Problems with FL CSE

[ProSeAgain]

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

I have court-ordered child support in place, with income deduction order against the NCP and automatic deposit to my checking account. However, for the past 4 months, I have been only receiving less than 1/2 of the court-ordered amount and in Dec., 2008 only received about 15% of the monthly amount. The only thing CSE and DOR will tell me - after numerous letters and phone calls - is that he must have overpaid at sometime and that's why I'm only getting the amount I'm getting. I said that's not true and DOR said that I needed to get the records since the order was established - about 5 years ago. So, I called Hillsborough County CSE and they said they can only provide records for the past 1 year. I have gotten my bank statements for the past 5 years and for the approximately 2 years of the automatic deposit, it's very easy to determine the payments from the State. However, in the beginning, since he was making random additional payments (to pay off arrearages for the prior two years) along with the normal monthly payments, I can't tell with any certainty now how much was actually paid. I do know that he didn't over pay (because I kept up with all the payments, back when I needed to, but this much time later, I can't break out the payments to prove it to CSE and DOR. Further, the State, up until the 3rd quarter of last year, always sent me quarterly statements of all payments that had been made to me; I haven't received one since then.

I don't understand how the NCP could suddenly have overpaid and that the State had overpaid me, yet they have never sent me any kind of notice or accounting of how this was determined. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas about how I can get this straightened out and get the past due child support I'm owed. I am just so frustrated with getting the apathetic attitude I get when I call DOR or CSE and the run around both departments keep giving me.

Thanks for any help you can give me.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[gatorfan1]

Unfortunately, I don't have any advice just kind of the same kind of problem, just on the other end of the scale. I'm the NCP. A couple of years ago my ex took me back to court for more CS and drug it out. So, of course by the time it was all said and done, I was several thousands of dollars in arrears due to backdating from time court proceeding started. My CS comes out of my check as well as my arrears every month. The IRS garnished my income tax to pay the arrears. It was finally released and they overpaid my ex by about a thousand dollars. However, I have been getting notices from CSE that states I am behind in CS and threatening to take away my license. Every time I go up to the county office to talk to them they give me a different story. I have my pay stubs to show that it is coming out of my checks, that I have not missed a payment. Their way of calculating figures would make a math whiz or CPA's head swim. It's utterly ridiculous how they handle things there at CSE. It is near impossible to get a clear and direct answer from them. I think a major change needs to be done to the Florida CSE to help CP's get the support they deserve and protect the "non-deadbeats" that do pay there child support on a regular basis.

 

[Gracie3787]

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

I have court-ordered child support in place, with income deduction order against the NCP and automatic deposit to my checking account. However, for the past 4 months, I have been only receiving less than 1/2 of the court-ordered amount and in Dec., 2008 only received about 15% of the monthly amount. The only thing CSE and DOR will tell me - after numerous letters and phone calls - is that he must have overpaid at sometime and that's why I'm only getting the amount I'm getting. I said that's not true and DOR said that I needed to get the records since the order was established - about 5 years ago. So, I called Hillsborough County CSE and they said they can only provide records for the past 1 year. I have gotten my bank statements for the past 5 years and for the approximately 2 years of the automatic deposit, it's very easy to determine the payments from the State. However, in the beginning, since he was making random additional payments (to pay off arrearages for the prior two years) along with the normal monthly payments, I can't tell with any certainty now how much was actually paid. I do know that he didn't over pay (because I kept up with all the payments, back when I needed to, but this much time later, I can't break out the payments to prove it to CSE and DOR. Further, the State, up until the 3rd quarter of last year, always sent me quarterly statements of all payments that had been made to me; I haven't received one since then.

I don't understand how the NCP could suddenly have overpaid and that the State had overpaid me, yet they have never sent me any kind of notice or accounting of how this was determined. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas about how I can get this straightened out and get the past due child support I'm owed. I am just so frustrated with getting the apathetic attitude I get when I call DOR or CSE and the run around both departments keep giving me.

Thanks for any help you can give me.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

You don't need to figure out what the payments have been. Go to the courthouse and ask for the CS clerk's office. They are required by law to keep a record of all CS payments and assessments. They can give you a copy, the costs is normally $1 per page.

Has your ex been earning very little?
I ask because garnishments are restricted to 50% to 60% of net income, depending on the NCP's situation. If he has been earning very small paychecks, the garnishments might have been smaller because they are taking the full amount allowed by law.

 

[ProSeAgain]

Thanks for your response. I will go to the CSE clerk's office and get the records, but why would they tell me they can only provide records for a period of one year if the law states they have to keep an accounting of all payments and disbursements?

As far as what my ex is earning, I don't know because he is self-employed and pays himself through a PEO (which, as far as I know, only exists in FL). So, he can decide to pay himself whatever he wants, regardless of what his company is actually making because he has a very well-to-do wife. I do know that he has told our children that his company is doing really well and that he has been going on numerous 1 and 2 week vacations, so financially, he is obviously not hurting. And, even if he reduced the amount of his paycheck, should I not get some kind of correspondence from CSE telling me that his CS payments have been reduced based on his reduced payroll? And, since it's his own company and, if he did indeed reduce his payroll check through the PEO, but can make up the difference by just writing himself a check out of the company, is there anything I can do to prove he is still making just as much money?

 

[ProSeAgain]

Re-open closed CS case?

If I am unsuccessful in getting the County CSE and FL DOR SDU to recognize that the NCP has NOT paid his entire court ordered CS for 5 of the last 12 months and that he hasn't overpaid, can I reopen the closed CSE case filed by a CSE attorney back in 2005 by filing a motion for contempt and statement of arrearage myself? And, if so, do I have to serve FL DOR and the County CSE office, as well as the NCP?

 

[Gracie3787]

If I am unsuccessful in getting the County CSE and FL DOR SDU to recognize that the NCP has NOT paid his entire court ordered CS for 5 of the last 12 months and that he hasn't overpaid, can I reopen the closed CSE case filed by a CSE attorney back in 2005 by filing a motion for contempt and statement of arrearage myself? And, if so, do I have to serve FL DOR and the County CSE office, as well as the NCP?

By closed case, do you mean that the DOR is no longer involved in the case at all?

If so, when and why did they close the case?

 

[ProSeAgain]

"By closed case, do you mean that the DOR is no longer involved in the case at all?

If so, when and why did they close the case?"

What I mean by closed case is that when I go to the online county public records, it reports the case status as "closed". The payments still are income deducted by Fl DOR Support Deduction Unit (SDU) and auto deposited to my checking account by them.

 

[Gracie3787]

"By closed case, do you mean that the DOR is no longer involved in the case at all?

If so, when and why did they close the case?"

What I mean by closed case is that when I go to the online county public records, it reports the case status as "closed". The payments still are income deducted by Fl DOR Support Deduction Unit (SDU) and auto deposited to my checking account by them.

Most likely the court clerk's office made a mistake by typing in the word "closed" instead of the word "disposed".

After you get the papers needed from the CS clerk's office and figure out about what is actually owed, take that to the DOR to talk to the caseworker in person.

ETA: The only way that the court case would be actually closed is if the court issued an order for the court order to be closed and revert to an administrative order. IF that was done, there will be a court order in the file stating that.