SSI and Child Support

[Jimk457]

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

If a non-custodial parent has never worked and gets only SSI, are they required to pay child support? This parent never takes the child and rarely visits with the child.

 

[TheGeekess]

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

If a non-custodial parent has never worked and gets only SSI, are they required to pay child support? This parent never takes the child and rarely visits with the child.

How folks expect anyone on SSI to make ends meet, much less support a child, is beyond me.

The answer to your question is no.

 

[Jimk457]

How folks expect anyone on SSI to make ends meet, much less support a child, is beyond me.

The answer to your question is no.

It's sad because the child cannot be taken care of.

 

[Proserpina]

It's sad because the child cannot be taken care of.

Technically they can order SSI recipients to pay child support; the difficulty is that they cannot enforce it if the parent doesn't want to pay.

 

[LdiJ]

Technically they can order SSI recipients to pay child support; the difficulty is that they cannot enforce it if the parent doesn't want to pay.

Or simply cannot pay, even if they would otherwise want to.

 

[Proserpina]

Or simply cannot pay, even if they would otherwise want to.

That, too.

 

[t74]

It's sad because the child cannot be taken care of.

This is something you should have considered before creating a child with the person.

It is possible in some states that the CP would have to pay support to the NCP to assist with the child's visitation expenses.

 

[stealth2]

It's sad because the child cannot be taken care of.

What's sad is that the custodial parent either cannot or will not help the NCP during his/her parenting time. Or can the CP not take care of the child, either?

 

[Proserpina]

OP's other thread:

https://forum.freeadvice.com/child-custody-visitation-37/relocation-616514.html#post3350537

You don't get to whine about Mom not supporting her child when YOU haven't even bothered to FILE for child support yet.

 

[Proserpina]

Oh. Well, I suppose we now know why ...

"Let me relocate otherwise I'm going to file for child support" . Bargaining power.


Call me jaded, but when I hear hooves I tend to think of horses and not zebras.

 

[stealth2]

Oh. Well, I suppose we now know why ...

"Let me relocate otherwise I'm going to file for child support" . Bargaining power.


Call me jaded, but when I hear hooves I tend to think of horses and not zebras.

I tend to think of jack-donkeys. (deferring to site sensibilities....)

 

[LdiJ]

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

If a non-custodial parent has never worked and gets only SSI, are they required to pay child support? This parent never takes the child and rarely visits with the child.

SSI (supplemental security income) is a benefit for people who are disabled who have not amassed enough social security credits to qualify for Social Security Disability. (SSDI)

Those benefits may not be garnished for any reason. While I have heard of some very rare instances where a judge has ordered that someone pay child support while having only SSI, the vast majority of judges will not do so, because there is literally no way to actually collect support. The amount of income received is well below the poverty level and well below what anyone can support themselves on, let alone anyone else. People on SSI can generally only survive if they live with family and even then they generally cannot pay their fair share of their own support. As far as I know state child support agencies will not even begin to attempt to collect anything if the parent has SSI, because they know its a waste of their efforts.

Even if you were to get a rare judge who would order child support, it would generally be an amount so low that it would take years just to recover the cost of obtaining the child support order, let alone coming out ahead. Your child is 15 therefore the odds of you collecting enough support to recover what you spend in getting an order would be even slimmer.

And...please do not say "but she isn't disabled". Its harder than heck to get on SSI and the odds of someone being successful in doing so if they do not have an actual disability are slim to none.

If you want to relocate with your child then its up to you to follow the procedures in your state to do so and hope that the courts will rule in your favor. Since your son is 15 and has always lived with you, then unless your son WANTS to live with mom your odds are better than the odds for most parents.

However, you are not going to be able to leverage child support against mom to get her to agree to your relocation, so just do it the proper way, through court.

 

[Proserpina]

And...please do not say "but she isn't disabled". Its harder than heck to get on SSI and the odds of someone being successful in doing so if they do not have an actual disability are slim to none.

THANK YOU.

I get so very tired reading that "everyone" and "anyone" can "fake it" to get "free money" (though it's usually only ex-partners who miraculously and magically acquire that particular talent, which is quite odd) and it's jolly nice to see someone else try to get the message across.

 

[LdiJ]

THANK YOU.

I get so very tired reading that "everyone" and "anyone" can "fake it" to get "free money" (though it's usually only ex-partners who miraculously and magically acquire that particular talent, which is quite odd) and it's jolly nice to see someone else try to get the message across.

Eh, there is always that one in 10 thousands who manages to pull it off, SOMEHOW, but that one in 10 thousands is almost always SSDI, not SSI.

Adults on SSI are almost always people who either experienced a profound disability event in young adulthood or who were identified as permanently disabled as children.

 

[Proserpina]

Eh, there is always that one in 10 thousands who manages to pull it off, SOMEHOW, but that one in 10 thousands is almost always SSDI, not SSI.

Adults on SSI are almost always people who either experienced a profound disability event in young adulthood or who were identified as permanently disabled as children.

https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/ssi_sc/2014/table01.html