General legal information furnished as a service of Fort Lauderdale / West Palm Beach family law attorney Janet Langjahr
South Carolina Mother served with summons for child support. Past due child support.
Twelve years, to be precise. Children are long since grown.
But that doesn’t void the legal duty to pay.
The entire arrearage.
All 63 cents of it.
Or else.
According to a new computer system utilized by the South Carolina courts.
But the Mother says she discharged her entire obligation twelve years ago, and received a notification to prove it.
Hope she saved it. It can be difficult to prove to those computers that they’re wrong.
Read more in this USA Today article: S.C. court issues summons for old 63-cent child-support bill and this WLTX article: Sumter Court Said Woman Owed $0.63 in Child Support.
Army colonel did not want to pay court-ordered child support beyond his small voluntary payments. How badly did he not want to pay additional child support?
Badly enough to allegedly engage in fraud in the paternity testing process, specifically, having someone else take the paternity test for him. For which he was recently convicted of “attempted theft by deception, solicitation to tampering with public records, solicitation to fabrication of evidence and being an accessory to obstruction of the administration of law”.
Apparently undeterred, the military man now seeks a reduction in his increased court-ordered support payments, because his income has been halved since he retired from active duty as a result of his convictions.
The applicable child support enforcement agency has indicated its intention to oppose any reduction in the officer’s child support.
A Colonel. In the US armed forces.
Read more in this Midstate [PA] News article: Convicted colonel tries to cut child support payments and this Central PA news article: Ex-colonel seeks cut in child support.
Delinquency in child support is a huge problem in this country. And in the UK too.
In the UK in 2005, there were 330,000 cases in arrears, to the extent of 3 billion UK pounds.
So the Brits came up with a hoped-for solution to stem the tide.
A new class in elementary school that will teach children to assume responsibility for supporting their own children. As well as the consequences of failing to do so - right down to the lengths of jail sentences they can expect for their delinquency.
At the same time, the UK’s support enforcement agency is lobbying for greater enforcement powers, such as the ability to confiscate passports and revoke driver’s licenses administratively, without judicial process.
This new class may do more than sex education to reduce unwanted teen pregnancies. Perhaps the US should follow suit …
Read more in this UK Times article: Boys will learn to be good dads at 11.
When the marriage starts heading south, it’s time to start paying attention to the finances - especially for spouses who never paid attention before. With some spouses, the window of opportunity to prove the existence of assets and that they are marital will close rapidly.
So it may be important to act quickly. And it may be necessary to engage various experts, ranging from divorce financial investigators to forensic computer analysts.
The things to look at, preserve and copy may include joint and the other spouse’s:
Once you have your hands on them, study them, or have an expert do so.
Read more in this Olympian [WA] article: Spouse hiding assets? Learn how to protect yourself from secrets, lies.
One Oklahoma county is testing a new approach to child support enforcement.
Separate the noncustodial parents who don’t want to pay from the noncustodial parents who do want to pay but can’t, because they don’t have a job.
For the noncustodial parents who fall into the second category, a Court Liaison works with local organizations to help them become employable, find and keep a job, in return for regular support payments. The Liaison also keeps tabs on the noncustodial parents.
The employers who hire the noncustodial parents receive a tax credit as well as an employee.
Read more in this Shawnee Sun article: New Program Aimed At Better Child Support.
Nineteen year old woman (Mother) and a fifteen year old boy (Boy) have sex, and a Baby is conceived.
The Mother is under a grand jury indictment for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, which could lead to incarceration for a year and one-half as well as having to register as a sex offender.
Mother got acquainted with Boy and moved in with the Boy’s family after complaining of abuse by her stepfather.
Mother’s stepfather was allegedly convicted of domestic violence against Mother’s minor sister, specifically, striking, choking and pointing a gun at her.
For now, Mother and Baby are living with the Mother’s family, including the stepfather.
The Boy’s parents are seeking to obtain custody of the Baby due to the asserted unfitness of Mother and reported abusiveness of Mother’s stepfather.
In the meantime, an Ohio Family Court has ordered the Boy-victim to pay Mother $50 per month in child support.
It is unknown whether the amount of child support was based on an afterschool job or on the Boy’s allowance from his parents.
The Boy was also awarded seven hours per week of visitation with the Baby.
Read more in this Columbus Dispatch article: Boy’s Parents Sue to Get His Baby From Mom, 21.
Ex-Husband has custody of Child. Ex-Wife is ordered to maintain medical insurance for Child.
Child seriously injured in bad accident. Dad discovers that Child’s insurance lapsed several weeks before.
Finding out that your child’s or your insurance coverage has been canceled or modified just when you need it most is a nightmare.
