Emancipated or what?

[Danl]

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

I have three children, the youngest of whom recently turned 20 years of age. All three are healthy and have been working steady full-time jobs since graduating high school. We all live in Colorado, and I lost custody of my children to my ex-wife when we were divorced in the mid 1990s. Fortunately, we've remained on friendly terms because the divorce was economically inspired and it was a sad situation for all of us. My ex and children still visit on rare occasion, and with my children there is always an "I love you" verbally exchanged between us at the end of personal visits and telephone calls.

I have not worked at any job or have had any other income since the mid 1990s. I applied for and was approved for 100% SSI and food stamps in 2002, on account of my medically diagnosed disability which is permanent and severe. Nonetheless, my ex-wife sued me for child support that same year and the court awarded her a small amount per month (under $30 due to my severe disability and inability to pay more). Each month I received a notice from the child support agency indicating that I must pay by the middle of the following month the aforesaid sum, payments which I made by check and mailed promptly on the first or second day of that month, including up until July 1st of 2011.

My question is, how come I just received a notice for next month that indicates a radically ballooned increase in the monthly amount owed (almost $200!), and with no indication as to how or why this is expected of me? I can't possibly afford to make such extravagant and unaffordable payments, and I don't understand why I'm still being notified to pay child support when my youngest child is well-past the emancipation age of 19. The notice also shows an "arrears balance" of over six thousand dollars, even though I was never late and never missed making the monthly payments in the full amount that was ordered by the court. Even more strange is that the very first child support notice which I received in 2002 indicated an "arrears balance" of over $20,000! This amount dropped by one third after my oldest child turned 19, then it dropped by another third after my middle child turned 20. Shouldn't it have dropped the last and final third of "arrears balance" by now?

 

[BL]

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

I have three children, the youngest of whom recently turned 20 years of age. All three are healthy and have been working steady full-time jobs since graduating high school. We all live in Colorado, and I lost custody of my children to my ex-wife when we were divorced in the mid 1990s. Fortunately, we've remained on friendly terms because the divorce was economically inspired and it was a sad situation for all of us. My ex and children still visit on rare occasion, and with my children there is always an "I love you" verbally exchanged between us at the end of personal visits and telephone calls.

I have not worked at any job or have had any other income since the mid 1990s. I applied for and was approved for 100% SSI and food stamps in 2002, on account of my medically diagnosed disability which is permanent and severe. Nonetheless, my ex-wife sued me for child support that same year and the court awarded her a small amount per month (under $30 due to my severe disability and inability to pay more). Each month I received a notice from the child support agency indicating that I must pay by the middle of the following month the aforesaid sum, payments which I made by check and mailed promptly on the first or second day of that month, including up until July 1st of 2011.

My question is, how come I just received a notice for next month that indicates a radically ballooned increase in the monthly amount owed (almost $200!), and with no indication as to how or why this is expected of me? I can't possibly afford to make such extravagant and unaffordable payments, and I don't understand why I'm still being notified to pay child support when my youngest child is well-past the emancipation age of 19. The notice also shows an "arrears balance" of over six thousand dollars, even though I was never late and never missed making the monthly payments in the full amount that was ordered by the court. Even more strange is that the very first child support notice which I received in 2002 indicated an "arrears balance" of over $20,000! This amount dropped by one third after my oldest child turned 19, then it dropped by another third after my middle child turned 20. Shouldn't it have dropped the last and final third of "arrears balance" by now?

Where do the notices come from ?

Child support collection ?

If so what did they say when you sent them a certified court order and disputed the arrears in 2002 ?

 

[Danl]

Where do the notices come from ?

Child support collection ?

If so what did they say when you sent them a certified court order and disputed the arrears in 2002 ?

In 2002, the original judgment against me was for nearly $300 per month. I filed the request for modification paperwork at the courthouse and a few weeks later I was subpoenaed to a court hearing set for several months later. In court, I presented my notorized "med-9" documentation proving that I qualified for 100% SSI disability and food stamps, and the amount was greatly reduced as a result. My court appointed attorney said that although SSI is not legally garnishable, the rule was that at least a small paymet amount, usually $50 per month, was expected, so I had to voluntarily pay it regardless of where the money came from, and if I didn't agree to that the judge would hold in contempt and I could spend the rest of my life rotting in their jails (at least the old debtor's prisons were usually for actual debtors, seldom for the "imputed" varieties). That's when the monthly CS bills began appearing in my mailbox.

