Threat of legal action involving child support court notification

[Becki C.]

state: tennessee

my husband is taking his ex-wife to court for non-payment of child support. he called the court on friday (sept. 3rd) and was told his ex-wife had not yet been served and the court date is friday (sept. 10). with our attorney out of town, we decided to send her a letter that stated the following:

"You are scheduled to appear in juvenile court on sept. 10, 2004 at 1:00p.m. to answer to a charge of contempt for non-payment of child support. i will be present with my attorney. this is not an official court summons. i am merely letting you be aware of the proceedings so you can attend if you choose to do so."

That was all the letter said; however, we were concerned she would not sign for a a certified letter once she saw it was from us (the post office required a return address be placed on the letter obviously) and we sent one regular mail also, but without a return address on it. when our attorney returned from out of town, we told her what happened and she said, "it's fine that you sent a letter." my husband's ex called and said our letter was "harrassment" in her opinion and if we ever did that again, she would file harrassment charges against my husband. i have not received a phone call back from our attorney as yet on this and i was wondering if something so harmless (no threats, no demeaning remarks in the letter, etc.) can be the true and legal definition of harrasment.

i apologize if this post should've appeared in another area of posting. thanks for any advice in advance.

 

[Gracie3787]

Serving a legal notice of a court date by certified mail and regular mail is not harassment!

Why are you letting your husband's ex scare you when it is so obvious that she is wrong, wrong, wrong?

Don't let yourself get involved in her childish games, ignore her threat.

 

[BL]

If the X doesn't show on the court date , or the Judge notices the X was not properly served, your lawyer will have to ask for an adjornment to set another court date and attempt to have the X served again .

Sooner or later the X will be served .

 

[LdiJ]

If the X doesn't show on the court date , or the Judge notices the X was not properly served, your lawyer will have to ask for an adornment to set another court date .

Maybe not....the fact that she called and complained about the letter was an acknowledgement that she was aware of the court date. I have seen judges consider people "served" in those circumstances. I only know of a handful of cases...but they did happen.

 

[Becki C.]

thanks guys. i appreciate your input. as for my husband's ex making scaring us, well...........you know how it can be. you're always worried something unexpected can crop up at the 11th hour and throw you for a loop. with things under the law being so picky these days, you never know what someone can do because of a simple letter of notification.

as it turned out, my husband's ex (after threatening to file a charge of harrassment on us) sent my husband a text message threatening him with physical harm and we filed a police report on her tonight. the officer said in a couple of days a detective will contact us and we have the option of requesting a warrant for her arrest for this. can you believe how the tables turned so quickly? it's so funny to me that after threatening us and getting me worried, she turned around and got her own butt in trouble. and yes, we do plan to press charges, request a retraining order and have her arrested. i am a firm believer that you have to show people you mean business.

anyway, thanks again. this forum has helped me numerous times.