Florida Divorce * Child Custody * Domestic Violence Law Lawyer | Boca Raton

One area of the law where states differ dramatically is in child support enforcement.

An Indiana man accumulated $120,000 in child support arrearages.

That’s a felony in Indiana, for which he was charged with three counts.

That man was sentenced to nine (9) years in prison for non-payment of child support.

To be followed by 15 years of probation.

Indiana likely has a much higher rate of compliance with child support orders than Florida does.

Read more in this WSBT TV article: Man $120,000 behind in child support gets 9-year sentence in South Bend.

The place is Mississippi.

A local man, a judge and city attorney, reportedly faces contempt of court for failing to pay past due child support of $1,500.

The man contends that he can’t afford to pay it and that it is an unreasonably high amount of child support, more suited to a Hollywood celebrity than a local judge and attorney.

The man may think that the judge who presided over his divorce is biased against him. That judge awarded custody of the man’s baby to its mother.

The man expects to be jailed for contempt.

On the other hand, the judge who originally drew his case recused himself.

All concerned are awaiting appointment of another judge to hear the case.

In an interesting side note, the mans’ wife and her cousin were arrested for allegedly stealing computer disks from the man’s law office.

Read more in this Jackson [MS] Clarion-Ledger article: Judge recuses himself from colleague’s child support case.

Hawaii, which has a poor track record of collecting delinquent child support, has decided to crack down on deadbeat noncustodial parents.

The state has hired a paralegal and an investigator and is currently building and prosecuting misdemeanor and felony cases for chronic nonpayment of child support with insufficient justification.

The crackdown targets those significantly in arrears and who are well able to meet their legal obligation.

The new measures are the talk of Hawaii and are in fact motivating noncustodial parents to make payments toward their support obligation.

Prior to the crackdown, only a handful of cases were prosecuted in the last quarter of a century, even though the law permitted such prosecutions.

This new initiative is funded by a federal grant of funds.

Read more in this Honolulu Advertiser article: Indictments rattle deadbeat parents.

Missouri Husband and wife separate.

Fourteen months later, wife gives birth to a child.

Husband and wife advise Missouri’s child support enforcement agency that Husband is not the biological father of the baby.

But since the couple was still legally married, the state declared Husband to be the father and liable for child support.

At one point, he was incarcerated for non-payment.

Six years later, the Missouri Supreme Court recently ruled, however, that Husband could not be incarcerated without a hearing and an opportunity to prove that he is not the biological father of the child.

That’s because Husband was determined to be the father by the child support agency rather than a court.

But even if Husband wins the hearing, that is, proves to the Court that he is not the father, that just means that he can’t be incarcerated for non-payment.

He can still be compelled to pay by other means.

Because he didn’t challenge the determination in a timely fashion.

Some states, including Florida, have amended similar laws - but only if the alleged father timely proves that he is not the biological father.

That still would not have helped Husband here.

Read more in this Kansas City Star article: Despite DNA, child support may be enforced.

Father doesn’t want to pay child support.

How badly?

So badly that he reportedly fled the US for Canada.

How much does he owe?

Allegedly, almost $500,000.

What distinction did that earn him?

A spot on the Ten Most Wanted list for nonpayment of child support.

And criminal charges.

And deportation from Canada.

Father is now being held in custody by authorities.

His bail was set at $500,000.

Read more in this Milford Daily News article: Top 10 deadbeat dad faces charges and this Metrowest Daily News article: Judge sets bail high for father.

Payment - or non-payment - of child support may affect children in ways that go beyond money and are, sometimes, unintended.

For noncustodial parents who are struggling to meet their legal obligations, it may mean children making do with less during visitation - and the rest of the time too.

For parents fighting about child support, it may mean children experiencing misguided guilt - or anger and frustration - toward one or both parents.

Children may act out.

They may empathize with the nonpaying parent.

Or they may experience denial of a deadbeat parent’s delingquency - or resulting low self-esteem.

Or it may affect them years later.

Children may imitate a responsible parent - or an irresponsible parent.

And they may learn the value of a dollar.

Read more in this South Texas Monitor article: For children, child support can’t buy peace of mind.

Florida has had at least its fair share of scandal over sealing of court records in violation of the law and open public records policy of this state. But we’re not alone.

A Nevada judge ordered that a child support case against another, former Nevada judge be sealed - unilaterally and summarily - and also entered a gag order in the case. The judge benefiting from the sealing and gag order was seeking to get back into the judiciary.

The sealing judge reportedly did not comply with Nevada legal requirements for sealing court records. But she defended her actions as being for the protection of the minor child.

The Nevada Supreme Court reversed and ruled that the sealing judge abused her discretion.

Further, according to the Los Angeles Times, which had her under investigation, the same judge allegedly presided over cases where friends or business associates were parties - on more than one occasion.

Read more in this Los Angeles Times article: Nevada judge abused authority, court rules.

Massachusetts man buys lottery ticket.

Man wins $1 million lottery.

All is good in his universe.

Until …

Man gets charged with violating terms of his probation on bank robbery charges.

Not his first probation violation.

Then man is served with contempt of court papers for failure to pay almost $40,000 in back alimony and child support.

Man will not know his fate until next year.

Man’s story illustrates the saying: “be careful what you wish for…”.

Support recipients everywhere got what they wished for in this instance too.

A spokesman for the state lottery issued a statement that state lottery officials would comply with any court order for support.

Read more in this Cape Cod Times article: More bad news for lottery winner.

A multimillionaire and his wife are going through a hotly contested, expensive divorce in which the parties are disputing property division and support issues. Hardly surprising or unusual.

The couple currently live in the UK, although they reportedly manage, quite legally, not to pay any taxes on their wealth. Much of the Husband’s wealth is tied up in trusts.

The couple have two children who have financial interests and needs. But how to protect them from their parents battle?

The British court awarded the children UK 30,000 pounds to retain legal counsel to protect their interests - at taxpayer expense.

A British judge commented that it is “exquisitely ironical”. Those probably aren’t the words British taxpayers would use.

Except for the attorney for the children, which is not so common in conventional family cases, the case is not that different from many cases where the parties have far more modest means.

For example, one spouse is paying a fortune to its lawyers to avoid paying anything to the other spouse - and succeeding too well so far.

Read more in this UK Guardian article: Children of multimillionaire given legal aid in divorce battle.

Many custodial parents struggle to raise their children with inadequate child support, whether due to the noncustodial parent’s inability to pay, consistently, in full, or his or her unwillingness to pay, consistently, in full.

The noncustodial parent should, of course, pay in full and on time.

But deviations run across a broad spectrum, from never paying at all to being mostly compliant with legal obligations, except in times of rare hardship.

Florida has the dubious distinction of being home to a noncustodial parent allegedly at the far non-compliant end of the spectrum.

This so-called deadbeat dad reportedly owes $651,000, all in child support.

He has been held in contempt, for willful non-compliance with court orders, seven different times over the last fifteen years.

He was tossed in jail, on misdemeanor charges, for short stretches, a couple of times along the way. Each time, friends supposedly bailed him out with their own money.

The custodial parent’s civil remedies having been exhausted with no success in recovering the debt, a felony criminal prosecution is now pending. A first in this part of Florida.

Oh, the deadbeat dad is said to have turned down a generous offer to settle for $200,000.

Felony prosecution: a shot heard round the … state? Similarly struggling custodial parents around the state can only hope so.

Read more in this WFTV 9 news article: Deputies Catch Father Who Owes $651,000 In Child Support.