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Child support question

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SRREED

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Virginia

I went to court for a Pendente Lite Hearing. I went without a lawyer because my spouse has not been providing support and I have not worked in 14 years and am not currently working so I did not have the funds to hire a lawyer. We have 2 children.

Everything went okay until I got the Order from my spouse’s lawyer. His lawyer had changed what the Judge ordered in the proceeding. I made my changes and sent the Order back to his lawyer. His lawyer refused to make any changes and said that they would file the Order without my signature. I called the clerk of court to see about getting a transcript to help clarify some of the issues. They gave me the judge’s number and told me to call the judges secretary to find out who the court reporter was so that I could get a transcript. The secretary said to call my husbands lawyer to get the name. When I did I was told that there was no transcript that we had to go by his notes to do the Order.

This makes no sense to me. Is there no record at all of the court proceedings? Should I file my own Order with the court for the Judge to sign? Then let the Judge figure it out again? Seems like this would make the Judge a little bit angry. My spouse has already "misstated" to the Court regarding his Income by about $25,000 and his lawyer is aware of this, so I don't feel that I should rely on them to accurately do the Court Order. They did not provide copies of his pay stub as they are required to do. If they had done this than the Judge would have Ordered Support based on the correct amount. What if I don't sign it and they send it in and the Judge just signs it?

This makes no sense to me that this is the way things are done. I have tried to find out what remedy I should follow but have yet been unable to find an answer.



Thank you for any help.
 
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dawn33

Guest
hope this will help

i was in the same kind of boat about a year ago...if you are seeking child support, here's what you need to do. (if there's already a support order in place) first, go to your county's courthouse and go to the states attorney's office. tell them that you are wanting to file a pro se motion to increase child support. this way it is on file that you are seeking child support and it has the date on it. this way when you go to court the next time, the judge will order him to provide the appropriate information, i.e. pay stubs, tax statements, etc., so they can get the correct amount or when you do have to hire a lawyer, you may have retroactive child support (back pay) owed to you from the date of the pro se motion.

i did have to hire a lawyer. some lawyer's are willing to work for you as long as you are willing to make payments.

the states attorney is available to help you get your child support (and it's free). but if you use the states attorney to get your child support, it may take longer to get it.

if you do not have a support order in place yet. first, go to the states attorney's office and ask how you'd go about getting a case started. if you decide to hire a lawyer, find one that'll take payments and will work hard on getting it for you. good luck to you.
 

SRREED

Junior Member
Thank you for you help

This makes sense to me. I will do that and maybe he can tell what to do about the "misstatement of fact" regarding his income. He committed perjury but I know I don't want to take that approach. My spouse and I are very civil to each other and I would like it to stay that way for our children’s sake. I just need to get the support that I should get. With having also have MS and not having worked in 14 years does not make me very marketable for a job. I think his lawyer is trying to pull a fast one on me due to not have a lawyer but I will fight his lawyer all the way. His lawyer makes me feel like it is he that I am divorcing not my spouse. Even though it is my spouse that is having an affair. It gives me someone else to be angry at least.

So I should file my own Order stating what I understood the Judge to say also? I wasn’t sure if you could do this or not. I know I filed my own Answer to Bill of Complaint and Cross Bill of Complaint and even my spouse’s lawyer commented that I did a pretty good job. Maybe I should become a pro bono lawyer and help other woman………

I did file a Petition for support with the Juv Court at the first of April but they changed the date and it was postponed for two more months. Which is how we ended up in Civil Court as my own lawyer with only 3 days notice. I got what I asked for Spousal support of 28%, child support, and sole custody, the house. Now I just have to find a way to get it correctly into a court Order. His lawyer is saying that support doesn't begin on petition date but on July 1st even though we went to court on June 17????Which was why I was wondering if the Judge did not at least make some sort of Written Findings??? I guess if I keeping working at it everything will work out in the end result.

Thank you for you help!
 
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dawn33

Guest
hello again...

i think that since you filed a support order in april, that is when the support is supposed to start. his lawyer might have been talking about current support was supposed to start on the date of the later order. they weren't going to tell you that you were still owed retroactive support from the april filing. that lawyer is only looking out for him, not you. there is at least a month or two still owed to you. look and see if there isn't a lawyer in your area that is interested in getting that back pay to you for a percentage. you may find one that is willing. good luck again...dawn
 

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