Time/Age Limit on Applying for Assistance from Child Support Enforcement Agency

[IL6088]

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

I am currently owed $33,000 (plus interest) in back child support which has been accruing since 2001 when my son was 13. I previously used the court system for all child support matters and have judgments for the full amount I am owed. Since I can no longer afford an attorney, am I still eligible to receive assistance through my states Child Support Enforcement Agency even though my son is now 20? While I realize that the child support obligation ended when he turned 18, is there a time limit in which I can apply to my state agency for help in collecting past due amounts?

Please advise. Thank you!What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[seniorjudge]

GENERALLY there is no time limit on collecting child support.

If the state bureaucrats will not help you, then find a collection agency...there are tons of them doing this stuff.

 

[IL6088]

Agency Denied Services/Collection Agencies Recommendations

Thanks for your reply! I submitted an application to my state agency and they said they could not open a case because my son is 20. The amount has been accruing since he was 13 and I'm just looking for enforcement help. I'm very confused.

Thanks for the suggestion regarding collection agencies. Does anyone know of any good ones to recommend?

 

[Isis1]

Thanks for your reply! I submitted an application to my state agency and they said they could not open a case because my son is 20. The amount has been accruing since he was 13 and I'm just looking for enforcement help. I'm very confused.

Thanks for the suggestion regarding collection agencies. Does anyone know of any good ones to recommend?

i'm really REALLY hesitant about collection agencies. the reason is once you hand them over to the agencies, the payor can then file bankruptcy thus deleting everything he owes.

so do your homework and a background check on any companies you come across. I've seen bad reports on SupportKids.

because your son has aged out, it might be better to do the research for yourself or finding an attorney who will take a payment plan.

 

[CourtClerk]

FYI.... most State Child Support Enforcement offices will not open a case for arrearages only. This is why it is important to open the case BEFORE the child turns 18.

 

[ariastar]

I'm not the OP, so apologize for asking a question in her thread. But is this a way for someone to basically weasel out of paying? Just wait until the kid ages out of the system?

 

[justalayman]

that does not remove the liability for support arrearages. It just means that most states will not help collect it and the payee is responsible for collecting using whatever means they chose.

 

[IL6088]

I'm not the OP, so apologize for asking a question in her thread. But is this a way for someone to basically weasel out of paying? Just wait until the kid ages out of the system?

I hate to say it, but you're not that far off base. I never took advantage of my state child support agency because I was always able to afford an attorney (unfortunately she was of little help) . Now that I am not working and cannot make use of the agency's enforcement tools (because my son is over 18) I really have no idea where to turn for help in collecting these arrearages. Besides collection agencies are there any other suggestions?

 

[CourtClerk]

I hate to say it, but you're not that far off base.

Actually she's completely off base and incorrect. The debt is still owed, it is still there, and it doesn't absolve him of the debt because the "child" in question is now an adult. You slept on it, that doesn't make it anyone else's fault but your own because:

I never took advantage of my state child support agency

because I was always able to afford an attorney (unfortunately she was of little help) .

And when you realized she was of little help, probably when the "child" was under the age of 18, you should have high tailed it over to CSE, but you didn't.

Besides collection agencies are there any other suggestions?

Start reading and learn how to collect civil judgments on your own if you want the money.

 

[IL6088]

Why the hostility?

I was able to afford an attorney so I had previously been using the court system to pursue my child support. I am very aware that the debt is not "absolved" and currently have 3 judgments for the total amount I am owed. That is hardly "sleeping on it". The attorney I was using did not have the enforcement methods available to her that the child support agency does so that is why I was unable to collect.

You are right I never did "high tail" it over to CSE because that is what I was paying my attorney for. It is only when I stopped working and could no longer afford an attorney that I looked to them for help. My only question was whether a child support agency would accept a client who has an arrearages only case when the child has now become an adult. If not, I was looking to this board for suggestions, not criticism.

 

[CourtClerk]

Why the hostility?

There's no hostility, only a straight forward answer. I suspect you wanted some sympathy with your response, and very few people will have it here for you.

I was able to afford an attorney so I had previously been using the court system to pursue my child support. I am very aware that the debt is not "absolved" and currently have 3 judgments for the total amount I am owed. That is hardly "sleeping on it".

Having a judgment without doing everything you can to collect it, then coming back later to complain about it is sleeping on it, IMO. Maybe someone else has another opinion. You seem to like Ariastar's answers... she'll have one that will go down better with you than mine will I suppose. However, I can guarantee you that based on her responses to various threads, between her and I only one of us has direct contact with the legal field.

The attorney I was using did not have the enforcement methods available to her that the child support agency does so that is why I was unable to collect.

At that point, you should have availed yourself to the services of CSE. You could have used them simultaneously.

My only question was whether a child support agency would accept a client who has an arrearages only case when the child has now become an adult.

I believe I answered that earlier... no

If not, I was looking to this board for suggestions, not criticism.

And that's what you got. In case you missed it, here it is again:

Start reading and learn how to collect civil judgments on your own if you want the money.

 

[IL6088]

I wasn't looking for sympathy or criticism, just an answer to a question. You are the one who envoked the emotion and inserted the personal attacks.

I have done "everything I could to collect" from the debtor for the past 7 years but it has been difficult because he has not been employed during that time. That makes it very hard to do a wage withhold. I was not aware of the state child support agency or that I would be eligibile for assistance as I thought it was based on income. In any event and for whatever reason, I did not use them. I do not want to be criticized for what I should or could have done. Thats not the point and that wasn't my question.

 

[CourtClerk]

I wasn't looking for sympathy or criticism, just an answer to a question.

And you got it

You are the one who envoked the emotion and inserted the personal attacks.

No, you perceive it as an attack and if you get emotional over words on an internet forum, that's all your problem and no one elses. If you felt attacked, you should work on that, because no where here were you attacked. At. All.

I do not want to be criticized for what I should or could have done.

No one here is criticizing you for what you could have or should have done because no one cares about what you could have or should have done or what you may or may not do in the future. No one here is going to get a dime in commission from what you may or may not collect from your ex, therefore, it would be silly for us to care about what happens with your case.

 

[IL6088]

No one here is criticizing you for what you could have or should have done because no one cares about what you could have or should have done or what you may or may not do in the future. No one here is going to get a dime in commission from what you may or may not collect from your ex, therefore, it would be silly for us to care about what happens with your case.

Exactly. Therefore, never needed all these extraneous and condesending comments:

"You slept on it, that doesn't make it anyone else's fault but your own"
"you should have high tailed it over to CSE, but you didn't."
"Start reading and learn how to collect civil judgments on your own if you want the money." (Thanks for that advice!)
"I suspect you wanted some sympathy with your response, and very few people will have it here for you."

 

[CourtClerk]

All of those statements are facts. That you didn't like the facts (again) makes it no one else's problem but your own. You think they are extraneous and condescending. Too bad for you. Next time, go pay for advice that you want to hear and let them know in advance, how you want to hear it. If you are paying them, they just may go along with your request.

Until then, on this board, you don't get to pick how anyone responds. Again, just like in your child support case, you have options.