I have a question about child support. My child’s father stopped working so I’m currently not getting child support. The child support case is in the county he lives in not the county me and my child live in and I feel like they aren’t doing enough. I’m so annoyed because I’m working pretty much 3 jobs and Im still barely able to afford things. Is there anything I can do about getting him to pay or any other options out there. I don’t exactly have family that help me and barely have a support system. I’m just so overwhelmed.
Unfortunately; no.
The court can suspend his license after a certain point but you have to request it.
I was told the support/custody case is done in the county in which the child resides. But since he doesn’t work, no nothing can be done until he works, but sometimes depending how far in the rears he is, they can take or garnish his take return
Unfortunately, at least in my case, there’s nothing you can do but sit around and wait
Never bank on that money for anything. The courts only take their license. Being a single mom isn’t got the weak. You got this
I would contact child support in your county. Tell them the situation. They can contact the other office. He can be jailed for not paying.
You can file in your county for it to be moved. If your child resides at your home it should have been moved when you moved anyways. Whoever has custody is responsible for putting in the paperwork for moving counties
I would keep calling the child support office. Talk to the officer that is incharge of your case. They can now put them in jail if they stop paying and don’t follow the instructions that are stated in your agreement.
Honestly, I went without child support for my oldest child’s entire life (he’s almost 9) and my youngest child’s father quit his job for a cash job (he’s currently $6,900 behind). As much as it sucks, different states have different regulations on when they can go after the other parent such as taking away their license, jail time etc. In my state, as long as they make any payment (it can be as small as $5 in one month), they can avoid jail time. There isn’t much a county can do besides abide by their guidelines. You could try to get an attorney, but that will still cost money and you are unable to ‘force’ him to get a job unfortunately.
Personally, my stepkids’ mom has a capias (warrant) on her for not paying. She’s looking to be arrested any day now unless she pays almost $1K of the $6K she owes us upfront. She’ll have to pay what she owes to be released, or just stay there for a year. We didn’t push for any of it, BCSE took it all upon themselves after 3 years of non-payment.
Get a Lawyer. Everyone else is pretty much useless. Family member had a problem not getting child support. DHS not doing anything about it. So the sure way is get a Lawyer and have the support money arranged through the courts. If they don’t pay Driver License can be revoked and tax return can be send to you instead of the father. Pretty much the only option.
Depends on what state you’re in. Most states have some sort of cash assistance for parents that aren’t receiving child support…
You get a bit better luck calling the Maximus office it handles child support overall
It depends on the state you live in. His drivers license will be suspended until the back support is paid
No not really. The system is broken. The enforcement of it doesn’t happen.
Which of you left the country? How often does he see his child?
Been there I don’t count on child support ,not much you can do if other parent isn’t working tons of resources to help with lights,snap etc…
File CS in the county you live in. Be proactive and force the issue.
Depending on how far he’s behind some states will take his license away, make him unable to apply for a passport and they can take his tax return money when he’s due for one.
Judges don’t take too kindly to parents who don’t support there kids. I’m the type that will push for everything and I don’t care how hard it makes their life.
There is not one good excuse out there a parent can make for not financially supporting kids they helped make.
Mine was about $20k behind and nothing was done until I filed contempt of court. $3500 in attorney fees and they told him to get a job or face jail time🤷🏻♀️
Nothing can be done. It sucks…been doing this battle for almost 14 yrs now. He will pay maybe 3-4 months and thats only if child support catches up to him then he either quits or gets fired .
Unfortunately no. My ex is $60,000 in arrears and still nothing is or has been done. He job hops to keep from paying. They always have his social security number running and find his job, and as soon as the paperwork comes in to take from his check, he quits and finds another job. He hasn’t had a license for as long as I can remember, but it doesn’t stop or slow him down. And he hasn’t filed taxes in 15+ years because he knows he will never get his money, and doesn’t want us to have it either. The unfortunate thing is they don’t care and just want control. I wish my ex was like my bf. He always makes sure he pays his support, and the ex is always wanting more
If he’s not paying Child Support you should be able to apply for SNAP and other Benefits like Medicaid and Child Care. The State then will go after him for what he owes.
