Arrearage doesn't matter

[Kristyna]

What is the name of your state? WA

I really need a place to vent a little. I have four children with a man I was never legally married to. He has always paid support through wage witholding and I don't mind telling you I received $70 for each of the two oldest and $25 for each of the two youngest. Their ages are now 11, 13, 14, and 15. He owes me over $9,000 in arrearages.

This past year my 15 year old was getting into a lot of trouble and she moved in with her dad and his girlfriend. I called the DCS and told them she was no longer with me and they suspended her amount from my payments.

I recently received a new order for my oldest to pay her father support - $240/month. I called DCS and it does not matter how much he still owes me, I have to pay him twice as much for her as he does for our three, and nothing can be taken out of arrearages.

The funny thing is, before I allowed my oldest to move in with her father, I talked to a lawyer who said that because he owes me so much, support would not be an issue. I plan to go back and talk to that lawyer.

Has anyone ever heard about this happening?

 

[BL]

Yeh,well I'd definantly be talking to someone, or finding out some information.

Then I would go back to court for modification on the remaining 3.

That is NOT fair & Just in any sence of the word .

Let us know !!

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? WA

The funny thing is, before I allowed my oldest to move in with her father, I talked to a lawyer who said that because he owes me so much, support would not be an issue. I plan to go back and talk to that lawyer.

**A: and please post back what this lawyer tells you. And don't get your hopes up too high.

 

[Kristyna]

For some reason the older two's support case is seperate from the younger two, although my case number is the same. ??

I modified one order which increased my support a little, the other two are still in the modification process.

The lawyer told me that he has never seen this situation before where I would have to pay more for one than he pays for three unless I made 3 - 4 times more income, which I don't. He is re-doing the worksheets and trying to get everything put on one order.

I'll update when something happens.

 

[Kristyna]

It's been awhile but I'm back.

We had the hearing, and I now pay more support for our one daughter than he does for our other three. And I don't make that much more money than the lazy a--.

I do have a lawyer. What we did was an administrative review with DSHS. Big mistake! Don't ever do that with split custody situations, they don't do what's fair.

Now we are appealing. We are trying to use the "Arvey" method of figuring child support for split custody situations. DSHS wouldn't use it.

 

[KAMIAKI1]

You know this state totally sucks on the child support issue. Hearing what you have told us about your case just makes me so mad that words cannot express the anger.
Are you still using this same lawyer that you spoke about in the beginning? If you are, I would really get some advise from another lawyer. A comment you said in your first letter here regarding what your lawyer said: {I talked to a lawyer who said that because he owes me so much, support would not be an issue} does not sound like a comment a lawyer who knows anything about child support in Washington State would say, if he knows what he is talking about.
If you are both making close to the same amount of money, there is no reason why you would be paying that much more for the one child. You must not be putting down on your worksheet all of your expenses to run your household. This just makes no sense.
Please do let me know what happens on your appeal. I am interested as I too live in Washington and have 2 children with a dead beat that now owes me over 75k. Our 14 year old son, I feel, may want to try living with him in the next few years too. I don't want to pay him a dime if that happens just as he did to me. The only reason why I would pay him is so our kid can survive as I CARE about our children! Know what I mean?!
Good luck. I hope you kick his A** in court this time!

 

[Kristyna]

Update

No more worries for now.

My daughter has realized the grass is not always greener on the other side and moved back home.

Division of Child Support wanted me to jump through hoops to prove she was living with me before they would stop collecting child support from me, which is funny because it was very easy for them to stop collecting FOR me when she lived with her dad.
Anyway, after a few weeks I finally mentioned my lawyer's discussion with the attorney general and in one phone call the case manager put things in motion to stop my payments and start collecting for my daughter again.

I still have to pay arrearages, which I could still fight with the appeal, but have decided I would rather pay that money to the NCP than the lawyer. The case manager even let me decide how much I want to pay each month.

BTW, the lawyer who was originally incorrect in his initial advice to me is now a district court judge.