I talked with the local county Child Support office today, and found out what happened. She said that when my youngest child was emancipted this year, the remaining arrears no longer qualified to be dismissed, because I am no longer paying child support but arrears only. My future monthy arrears payments were therefore increased because the original 2002 court ruling no longer applied.
I did manage to get the nearly $200 future monthly payment amount reduced to well under a $100, so I can't complain. I might even get a bit more on the food stamps to help offset the loss.

 

[BL]

In 2002, the original judgment against me was for nearly $300 per month. I filed the request for modification paperwork at the courthouse and a few weeks later I was subpoenaed to a court hearing set for several months later. In court, I presented my notorized "med-9" documentation proving that I qualified for 100% SSI disability and food stamps, and the amount was greatly reduced as a result. My court appointed attorney said that although SSI is not legally garnishable, the rule was that at least a small paymet amount, usually $50 per month, was expected, so I had to voluntarily pay it regardless of where the money came from, and if I didn't agree to that the judge would hold in contempt and I could spend the rest of my life rotting in their jails (at least the old debtor's prisons were usually for actual debtors, seldom for the "imputed" varieties). That's when the monthly CS bills began appearing in my mailbox.

I talked with the local county Child Support office today, and found out what happened. She said that when my youngest child was emancipted this year, the remaining arrears no longer qualified to be dismissed, because I am no longer paying child support but arrears only. My future monthy arrears payments were therefore increased because the original 2002 court ruling no longer applied.
I did manage to get the nearly $200 future monthly payment amount reduced to well under a $100, so I can't complain. I might even get a bit more on the food stamps to help offset the loss.

This does not add up the way you are presenting it all .

.. I lost custody of my children to my ex-wife when we were divorced in the mid 1990s.

.. I have not worked at any job or have had any other income since the mid 1990s.

.. I applied for and was approved for 100% SSI and food stamps in 2002

.. my ex-wife sued me for child support that same year and the court awarded her a small amount per month (under $30 due to my severe disability and inability to pay more

.. Each month I received a notice from the child support agency indicating that I must pay by the middle of the following month the aforesaid sum, payments which I made by check and mailed promptly on the first or second day of that month, including up until July 1st of 2011.

.. Even more strange is that the very first child support notice which I received in 2002 indicated an "arrears balance" of over $20,000!


Now tell me how arrears came to be then ?

One child emancipating out of having to pay CS does not mean there are arrears instead of payments .

If the Judge did not award arrears there were NONE ..

 

[Danl]

This does not add up the way you are presenting it all .

.. I lost custody of my children to my ex-wife when we were divorced in the mid 1990s.

.. I have not worked at any job or have had any other income since the mid 1990s.

.. I applied for and was approved for 100% SSI and food stamps in 2002

.. my ex-wife sued me for child support that same year and the court awarded her a small amount per month (under $30 due to my severe disability and inability to pay more

.. Each month I received a notice from the child support agency indicating that I must pay by the middle of the following month the aforesaid sum, payments which I made by check and mailed promptly on the first or second day of that month, including up until July 1st of 2011.

.. Even more strange is that the very first child supporat notice which I received in 2002 indicated an "arrears balance" of over $20,000!


Now tell me how arrears came to be then ?

One child emancipating out of having to pay CS does not mean there are arrears instead of payments .

If the Judge did not award arrears there were NONE ..

Good grief, I wasn't looking for a "Perry Mason" contest. Everything I have written and posted here is straight up the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth -- although I don't go in for that "so help me gawd" rubbish.

The arrears against me, AFAIK, myself not being a lawyer, was ^imputed^. Search the term "imputed." Google it if you don't believe me. The arrears simply showed up on the original monthly bills. I was never late on any payment, and I always paid the full minimum amount stipulated on the bills,
yet the arrears was always there from the beginning. Not my doing at all.