There’s a lot of unanswered questions for me here. Did he just quit to avoid support? Was it court ordered support because the usually goes automatically and will add up Against him. Does he help out any other way? Is he looking for work? Does he see the kid? Cause there’s other ways he can help
Go get tanaf on him then after that stops they can garnish his wages or take it from any tax returns … call social services see if you can get tanaf now that hes not working …
Contact the child support office again. Then, see a lawyer. States have various laws on how to get it.
Some let you file every month and they’ll go arrest him. Some don’t. You can also inquire about getting money owed through his taxes. You’ll need his social though. The IRS will take it out if any refund be gets.
See. A. Lawyer.
They can’t force him to get a job but they can hold him accountable. It will take awhile, but, first he will lose his license & if he still doesn’t pay, he will be arrested. In any of these scenarios, don’t hold your breath thinking it will be quick, it won’t.
You don’t mention the state you’re living in because every state is different, especially with how they handle it, like my daughter‘s father was in a lot of arrears. They took his license, and his passport, and then if he didn’t start paying a specific amount of time, there was a warrant for his arrest. This is Missouri, but in Florida, where I live they lack a lot of pressure on getting the other parent to pay 
From what I’ve seen not much can be done. You can try to get a lawyer and take him to court but idk if that would really get anywhere
Nothing. Mine hasn’t paid in 2.5 years. You have to treat it as extra money and not rely on it.
It really depends on where you live. Some states are better at going after nonpayers than others. My ex owes me over $70k and my state doesn’t really do anything. But I’ve been told going to the governor or senators for backing, they can get things rolling. Another issue is how much he owes, they usually don’t notify for taxes until $5k is owed. Once that happens then they will take tax refunds. They usually don’t go after them unless it’s an easy case from my experience. My biggest advice is to fight for your right to get support. If you don’t fight they will just ignore you. Squeaky wheel gets the oil.
I’ve been through this.
- Get an attorney - only an attorney can file a “Motion to Change Venue.”
- the file for you SHOULD be in the county the CHILD resides in. But since DHS is a pain in the er you’ll have to get an attorney to file it - trust me, just do it. It saves you YEARS of frustration and actually gets it done.
- Check your state laws - in some states lack of paying child support can get the non custodial parent fined, jail time, or, after so many months you can file abandonment charges. (Save that one for the real bad ones people).
You can also mark a full calendar with a specific sticker for any time the non custodial parent (NCP) did (or did not) interact with their child. This means if the NCP didn’t interact -no calls, texts, emails, visitations, etc- that day you mark it. If this is a trend that pretty much occurs 29 days out of 30 or more, and that’s not the agreement, then you can file for Abandonment after your states allotted time is recognized.
Do not rely on child services. EVER. They are not there for you or your child.
They are there to “reunify” the family NO MATTER THE CIRCUMSTANCES (minus SA). I’ve seen kids forced back into physically abusive houses bc “the parent took a parenting class.”
Report anything and everything *if it’s warranted. (As in don’t be a bad ex - this part is regarding child safety)
Keep a log for EVERY time you report lack of payment. Circle the date and time. DHS has a specific time cushion for the NCP to pay. One DAY after that time you can tell them you want them held accountable for failure to pay - set an alarm on your phone and STAY ON IT, bc they will not.
And above all:
GET. A. LAWYER.
He’s not working
No work means no money
What exactly do you want his county to do?
When mine went over 10,000 owed the court told me to turn it over to the attorney generals office. Once I did, they put out a federal warrant and froze his bank account. He was arrested and faced prison time if didn’t get it caught up in so much time.
Jane Triano in Haverhill mass. Phillips Gerstein Holber
She held his feet to fire and had him report weekly to court
House to send out 13 resumes a day. Neithless to say the next week he had a job and his arrears came out of closing on home
Give him 50/50. Not only will you not have the burden of always paying for everything, you will also get a break and have the chance to have a social life. He pays for his things during his 50% and you pay for your things during your 50.
