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Help With Change Of Custody!!

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tiredworkingmom

Junior Member
Hello I'm currently living in Pennsylvania and have a support order against me in Maine. I'm wordering if anyone knows if the support order can be lifted if the child is now in my custody? Will they still deduct money from my paychecks?

Today I received some papers in the mail about a current support order against me. My sons father only had my son for 8 months which was merely supposed to be a visit, he immediately signed up for TANF and I started being billed. I have had my son with me since the day he was born in my custody. The only time his father ever took him was for the 8 months he visited him in Maine. I never went to court his father owes me child support from since before my son was born.

My son has been back in my custody living with me in Pennsylvania since May
He is now in my custody. I'm the only person in my household working, I
just started working again and I only make $7.25 an hour. On a form I
received in the mail it states that I make way more then I do. My son is back in my care and we are getting food stamps here in Pennsylvania just to get by as it is. If they start taking money from my paychecks each week I won't be able to get by. I have another child besides my son a toddler living in my home that I have to take care of. What could I do in this situation? Can I get the order changed? I never went to court this is through TANF.
 


LdiJ

Senior Member
tiredworkingmom said:
Hello I'm currently living in Pennsylvania and have a support order against me in Maine. I'm wordering if anyone knows if the support order can be lifted if the child is now in my custody? Will they still deduct money from my paychecks?

Today I received some papers in the mail about a current support order against me. My sons father only had my son for 8 months which was merely supposed to be a visit, he immediately signed up for TANF and I started being billed. I have had my son with me since the day he was born in my custody. The only time his father ever took him was for the 8 months he visited him in Maine. I never went to court his father owes me child support from since before my son was born.

My son has been back in my custody living with me in Pennsylvania since May
He is now in my custody. I'm the only person in my household working, I
just started working again and I only make $7.25 an hour. On a form I
received in the mail it states that I make way more then I do. My son is back in my care and we are getting food stamps here in Pennsylvania just to get by as it is. If they start taking money from my paychecks each week I won't be able to get by. I have another child besides my son a toddler living in my home that I have to take care of. What could I do in this situation? Can I get the order changed? I never went to court this is through TANF.
Are there any actual custody orders?
 

tiredworkingmom

Junior Member
I never went to court. The order was sent through the Department of Human sevices in Maine. For TANF my sons father received while my son was with him. The paper was sent as a Child Support Decision from DHS.
 

tigger22472

Senior Member
tiredworkingmom said:
I never went to court his father owes me child support from since before my son was born.
.
Without a court order he does not owe you child support and it would not have started BEFORE you child was born. It doesn't work that way.
 

rmet4nzkx

Senior Member
Are you or were you ever married to the father including but not limited to common law marriage?
Are there divorce or legal separation cases filed?
Where was the child born?
How long have you lived in PA?
Have you ever applied for any type of state aid before your child went to ME?
Was paternity established?
Was it s visit or was the father taking care of the child because you couldn't for some reason?
 

tiredworkingmom

Junior Member
rmet4nzkx said:
Are you or were you ever married to the father including but not limited to common law marriage?
Are there divorce or legal separation cases filed?
Where was the child born?
How long have you lived in PA?
Have you ever applied for any type of state aid before your child went to ME?
Was paternity established?
Was it s visit or was the father taking care of the child because you couldn't for some reason?
I was never married to him.
The child was born in Maine
I have lived in PA for 5 years.
Yes, I was on TANF back before he was born and shortly there after.
No we never did a paternity test but he signed a paper stating he was the father at the hospital.
I allowed his father to take him for a short time while I moved it ended up being only 8 months.

Now that I have my son back in my custody can they still garnish my wages? Will I still be obligated to pay support? Once again we never went to court this has all been established through DHS.
 

rmet4nzkx

Senior Member
Children move everyday with their parents, married or single, 8 months is a long time to move, more than a visit and could have been seen as abandonment, rightfuly you own child support for that time and technically you don't have custody even though you may physically have the child. Since the child was born in ME, you were on TANF there and dad signed acknowledgement of paternity, You could have established visitation and child support long ago and avoided this problem. Since Dad is still in ME, ME has jurisdiction, you will have to file in ME to establish custody and to modify the support order.
 

VeronicaGia

Senior Member
tiredworkingmom said:
I was never married to him.
The child was born in Maine
I have lived in PA for 5 years.
Yes, I was on TANF back before he was born and shortly there after.
No we never did a paternity test but he signed a paper stating he was the father at the hospital.
I allowed his father to take him for a short time while I moved it ended up being only 8 months.

Now that I have my son back in my custody can they still garnish my wages? Will I still be obligated to pay support? Once again we never went to court this has all been established through DHS.
He had custody of the child for eight months. During that eight months, he filed for TANF. The government (us taxpayers) wants their money back for helping support the child during the time dad received TANF. You can try to fight this, but it's almost impossible to win. Dad didn't file, the state filed. You will be fighting the state, not dad.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
VeronicaGia said:
He had custody of the child for eight months. During that eight months, he filed for TANF. The government (us taxpayers) wants their money back for helping support the child during the time dad received TANF. You can try to fight this, but it's almost impossible to win. Dad didn't file, the state filed. You will be fighting the state, not dad.
Well...thats assuming that she has arrearages. I kind of got the impression that she had been paying all along.

However, she does now have the child with her physically, and she needs to file for custody and child support. (in Maine) That is the only way to get the order against her stopped. Otherwise the state doesn't know that she has the child in her custody and is going to not only continue to collect support from her, but continue to provide benefits to dad.
 

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