know the whole story *******s

This is hardly the way to endear yourself to those who YOU asked to help you *for free*, now is it? However, you were given the correct information - support typically goes back to the filing date. Which, yes, means you are in arrears from the get-go. And it is typical for the court to address how those arrears will be paid (most often via garnishment). Had you done some research prior to the hearing and/or asked for advice sooner, you would have been aware of that fact and (perhaps) planned accordingly. That you apparently did none of the above, means you have to tighten your belt for a bit and/or find a way to pay off your arrears more quickly.

At the end of the day, a lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on ours or the court's. Sorry - that's just the reality of your situation.