If you’re in California & he isn’t working you won’t get nothing the amount will just accumulate!
If you have lived in your county for 6 months then they have jurisdiction. You can go file to have that court adopt the support order and file for enforcement.
I’m ordered to get 40 a month for one child and my fiance 40 a month x3 children. Neither one of us have ever gotten a penny. Illinois.
If he’s not working there is no money for him to pay the support from. Ir sucks so bad. Dealing with it for years
Call maintenance and tell them where he’s working
If he literally has no money/income at all he can’t pay it…they will suspend his drivers license and throw him in jail and you still won’t get paid it will just rack up arrears and they will take his tax checks and garnish his wages if he does get a job…
Getting paid under the table? File a 3949A form.
I wouldn’t care what he does I take care of my kids just without child support plus u got the jobs what u doing with your money
Do you have food stamps to help with food? Do you have any access to your local offices where you can talk to someone about getting some kind of assistance? If not, try that first. If he’s not legally obligated to pay child support then start that process. If he is, keep bugging the child support program in your state. You can have your case moved to your county. Talk to them. Get face to face with someone and see what they will do to help you. People are more likely to say no over the phone. Cuz they don’t know the person they’re refusing to help. They don’t see how it would affect them.
You just have to keep calling the child support office. Keep on them about it. My ex is over $30,000 behind. And we have a court date in a couple months. And this will probably start a series of Court dates every other month. He will pay on time a couple times then stop. Then we start this all over again.
Not really. If he isn’t working or making money he isn’t going to be able to give you money. He could get in trouble but it still wouldn’t get you money.
Definitely reach out to all your local organizations. Bread basket, food, pantry food stamps. Go into churches and ask if they have organizations and just really look around in your town or neighboring towns for help. There are always community based programs to help those I have found.
I’m owed over 7,000 they have not done anything and continue to change his court date… it’s nothing but a joke.
In most counties, you report this to the proper people/ court. They pay you. They bill him. Look into it.
Is he on disability or he just decided to quit his job? Keep a record of what he owes you. He’ll have to pay back child support and it can be garnished from any funds he is receiving.
He’s still responsible for financially supporting his kids. I would go down to family court and they will help you file the appropriate paperwork.
I have no idea which state you live in so it’s hard to know what to tell you. I live in TX. I went to the attorney general’s site for TX and clicked the link for child support. My ex was 27,000 in arrears. When notified, they went after him. I got a divorce here and he left the state for Iowa back to his Mom. She has always protected him so he never had to man up. To avoid paying, he moved and worked in the 5 state hub area. Missouri/Iowa/S.Dakota/Illinois/Nebraska. Luckily I had his DL# & his Soc.Sec.# and due to flying in to spend a Christmas with his parents so they could meet their grandchild, I obtained his Tag# of his vehicle. Every so often I apply online for a review of his financial status. He never contacts his son since the boy was six and he is now in college. No birthday cards no calls, nothing. He did not give my check to the auto store for my car PMT when I was pregnant and my car was repo’d. When he threatened to kill me if I left him I was gone the next day. He sold his vehicle to leave the state leaving me with no transportation. Due to the reviews of his arrearage, I just got a raise in my child support after he went for years avoiding it and I did not apply for a review this time. I count myself lucky!
Not much you can do. CS enforcement is a joke. Men get rights without responsibility.
What’s even worse & nobody talks about is that if you have a court order for child support it counts as income if you try to get state assistance, free school lunches etc. Even if he doesn’t pay it. There’s so many kids who don’t get lunch at school or have to skimp on meals at home because their father refuses to take responsibility & mom can’t do it alone.
See if you’re stating county offers a child support replacement plan. Similar to the old afdc check, the state sees to it that you get your child support and then they go after him for the money. I live in Kentucky and here it’s called k-tap, but I’m not sure where you’re from. Anyway it might be something to look into