There are a couple of ways to prevent that from happening.
The source article discussed the Qualified Medical Child Support Judgment Order required in every Missouri divorce involving minor children where insurance is available.
But an endorsement to any insurance can be negotiated and ordered which requires the insurance carrier to provide 30 - 90 days notice to the insured prior to canceling or modifying (reducing) coverage. That works whether the insured is a child or a former spouse.
The party required to provide the insurance should be required to deliver the certificate of insurance / declarations page reflecting the special endorsement to the insured within 10 days after final judgment.
Read more in this South Side Journal article - Fox Family Files: Do you have a “Q-order in your divorce decree?
International debt. The term conjures up notions of international balance of trade.
But it can have another meaning entirely.
International child support debt. What’s that?
That’s when a nation’s children are owed support by foreigners.
And also when a nation’s adults owe support to foreign children.
These are international financial transactions.
Foreigners, mostly New Zealanders and Americans, owe Australian children $235 million. Canada and Britain also have substantial international child support debt.
But the problem goes beyond even that.
Under the Hague Convention, Australia is obligated to collect from Australia residents monies owed to foreign children.
And other nations that are parties to the Hague Convention have reciprocal obligations to collect international child support for foreign children.
Read more in this Australian article: Foreign dads boost child support debt.
Some minor children were arrested on charges of killing swans and geese in a Kansas zoo. These are felony charges, including animal cruelty.
The youths are in juvenile justice detention and could remain there for some time.
Accordingly, the government has requested that the parents of the juveniles pay child support to save the taxpayers the cost of supporting the youths while they are in detention.
If this seems strange, it shouldn’t. It is not unusual to to require the non-indigent parents of minor children to pay support while their kids are in the extended care of the government.
Read more in this Kansas Emporia Gazette article: Parents are asked to pay support for juvenile suspects in zoo case.
Your divorce is finally final. Now you can move on with your life.
Maybe you’d like to start over with a new condo or house. You find the perfect place.
You begin working with a mortgage broker. In the course of your chit-chat, you mention you were just divorced.
Don’t be surprised when your mortgage broker asks you for a copy of your … final judgment of dissolution (also known as divorce decree).
How come?
Read more in this WalletPop article: Mortgage Confidential: Why lenders want to see your divorce decree.
Ohio is pretty high tech. The child support enforcement agency doesn’t just mail out child support checks to custodial parents.
Instead it either directly deposits the monies into the parent’s bank account or adds the monies to a debit card for the parent.
They’ve been doing it that way for about eight years and it’s apparently worked pretty well.
Until at least one recipient recently received an e-mail, ostensibly from the contracting company that administers the program. The e-mail asked the woman to update her account information.
The e-mail looked perfectly genuine and legitimate to her. So she did as the e-mail instructed.
And after that, all the money was siphoned out of the account.
It was only $168 at the time. But her kids probably could have used that money.
Money they would have had the benefit of if the state had been lower tech and just mailed her a check.
The woman complained to the contracting company. But the company blamed her for being duped and refused to refund her money.
And the state, in effect, backed them up, reportedly maintaining that the agency warns custodial parents not to respond to e-mails about their accounts.
Low tech custodial parents duped. High tech scammers get a windfall. High tech state probably saves money.
Kids suffer …
Read more in this Athens [OH] Messenger article: Scammers targeting child support.
Mother and Father separate. Child, a US citizen, lives with Mother and spends weekends with Father.
Federal government brings deportation proceedings against Father for multiple driving convictions.
How do immigration court and family court impact each other?
There are reportedly few guidelines for judges or parties when immigration law and family law collide with each other head-on.
Federal trial court allows Father to remain in the US, so Father can follow state court visitation and child support order (based on higher US calculations). The Court concluded that federal immigration law should defer to state policy in family law.
But a federal appeals court reversed the ruling and sent it back to the trial court. The federal government argued that the case should be viewed no differently than a run of the mill relocation case where the custodial parent seeks to move to another state.
The federal court agreed, ruling that the noncustodial parent could live in a border town - and the children could visit in the deported parent’s country. Of course, that may sit better in theory than in practice.
Whatever the outcome, Father will be violating one of two US court orders.
State courts generally only consider immigration issues from the perspective of whether the immigrant parent will likely flee with the child.
But what if the deported parent simply kept the child in the other country after visitation?
With stricter enforcement immigration laws, family court issues are anticipated to turn up in immigration courts with increasing frequency. Are they ready?
Read more in this Los Angeles Times article: Custody case of Long Beach boy complicates deportation of illegal immigrant.
