how do I get parent to obey child support order

[maryanns]

What is the name of your state? CA
I live in Ca and child support order is in Arizona. I did not receive the monthly child support last month and am wondering when and how to file contempt. Someone told me to wait until he is a few thousand dollars behind yet someone else told me to go ahead and file papers. Should I now or wait?
When I file do I file the papers myself? I know Arizona family court has all the papers to do so on their self service center online. Or do I go through child support enforcement?
Help!

 

[Ohiogal]

What is the name of your state? CA
I live in Ca and child support order is in Arizona. I did not receive the monthly child support last month and am wondering when and how to file contempt. Someone told me to wait until he is a few thousand dollars behind yet someone else told me to go ahead and file papers. Should I now or wait?
When I file do I file the papers myself? I know Arizona family court has all the papers to do so on their self service center online. Or do I go through child support enforcement?
Help!

Oh good grief. Is this the ONLY month he is behind? If so, are you sure he did not pay Arizona and Arizona is not behind in shipping you the money. That happens. Has he paid ahead the rest of the year and therefore has a buffer? Why don't you contact him and find out if the check got lost? Contempt only works if he is willfully not paying -- as in he has not attempted to pay. If he can show he has paid then you are not going to get anywhere on contempt. Why don't you contact him and give him a chance to remedy the situation.

 

[maryanns]

Well, I called the folks in Arizona and they have not received a check from him.
I have contacted him and he has not responded back to me. The order for child support has only been in effect since February and he had paid every month until now. How many months of nonpayment does it take before I should file papers to get him to obey the order? My daughter needs the money.

 

[Ohiogal]

Well, I called the folks in Arizona and they have not received a check from him.
I have contacted him and he has not responded back to me. The order for child support has only been in effect since February and he had paid every month until now. How many months of nonpayment does it take before I should file papers to get him to obey the order? My daughter needs the money.

Even if you filed it would take at least a month or so to get the payment. AT LEAST. Plus it would cost you money to file contempt. Do you work? Technically you can file contempt on him at this point. Nothing stopping you. Is it worthwhile? I dont know> A contempt filing can cost $250 or more. How much is one month's worth of child support?

 

[maryanns]

On the maricopa county superior court website it said I could file all the papers for $61 and I think through child support enforcement I wouldn't have to pay anything. I'm just not sure of the best route to take.
The order is for $275 a month plus $75 towards arrears which is around $3500.

 

[fairisfair]

does he pay direct (it seems so) or is there a wage garnishment?

http://www.de.state.az.us/dcse/remedies.asp

here is a link to the des (CSE) AZ website, if you will click on parent/caretakers there is a subsection "enforcement remedies" that will outline the remedies and time/amount parameters for you. Additional information can be found in the section "Judicial action"

 

[fairisfair]

http://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/sscDocs/packets/drese1.pdf

You are correct, the initial filing fee for the motion to enforce is $61. However, you will also have to pay to have him served and pay to file any additional documents. Since you are out of state, it will be difficult for you to get to and from the court, you may also want to take that fact into consideration in deciding whether to do this yourself, or to allow CSE to assist you. Of course, doing it yourself may be more time effective in the long run. Those are questions you have to decide yourself.

 

[maryanns]

yes, he sends the payment in himself.
I can serve him by registered mail, correct? That shouldn't cost too much.
Why would it be better for me to handle this myself instead of child support enforcement?

 

[fairisfair]

yes, he sends the payment in himself.
I can serve him by registered mail, correct? That shouldn't cost too much.
Why would it be better for me to handle this myself instead of child support enforcement?

Arizona does now allow service by registered mail for most processes. Check to be sure that this is one of them. The advantage to doing it yourself would only be timeliness. Obviously, you are not the only case that CSE has, they are going to do things in their time frame, not yours. However, they have alot more experience in this than you do, and the OAG attorney has interests similar to your own, keeping dad current. Are you talking about not receiving September's payment?? If so, then he was not technically late with that payment until Sept. 30th. Have you checked with CSE to be sure that the payment was not received and isn't sitting in a suspension account for some reason?? It could be anything, an incorrect amount, a wrong date, anything will make it go there and they take forever to review them, unless they are called by either the NCP or the CP. I would suggest that you call again, and ask them to check in suspense for any payment he may have had that there is an issue with. I would also suggest perhaps writing him a letter and sending it certified to ask about the payment.

 

[maryanns]

Yes, I am talking about September's payment. I called the Maricopa family court yesturday and aske d if they had received the payment and they said they had not.
I will call them again now and see if it is being held for some reason.
I thought I had read that I could serve him by registered mail but I'll double check.
That's a great idea about sending him a certified letter to ask if he has sent the child support money. Thanks.

 

[fairisfair]

Yes, I am talking about September's payment. I called the Maricopa family court yesturday and aske d if they had received the payment and they said they had not.
I will call them again now and see if it is being held for some reason.
I thought I had read that I could serve him by registered mail but I'll double check.
That's a great idea about sending him a certified letter to ask if he has sent the child support money. Thanks.

I am fairly sure that you can serve this by mail, I believe that paternity is the only family court issue that still requires in person service. But check. You would be amazed at how quickly CSE can find a lost check when you bug them about it. I had them hold one for over 3 weeks, because NCP dated it the last day of the month before it was due.
In the letter, be sure to be professional and unaccusing, (remember you are sending him evidence of your interaction practices with him).

 

[fairisfair]

Oh, wait, you said family court, that means that you did not go through the OAG to start with??? So, the clerk of the court does your account service, not CSE correct??

 

[maryanns]

That's right, I didn't go through OAG and the clerk of court does my account service.

 

[fairisfair]

That's right, I didn't go through OAG and the clerk of court does my account service.

I am not familiar with their service record, they may well be much better than CSE. Hopefully, they are. I would start out by dashing off a letter to the ex and asking him (nicely) where's the money?? you should be able to check your ability to use CSE services on the DES/CSE website.

 

[GrowUp!]

Geezus H. Christ woman! You're going nuts over ONE month?? You're going to bother the court system over THAT?! And it's only October 6th when you posted this question. You really should be waiting until there is a couple of months of non-payment.

Plus, we don't know the exact order of your language, but if he has to send it in himself, he has until the end of the month. There are several scenarios that could factor in here, since this stuff doesn't happen too quickly.

Here's what could happen: you'll file contempt, he'll send in the payment and be current once he gets served your complaint, you'll go to court, he'll tell the Judge he paid it (and why it was late) and the court will dismiss it and very well could make YOU pay the court costs, fees, etc. The courts strongly dislike having their time taken up over something like this. Follow the other's advice and how to communicate with him.

Child support should not be depended on to make ends' meet.