Very delinquent support

[Sherri81]

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

I have an original order from TN. My ex husband lived there for awhile (he was military then) and I eventually moved to NC. I went to the child support office here to ask that the order be enforced back in 2008. Since then he lived in California for awhile. He lives in Ohio now.

He has not made any payment in 6 months, and has not made a full payment since 2012. He is currently right at $50,000 past due. He has quit paying several times for months at a time. The issue I am having is getting either state to enforce the order. He has never even been to court at this point for being so behind. In the North Carolina website it shows he has past due balance of $50,087 but arrears of $0. I have called multiple times to my worker here in NC and am told they will request OH to enforce but still nothing. When he does work they will garnish at times but he's content to sit home and be supported by his girlfriend. In his words "there is no point working if they will take half my check" He is supposed to be paying $903 a month for 4 children. On another note, I got a phone call a few days after my oldest turned 18 asking me to submit proof he was still in school. My ex has never submitted any paperwork when it was time for reviews so this is the original amount, which honestly probably does need modified as it was ordered while I was making minimum wage and I make around $100,000 a year now.

What can I do here? Is there some trick to get OH to enforce? I tried calling the office there and they won't even talk to me they say I gave to call NC.

 

[Zigner]

If you are presently making $100k a year, then you can afford to consult with a local attorney about the way to straighten this out. If you can get him to pay, it will be well worth it. Of course, sometimes a deadbeat is a deadbeat. My ex owes me over three times what yours owes you, but I know I'll never see a dime. It's not worth it for me to hire an attorney to push the matter.

 

[Sherri81]

Right I understand that is an option but I don't know if it would be worth the money to try it. At this point I'm just confused. They know his address he's been served with the order in three different states now. It just seems so uneven the way they choose who to go after? Is it not strange that he's never even been to court to at least explain why he isn't paying? No seek work order, nothing. My husband currently was paying child support when we got married. (Kids are grown now and it's all paid up) but he was out of work at one point for several months due to a surgery and he was in court after missing just a few payments? Would this case not meet requirements for federal enforcement at this point because of the amount owed along with moving from state to state? Why am I getting charged a fee every time I do get a small payment (by both states now) if they aren't going to really do anything at all?

The answer I got from my case worker was that since I'm not getting state assistance my case is "less important" and that seems pretty unfair...

 

[Just Blue]

Right I understand that is an option but I don't know if it would be worth the money to try it. At this point I'm just confused. They know his address he's been served with the order in three different states now. It just seems so uneven the way they choose who to go after? Is it not strange that he's never even been to court to at least explain why he isn't paying? No seek work order, nothing. My husband currently was paying child support when we got married. (Kids are grown now and it's all paid up) but he was out of work at one point for several months due to a surgery and he was in court after missing just a few payments? Would this case not meet requirements for federal enforcement at this point because of the amount owed along with moving from state to state? Why am I getting charged a fee every time I do get a small payment (by both states now) if they aren't going to really do anything at all?

The answer I got from my case worker was that since I'm not getting state assistance my case is "less important" and that seems pretty unfair...

Not a bit unfair. You make 6 figure income there are other parents that have a pressing need to feed the kids.

 

[Sherri81]

Yes. I was a housewife when we divorced. I worked my way through school and there were plenty of years during that time I made less than 20,000 a year and still got no help enforcing. Currently I work 5 12 hour shifts a week to generate that type of income. My oldest son is autistic and goes to an expensive private school. It's worth it to see him getting the help but I don't see why I shouldn't be able to get help enforcing the order from a state funded agency because I'm willing to work hard? I didn't realize there was a need to be in poverty to use those services?

I'd love to work fewer hours and maybe I could if he was helping out like he should.

 

[Sherri81]

I also understand that they can't force him to pay but I think at least an attempt should be made. He hasn't even had his license suspended. He's never been ordered to pay anything towards arrears. I'm not asking for special treatment just that they at least try to enforce the order. I'm just not understanding why nothing has been done at all? Ive called once a month and get the same answer, we will send a request to Ohio to enforce.

 

[Just Blue]

Yes. I was a housewife when we divorced. I worked my way through school and there were plenty of years during that time I made less than 20,000 a year and still got no help enforcing. Currently I work 5 12 hour shifts a week to generate that type of income. My oldest son is autistic and goes to an expensive private school. It's worth it to see him getting the help but I don't see why I shouldn't be able to get help enforcing the order from a state funded agency because I'm willing to work hard? I didn't realize there was a need to be in poverty to use those services?

I'd love to work fewer hours and maybe I could if he was helping out like he should.

Kudos for what you did for your child/ren. But still realize that CSE is placing the stress on wo/men that have a hard time housing/feeding their children.

 

[HRZ]

SOme folks are pretty crafty at avoiding paying and it's not common that a mere deadbeat gets time in jail to reconsider things...and even self created impossibility to pay is hard to prove. You just need to keep at it ...and that means you...not rely upon entirely some state employee who may have other priorities .

NOt that it's likely to be fruitful...but take a careful look at the laws of state where this matter arose...if one of the children is unlikely to be self,supporting at 18'or whatever ... some states have a provision to continue CS until child can make it on his or her own...but some have a rub...you need to get order amended before CS ordinarily terminates...at least check it out .

 

[LDPete]

My girlfriend was in your situation, here’s how I fixed it for her:
Do not deal with your Case worker on this. Do some research- who is the Governor of your state or states you are dealing with? Who are the very top people at social services or outfit handles child support in your states. Email the top people and have your Case #, amount owed, dates, your phone # and any other good info ready. Tell them you we’re initially going to send the email to Governor (enter name here) but decided to give them one more shot before doing so. Also tell them the last time you called the person on the phone said you should get a lawyer, say if I need a lawyer to do their job then why the hell do they even have a job. Detail the email with info you’ve given them, where he works, lives etc. say it’s really getting old and if something isn’t done you’re contacting Governor (name) with your next email.
I did this for my girlfriend and the next day she got 4-5 calls from them, some just calling to make sure that she was called by the people earlier .
She has been receiving over $500 a month ever since and that was 6 years ago and he has moved several times. They’ve kept on him. One last thing, the child support NEVER goes away, if your kids are 50 years old he still owes until he’s paid up. I pay child support and people that don’t piss me off.

Go get em,
Not a Deadbeat Dad