A little background
Divorce papers were filed in January of 1996, he was arrested for a domestic abuse incident that happened when I was getting my mail out of his truck early in the month. (I finally filed on him for hitting and threatening me)
September of 1996 temporary orders, ordered him to pay $250 per week in child support (his income for 1995 was over $80,000, however when he finally filed his taxes,in 1998, he told the IRS, $60,000).
The divorce was final in June of 1997, instead of paying $250 a week during the temporary period in paid:
5/02/97 $250
5/09/97 $250
5/23/97 $250
6/02/97 $250
6/16/97 $250
A total of $1250 in a 10 month period, he was in arrears of over $8500
Divorce was granted 6/17/97 and took until 11/21/97 for the paperwork to be completed and signed off by the judge.
The following amounts are what he owes from each subsequent year:
1997(from 6/20) $793.50
1998 $264.50
1999 $661.50
2000 $1929.50
2001 $3121.75
2002 $1935.75
2003 $3165.75
total $11,872.25
In July of 2000, I went to his Pastor and asked for intervention in encouraging him to pay support and the arrearage. The pastor held a meeting with myself, the "Ex" and the "Ex"s wife. They agreed that he could pay an additional $50 a week for one year to stay current and catch up on the arrearage. I received a total of 9 payments of $182.50. Then 2 payments of $264.50, one on 10/16/00 and one on 11/16/00
And not another dime until 3/01/01.
He was also court ordered to pay the 1995 and 1996 property taxes. The order read
and shall hold the respondent (me) harmless from any penalty or interest due thereon.
He owes $4640.42 in taxes, penalties,and interest.
But .... yeah now the but... it has been over 4 years, so the judge may deny that to be awarded.
We are asking for the temporary order arrearage,(most likely will not get that, but judge never knew in '97 that he hadn't paid that),'97 to current arrearage, his part of the property taxes and an additional amount of $4049.85 for the interest on the property taxes I owe.
Of course while I was in the process of going after him, my attorney found a tax suit filing from the county on my home.
That court date is in October... the "Ex" court date is reset for S.ept. 3.
And before anyone feels sorry for the "Ex", know that he pays overdraft fees to his bank of about $5000 or more a year (ask me how I know).
He has a $150,000 house,bought all new furniture and electronics, has bought 2 new trucks(the last, a Dodge Ram Diesel, $600 a month), new work trailer, new gooseneck trailer, another horse, and his wife has had 3 new cars. Plus, they eat out 95% of their meals because she has a housecleaning business (mostly cash payments) and doesn't want to cook.
He is self employed and receives alot of cash payments. He has been audited by the IRS, he owed them $30, 000 and settled for $4000. He lied on each tax return the full amount of his income. I know that because he told me.
Well, that is enough for now...
Ladies, if you would like to know how much your "Ex" has in his checking account...email me.
IN THE BEGINNING… there was man and woman…. They married, then for whatever reason man decided he didn’t want to be married…
So there was a thing called Divorce, now it used to be real hard to get a Divorce, with a lot of money being paid out for the upkeep of his former family…but the Good Old Boy Lawyer/Judge Club decided it shouldn’t be so hard to get rid of the little wife and all those other responsibilities… so came the no-fault Divorce…
Any child support was based on the income man said he earned, after all his taxes and expenses were deducted of course (wink-wink between judges and lawyers…) the child support payments were mailed to the courthouse with no one really keeping track of missed payments, only the ones he chose to send.
Which led to the creation of the lawyers who had to specialize in filing to collect missed payments, the Attorney General’s Child Support Collection Office and in the last few years Private Agencies that will handle it for you for a percentage of the arrearage and future payments, calling that enforcement, you know keeping them in line...(more good ole boy winking)
Most charge a very high percentage, as much as 60%, with some of these pirate agengies not even giving you a timeline of when their cut will end. Most AG's fail horribly in collecting anything for the custodial parent. The attorneys want a retainer, payment up front (average retainer for lawyer $2500 in my area)
The attorneys make money, the agencies make money, the deadbeat dads (or moms) hide money, and the system continues to feed on itself.
So where does that leave the children?
Doing without…
If you stumbled in here thinking I would have all the answers, you will be disappointed.
The one solution to child support arrearage is to not allow it in the first place.
How hard could it be that when the non-custodial parent is court ordered to pay child support, they pay it or go to jail. When a payment was missed, with a reasonable 3-4 day grace period, a warrant would be issued for their arrest. When the payments fall 30 days behind they would be hunted down and hauled off in handcuffs, in front of anybody that was there, and GO TO JAIL.
Funny, that is how most of the people believe it works… believe me it does not.
This is my story....hopefully it will help someone else trying to collect child support.
Disclaimer: Any Child support collection ads running at the top of this page are probably not your best choice. Beware!!!
