Non enforcement

[Tlm2018]

I am a canadian with a child support order with a biological father in new york. The order was filed a year and a half ago. He has never paid. He refuses to reply to any forms they have sent him (he is self employed) and apart from suspending his license and passport nothing further has been done. What are some next steps o can take to rectify this? I have already spent thousands to get an order i don't want to accumulate more debt but feel my son should be receiving something!

Any advice?

 

[not2cleverRed]

The only advice I can offer is patience.

 

[LdiJ]

I am a canadian with a child support order with a biological father in new york. The order was filed a year and a half ago. He has never paid. He refuses to reply to any forms they have sent him (he is self employed) and apart from suspending his license and passport nothing further has been done. What are some next steps o can take to rectify this? I have already spent thousands to get an order i don't want to accumulate more debt but feel my son should be receiving something!

Any advice?

Unfortunately some people are so opposed to paying child support that they will tank their own financial lives to avoid paying. Since they have already suspended his license and his passport he appears to be one of those people. You may never be able to actually collect from him. I would not spend any more money chasing him. Eventually New York will probably squeeze some money out of him by jailing him and requiring a purge, but do not count on ever getting anything consistently.

 

[not2cleverRed]

Would I be correct in assuming that your government's coordinating with ours, in particular, New York's Child Support Enforcement Bureau?

On the up side, if he files taxes... any refund should be intercepted and go to you.

If a large sum suddenly shows up in his bank account, the account can be frozen and the money applied towards child support.

I would not advise spending more $ on court. What you can do is nudge the child support enforcement people every now and then. And by, "now and then" I don't mean every day or every week. You are, sadly, one of many in this situation. Maybe your ex will grow up someday. It happens.

 

[HRZ]

Self employed doing what ? And are other licenses required in that line of work?

I get it that some folks work pretty hard at not paying thier obligations .

 

[Tlm2018]

Thank you everyone.

To answer some questions...the order was made here in canada, filed with the family responsibility Office who in turn filed it with support enforcement in New York. They have done a little but nothing substantial.

He likes to play the I don't make any money now so i can't pay. So went from being paid regular and routine support to dribs and drabs. I actually believed him when he said he was broke until i discovered a hidden company which prompted me to get a lawyer because i was finished dealing with the stress of it all. The only time he agreed to sit down and discuss was when they initially served him with support orders. I refused because i wasn't doing it without a lawyer and i had just spent thousands if had of tried prior we could have done it with a court together. Instead i went through a summary trial and rack up a ton of bills.

I'm sure by now the companies he owns are no longer in his name and what he can get put of his name he has done.

Its just such a pain to continually go through this.

 

[Zigner]

If he's got no official income, then he's got no official income. You may need to move forward with the realization that you won't see a penny.

(I am owed well over $150k from an ex who has never paid a dime in 20+ years)

 

[Tlm2018]

But, do assets not count? How do you own an expensive home with no income? His businesses? I would be fine with not being paid providing there was honesty involved. Hiding a business, etc besides being unethical proves there is something there.

I'm sure by now all assets are well hidden. But it would be nice to see some sort of enforcement just on sheer principle.

 

[Tlm2018]

The fact that he is provided paperwork by support enforcement and doesn't respond...i mean why would he...but at least make him accountable for proving his income. My spouse is self employed, sure it would be easy to show no income, but show it. Its ridiculous that we are honest pay a boatload of various taxes, shelled out thousands in legal fees for hin to keep sliding his slippery slope.

 

[HighwayMan]

You really can't deal with this from Canada. Have you been dealing directly with Support Enforcement?

Support Enforcement should be able to file a violation for arrears and once a judgment is entered they can go after his property and you'd also be able to ask for legal fees as part of the judgment.

 

[not2cleverRed]

You really can't deal with this from Canada. Have you been dealing directly with Support Enforcement?

Support Enforcement should be able to file a violation for arrears and once a judgment is entered they can go after his property and you'd also be able to ask for legal fees as part of the judgment.

They'll go after his license first.

 

[HighwayMan]

That's been done already according to the OP.

 

[not2cleverRed]

That's been done already according to the OP.

Thanks for the reminder.

My advice for OP continues to be patience. While my experience with New York's Child Support Enforcement Bureau is limited to my own case, they have been eventually effective at getting blood out of stone. my ex to pay child support as court ordered.

My ex was quite determined not to pay child support. He opinion was that child support is stupid. He thought it was ridiculous that my sister-in-law's ex-husband to pay the piddling amount ($10/month) of child support. After all, she'd remarried, supporting the child should be the new husband's responsibility.

So I had an inkling in the divorce that even $10/week would be too much to get him willingly to agree to. I have a few threads on the consequences...

It took a couple of years for everything to work out after I got things set up with child support enforcement. Few people can stay under the radar forever.

 

[Tlm2018]

They have taken his license, passport renewal ability and garnishment for taxes etc. That was done almost immediately based on the amount of arrears already owing. Part of my order was a portion of costs towards my legal fees but not seeing anything come in i am hesitant to do more.

I didn't think i was able to deal with enforcement in the us. All i have is the account number for what has been filed with FRO. I have contemplated using one of those companies that collects on your behalf but they take 25% and i don't know if they will be able to collect.

Up until enforcement became involved he would occasionally send funds and speak with me but now he's in hiding and won't respond to anything.

It just baffles me how they moved so quickly to take his license and have him meetwith them and then leave everything at a stand still. FrO has contacted them to request they move forward so it will be interesting to see if i get an update regarding that.

One of his companies is a us distributorship so you would think they could force something that way but that company he buried pretty hard and i only by luck stumbled upon it.

Time will tell i guess. At the end of it i have an amazing child and that's what matters. This is just a thorn in my side as i attempted to do what was right by my son.

 

[Zigner]

If you use "one of those companies", it transforms the nature of the debt from Child Support to just "regular" consumer debt. The downside is that, although child support cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, consumer debt can be. It is your choice, but please keep that in mind.