dolphinlove21
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? IOWA
I left my husband in January 2010, we filed for divorce in April 2010. He had legal aid through his work, so we were essentially getting a "free" divorce. He was going to the lawyer to have all the paperwork filed, etc, and once the papers were done on his side, I was going to take them to my attorney for a consulation, and just have to pay the consultation fee.
Well, time passed, deadlines lapsed- due to his lack of getting his stuff turned in. He quit his job, so lost the legal aid, and a few months later, that attorney withdrew as his attorney due to lack of communication.
He gets a new attorney in November (ish) and she advises that we stay married through the end of the year, because it would benefit us, tax-wise. So we wait.
He went at the beginning of the year and read the papers, had her change a few things. We are still waiting on them to be sent out.
All this time, he has not been paying child support. He has taken care of our son's school meals, school registration, new glasses, etc.
My question is- can I get retro child support back to the original filing date of April? I'm ready to contact my own attorney to get things rolling, because this is getting ridiculous to me. We aren't fighting about anything, it's because he's too lazy to do anything, and personally, I cannot afford to go to an attorney for the whole case.
I know that I would have to ask for retro, but how far back can I ask for it?
I left my husband in January 2010, we filed for divorce in April 2010. He had legal aid through his work, so we were essentially getting a "free" divorce. He was going to the lawyer to have all the paperwork filed, etc, and once the papers were done on his side, I was going to take them to my attorney for a consulation, and just have to pay the consultation fee.
Well, time passed, deadlines lapsed- due to his lack of getting his stuff turned in. He quit his job, so lost the legal aid, and a few months later, that attorney withdrew as his attorney due to lack of communication.
He gets a new attorney in November (ish) and she advises that we stay married through the end of the year, because it would benefit us, tax-wise. So we wait.
He went at the beginning of the year and read the papers, had her change a few things. We are still waiting on them to be sent out.
All this time, he has not been paying child support. He has taken care of our son's school meals, school registration, new glasses, etc.
My question is- can I get retro child support back to the original filing date of April? I'm ready to contact my own attorney to get things rolling, because this is getting ridiculous to me. We aren't fighting about anything, it's because he's too lazy to do anything, and personally, I cannot afford to go to an attorney for the whole case.
I know that I would have to ask for retro, but how far back can I ask for it?