Should I file for a judgment for arrears?

[ldkuhns]

What is the name of your state? FL

Hi all. My daughter turned 18 this year and I have a order for support from 1989. Needless to say, her father was a deadbeat dad and owes $47,000 in arrears. I'm not real sure where he is at this point, either Tx or IL. The state of Florida is not involved in this case as they wouldn't enforce the order or allow me to go in pro se during contempt hearings. I have received no support since 2003 and prior to that very unregularly. Anyways, my questions are:

Should I file to terminate support asking for contempt charges or file for termination of support and file for a judgement for the arrears? I do not know how easy it would be to enforce a judgement or even a contempt order. If I can't find him what are the chances of success or should I just let it go. It would be nice to have the money to help my daughter with more of her college expenses as she plans to pursue a doctorate. We've done OK without him although hard at times but every once in a while it just chapps me.

Thanks for any responses.

 

[Gracie3787]

What is the name of your state? FL

Hi all. My daughter turned 18 this year and I have a order for support from 1989. Needless to say, her father was a deadbeat dad and owes $47,000 in arrears. I'm not real sure where he is at this point, either Tx or IL. The state of Florida is not involved in this case as they wouldn't enforce the order or allow me to go in pro se during contempt hearings. I have received no support since 2003 and prior to that very unregularly. Anyways, my questions are:

Should I file to terminate support asking for contempt charges or file for termination of support and file for a judgement for the arrears? I do not know how easy it would be to enforce a judgement or even a contempt order. If I can't find him what are the chances of success or should I just let it go. It would be nice to have the money to help my daughter with more of her college expenses as she plans to pursue a doctorate. We've done OK without him although hard at times but every once in a while it just chapps me.

Thanks for any responses.

If you cannot find him, trying to go to court will be a waste of time. If you want to persue it first you'll need to locate him, then file and serve him.

 

[Papaya]

What is the name of your state? FL

Hi all. My daughter turned 18 this year and I have a order for support from 1989. Needless to say, her father was a deadbeat dad and owes $47,000 in arrears. I'm not real sure where he is at this point, either Tx or IL. The state of Florida is not involved in this case as they wouldn't enforce the order or allow me to go in pro se during contempt hearings.

What is the name of your state? FL

Hi all. My daughter turned 18 this year and I have a order for support from 1989. Needless to say, her father was a deadbeat dad and owes $47,000 in arrears. I'm not real sure where he is at this point, either Tx or IL. The state of Florida is not involved in this case as they wouldn't enforce the order or allow me to go in pro se during contempt hearings. I have received no support since 2003 and prior to that very unregularly.

.

Have you ever filed for enforcement? What state is your child support order from?

I'm not sure why the state of Florida is not involved in enforcement. Has the State of Florida sued him for non-payment of support?? You should be able to file a mortion for contempt (for non payment) without lawyers...

Can you give us a little more details please

 

[ldkuhns]

The last contempt filing was in 2004 which I went pro se. At that time, he was in Texas and while I didnt get personal service on him, he sent a letter to me with a copy to the court stating that while he had a job, he needed to pay other things first and would try to start making payments within 90 days. Needless to say, he was found in contempt of court because he had the means to pay. I was involved with CSE in Florida for many years and they did nothing to help, never pursued him legally and I had been much more successfull on my own. Even during times when I had him located they told me it would be three to six months before they would be able to pursue him due to caseloads. Each time I had the case placed with CSE (total of 2 over 18 years) I had to withdrawl in order to pursue him pro se. What I'm trying to figure out is if I should go ahead and file for a termination of support and obtain a judgment for the whole amount of arrears then try to pursue the judgment with a collections lawyer or just file for contempt again asking for a judgment. I have already tried to call two lawyers in my area and they dont want to get involved unless I can verify a location. Any ideas?

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

If a person files for bankruptcy, one of things that cannot be forgiven is child support arrearage. With that said, if you were to change a child support arrearage into a judgment and then go after daddy, he can then file bankruptcy for the judgment which wouldn't have the protection of child support arrearage. Just a thought.