Why my first two children reaching emancipation age absolved me of the previously imputed arrears accorded to them is entirely beyond my knowledge of how the system of laws works in this part of the world. Even the child support official currently in charge of my case seemed rather surprised about what was going on with the elimination of those first two-thirds of my imputed arrears, and then speculated on how that might have come about. She said that there must have been some subsequent requests made for modification specific to each of the two older children's emancipation which absolved me of those formerly imputed arrears which only became recognized when they each reached the age of 19 (albeit I have previously checked the CS bills and found that my eldest child was 19, and my second eldest was 20, when these significant reductions in my arrears due appeared in print on the CS bills).

My ex-wife might have had something to do with it, but she never mentioned anything about it to me. Even the CS agent suggested that my ex could be the instigator of it. All I know is that I never filed for any legal remedy to my child support situation after 2002. Today, I won a significant reduction in my current imputed arrears monthly payment simply by a polite and earnest telephone conversation to the CS agency. She was stern, to the point, efficient, hybrid intelligent, prudently amicable and astutely suspicious. Perhaps that's why she realized that I am in an especially peculiar situation, so after some "pawn stars" style verbal exchanges she cut me an unexpectedly generous bit of slack with the subtly expressed yet strongly implied caveat that I would do well never to seek any further remedies or reconsiderations in my case. I heeded her warning. She made her point very clearly. Nothing else needs be said.

I don't know what else to tell you about it, but that is precisely what happened.
If you reply to me again with your "I don't believe you" format, I'll consider you to be a billygoating troll henceforth to be entirely ignored by yours truly. I have reported only the truth. If you have a problem with that, then it's your problem.

 

[Proserpina]

Good grief, I wasn't looking for a "Perry Mason" contest. Everything I have written and posted here is straight up the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth -- although I don't go in for that "so help me gawd" rubbish.

The arrears against me, AFAIK, myself not being a lawyer, was ^imputed^. Search the term "imputed." Google it if you don't believe me. The arrears simply showed up on the original monthly bills. I was never late on any payment, and I always paid the full minimum amount stipulated on the bills,
yet the arrears was always there from the beginning. Not my doing at all.

Why my first two children reaching emancipation age absolved me of the previously imputed arrears accorded to them is entirely beyond my knowledge of how the system of laws works in this part of the world. Even the child support official currently in charge of my case seemed rather surprised about what was going on with the elimination of those first two-thirds of my imputed arrears, and then speculated on how that might have come about. She said that there must have been some subsequent requests made for modification specific to each of the two older children's emancipation which absolved me of those formerly imputed arrears which only became recognized when they each reached the age of 19 (albeit I have previously checked the CS bills and found that my eldest child was 19, and my second eldest was 20, when these significant reductions in my arrears due appeared in print on the CS bills).

My ex-wife might have had something to do with it, but she never mentioned anything about it to me. Even the CS agent suggested that my ex could be the instigator of it. All I know is that I never filed for any legal remedy to my child support situation after 2002. Today, I won a significant reduction in my current imputed arrears monthly payment simply by a polite and earnest telephone conversation to the CS agency. She was stern, to the point, efficient, hybrid intelligent, prudently amicable and astutely suspicious. Perhaps that's why she realized that I am in an especially peculiar situation, so after some "pawn stars" style verbal exchanges she cut me an unexpectedly generous bit of slack with the subtly expressed yet strongly implied caveat that I would do well never to seek any further remedies or reconsiderations in my case. I heeded her warning. She made her point very clearly. Nothing else needs be said.

I don't know what else to tell you about it, but that is precisely what happened.
If you reply to me again with your "I don't believe you" format, I'll consider you to be a billygoating troll henceforth to be entirely ignored by yours truly. I have reported only the truth. If you have a problem with that, then it's your problem.

I don't think BL is the one with the problem.

I'm sure an attorney would be happy to receive compensation to assess your case.

 

[Danl]

I don't think BL is the one with the problem.

I'm sure an attorney would be happy to receive compensation to assess your case.

LOL! "Outstanding Advice. Unbeatable Price."

 

[La-a]

LOL! "Outstanding Advice. Unbeatable Price."

I may be quite new here, but it seems clear to me that BL was trying to figure out your story. I didn't see him/her call you any sort of "liar," or anything inappropriate or unkind.

To get help, you need to be as clear and concise as possible. The people here are just trying to help.