Does Pro Se Really Pay?

[kidoday]

What is the name of your state? IN

My ex was giving custody of his daughter back to her mother. He decided he wasn't going to spend the extra money on an attorney because it would be a cut and dried case.

It back fired on him. The mother had physical custody from August 2003, she filed for a change of custody same month. A temporary order for child support was never made. Custody wasn't changed until October 2004. Guess what the judge ordered? Retroactive child support to be paid to the mother back to August 2003, without a temporary order or request. So the money he thought he was saving by going Pro Se just cost him a years worth of child support he could have been paying all along.

 

[Whyte Noise]

CS can be ordered back to the date of filing. She filed in August 2003. CS can be ordered back to August 2003.

There doesn't have to be a temporary order in effect for the judge to go back to the date of filing.

 

[stealth2]

The CS order has nothing to do with pro se. She filed in August '03 - CS would generally be retroactive to then. I filed a CS mod in Feb '03. The ex dragged the process out 'til Sept '04. Yep - he's paying me some big bucks for it. And we both had attorneys.

 

[kidoday]

Interesting, learn something new every day.

 

[stealth2]

Actually, kido - I'd surprised you didn't know that modifications tend to be retroactive to the filing date - it's posted here nearly daily.

 

[kidoday]

No more suprised than I was.