Child support arrearages in Australia top $1 billion. And the arrearages are growing at the alarming rate of $50 million a year.
In a desperate effort to stem the tide, Australia is going to take a closer look at separated parents suspected of understating their income information.
Private investigators will perform visual surveillance of such parents for a year.
Both parents will also have to produce tax returns to child support enforcement personnel.
And the child support enforcement agency has partnered with a private company to seize and sell a parent’s assets, such as a car or home, to collect arrearages.
After a year, the program will be evaluated based upon its impact on collections.
If it works, who knows where else the program might be adapted and implemented? And what will be next?
The mere thought might have a positive impact on child support collections all over the world.
Read more in
How many noncustodial parents in Colorado who are behind in their child support payments are blowing money at the track or in casinos?
More than a few, judging by the actions of the Colorado legislature.
From now on, winnings that are subject to income tax withholding will also be subject to interception for child support arrearages.
To implement interception, gaming establishments will be entrusted with a database of the names and social security numbers of deadbeat noncustodial parents to check for winners.
Intercepted monies are required to be transmitted to the state within twenty-four hours of winning.
Gaming companies are apparently not enthusiastic about their new duties in child support enforcement and probably fear, possibly with good reason, the chilling effect interception will have on their customers.
Read more in this [CO] KRDO News Radio article: New Law Ensures Gamblers Pay Their Child Support and this Colorado Springs Gazette article: Gambling winnings will be taken for unpaid support.
In April, a Wisconsin social services agency concluded that two siblings were safe and no further action was warranted.
On May 8th, a Wisconsin County filed for support for the two siblings.
On May 22nd, the Father filed to divorce the Mother.
A hearing in the divorce was set for June 18th.
A hearing on support was set for July 1st.
What’s wrong with this picture?
On May 5th, the Mother allegedly murdered one of the children, a two year old boy.
The Mother reportedly worked part-time for a Wisconsin children’s social welfare agency.
The Mother is now being held in a secure location, on charges of first degree intentional homicide.
The other sibling, a girl, has been temporarily placed with the Mother’s parents - whose home the Mother and children were at at the time of the toddler’s death.
The Father seeks custody of the girl.
Read more in this Appleton [WI] Post Crescent article: Child support granted after Neenah boy’s death and Detroit’s Fox News article: Outagamie County Explains Role in Brenda Thiel Case.
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.
Like police officers and firefighters, child support workers are selflessly dedicated to helping others, in this case, children.
In Savannah, among other places, noncustodial parents sometimes get hot under the collar when child support enforcement personnel attempt to collect overdue child support.
Sometimes these parents even get violent.
Which, sadly, makes child support enforcement a hazardous career, just like law enforcement and first response.
Savannah is addressing the dangers of the job proactively, training staffers in self defense.
Read more in this Savannah [GA] WSAV 3 TV article: Child Support Workers Learn to Deal with Danger.
Regular readers of my blog are probably familiar with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
Another Hague conference is convened to consider entering another treaty even as I post, a treaty to permit child support obligations entered in one country to be enforced in other countries that are parties to the treaty. One hundred countries are in attendance.
Such a convention would close a “loophole” that some noncustodial parents are only too happy to avail themselves of - leaving the country to avoid paying support (with impunity).
Currently, enforcement of US child support obligations overseas is hit or miss, depending on the country in which enforcement is sought.
In our increasingly mobile society, The Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance is an idea whose time has come.
Read more in this Digital Journal article: Legal experts to finalize global child support convention.
A Wisconsin assistant district attorney describes her mission of criminally charging non-custodial parents who are seriously delinquent in their child support payments.
She aptly points out something that custodial parents often don’t get: the court can’t force a non-custodial parent to be a good parent. To actually visit their child, call their child, care for their child, do for their child, etc.
But under the right circumstances, there is one thing the court can do. Make sure the non-custodial parent pays their child support obligations. Sooner or later. Or risk jail time.
Read more in this Washington Post article: Corralling Deadbeat Dads.
Financial Considerations In A Divorce Settlement:
Read more in this Kansas City Fox 4 News article, FOX 4 Finance: Divorce Settlements.
It took until July of this year. But since that time, the Cherokee Nation has had its own child support enforcement program.
And the program has gotten off to an impressive start.
A case opened on July 31st culminated in the program’s very first child support payment, which was made within just two weeks of the opening of the case.
There aren’t many state support enforcement agencies (and custodial parents) that wouldn’t envy that quick a turnaround time.
And the Cherokee child who benefited had not previously received any support from her father.
Read more in this Tanasi [Southeast American Indian] Journal article out of Oklahoma: New Cherokee Nation Office Enforces Child Support.
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