This question is for a friend who is going through this... her x-husband (serial cheater) was ordered to pay a certain amount of child support and then moved to a different state. Since moving he hasn't made any of this payments. My friend has a 19 mo old daughter and is really struggling.

I've heard of garnishing wages and whatnot, but figured there are people here who know this rigamarole a lot faster/easier than I could hunt it down. Any help?

Lyxa,
I think it depends on the state. But my stepniece's dad didn't pay his child support so my brother and sister in law took him to court until he did. He either had to pay, or go to jail. His choice. The courts usually aren't soft on dead beat dads-thank goodness.

Lyxa, tell your friend that she can either take him back to court and ask that his wages be garnished for the child support or she can go to her local Department of Human Services and take her divorce degree with her. They can and will garnish his wages, it doesn't matter that he no longer lives in the same state she does.

The Internal Revenue Service will also confiscate any tax refunds he may be due for back child support payments, but again she needs to go to DHS and let them handle this for her.

Have her do some calling around for information. In my state (Delaware) there is a Division of Child Support Enforcement. I knew about it and when I went and filed for the Protection from Abuse Order, I was told to go over there, but no one really explained it to me until H and I were at our Hearing and the Commissioner asked me if I was a client of DCSE. I told him I wasn't and what did it mean being a "client"? It seems that in Delaware the DCSE doesn't just enforce Child Support Orders -- for $25 they will file the petitions, go to court with you, file for the wage attachments, track deadbeats down, handle the accouting -- basically do everything they can to make sure you collect. They even provide an attorney (who actually works for them and not you, but when you can't afford your own every little bit helps). I was really amazed and wished I had known of all the services they provided back when we first separated. I certainly wouldn't have waited so long to sign up!

Maryland does have a program for this... but it takes like 6-8 weeks to process responses in the process from the other state. Is THAT normal? I would think that the family courts would be way more strict on deadbeat dads than allowing this kind of lag... y'know? Or that the IRS (as a national organization) would be all over this kind of thing.

Anyways, thanks for all your great responses.

Lyxa-
Garnishing wages is a good thing to do under SOME circumstances. The employer is held accountable and is legally liable (at least in some states) for the payments which can be a good thing. The downside is that "garnishing wages" delays payments and should ONLY be used if the alternative is non-payment. My opinion is "garnishing wages" is a last resort (which your friend may be facing). Even arranging for payments to go through the court system can delay payments. My x paid me directly and, in fact, paid months ahead (I held the post dated checks until the proper date). We lived in different states. My DH, on the other hand, had to pay through the courts (without his wages being garnished). He also lived in a different state than his x and his children. We found that there was a lag time of nearly a month between when we wrote the check to the court and when his x received it. It would have been far preferable to pay her direct. I add this ONLY so other readers can know the ramifications of going through the courts to ensure payment. IOW, I have known parents who wanted to "get back" at their x spouses and chose the courts as a device to do so. In the end, it hurt the custodial parent more than it did the parent paying the support.

But, as I said, it may be too late for your friend to try other options. In my state (Florida) you could lose your driver's license and any other professional licenses if you fail to pay (we haven't paid child support in years, so I don't know if those laws are still in affect). Additionally, the IRS could garnish any refunds.

Your friend could also seek public assistance. Generally, the agency responsible for providing the assistance will go after the deadbeat. Again though, once the government becomes involved it's difficult to get back any personal power/control. I'd suggest that your friend contact her x (through her attorney if she has one) and let him know that she is prepared to garnish his wages, notify the IRS, seek public assistance and check into having his driver's license revoked. He may just pay up so that he can avoid the hassle.

Good luck to her,
~BTM

L,
Your friend needs to contact her lawyer.
All states are not the same.
Her lawyer will tell her what she needs to do.

A.

All counties are different with sending out the check. My county was good about getting it to me. However, the employer was another story. In my state, the employer had 10 days from date of garnishement to send it to them. He was paid weekely. One employer, would send the check monthly to the county. So, I had to wait. His occupation it was common to change employers weekly. The county told me, that as long as they get it every month, they don't fine the company. (Even though they are not doing as required).

I think all states/counties have an obligation to provide some sort of service for getting court ordered child support. I know a few years back the Federal government, started a crack down on federal funds to states that were not diligent about helping to get CS. (I don't recall exactly what it was, but I know they got involved somehow)I think it affected the amount of money the state got from the feds.

It took me about 3 months before I saw my first check, but once it starts coming in, you start seeing it fairly regularly. Even though she would have a wait, 6-8 week wait is better than waiting 3 more months before starting proceedings and getting nothing.

It's amazing to me that this is as inefficient as it is. Had I had a child in my divorce, I would have been paying at least $800 per month child support IF she had received custody... regardless of my x's affair, regardless of whether it was fair or not.

What I'm hearing is that the only collection mechasims are:
- Trust 'em.
- Garnish 'em. Inefficient.

No wonder there are so many deadbeat parents out there. It's like you're encouraged to not pay unless the courts make you! What's up with that? I guess I assumed that as part of the divorce, the IRS would note the person's SSN and the amount owed on a monthly basis. And, then if Trust 'em failed, it would be rectified at tax time. I guess that's how it would work if I had set this part of the system up. I just can't believe it takes so long to turn this stuff around.

It's also a different mindset I guess because, if I owed child support, I would pay it... at least that's what I tell myself.

Now, my next question is this...

I've heard of organizations that do a "life of annuity" assessment and will essentially buy the right to collect from the deadbeat (or lottery winnings or inheritance or whatever) for an upfront lump sum of cash. Then, they go after the deadbeat for collections forever and you never have to talk to them again. My understanding is that, lets say if the deadbeat paid as ordered, you would collect $100,000. This organization would give you like $50,000 and then on a monthly basis go after the deadbeat for collections.

Has anyone heard of this? Or worked with such a group?

After dealing with this for almost a year and half... trying to collect CS from a dead-beat spouse will work you.

Having ran through the Court system in it's entirety with this issue, and going through more frustration than the actual divorce and affair (not counting attorney's fees), I finally decided to turn to the State.

All States are different and I live in Colorado... So I will give you my account on how I finally got it handled.

I called what is known in this State as "The Family Support Registery", which is part of the State Human Sevices and Social Services Branch.

So I would look in the phone book under State Governments... and call HS or SS, and start there... they... I'm sure will lead you to the proper agency that handles CS cases and issues in your State.

After contacting them... I gave them my Court Case #, and of course they didn't have anything on file... so I had to fax the final divorce decree or in this State what they call "Permanent Orders".

Once they had that... they referred me over to "Child Support Enforcment". Again, I had to fax everything that had anything to do with my divorce over to them... because they didn't have anything either.

Now the good part... they wanted to know where she lived and worked and what names she was running under. Well she had moved so many times and changed jobs so many times that it was almost impossible to keep track of what was what for what. Long story short... none of our children or myself had seen or heard from her since the day she left which was over 1-1/2 yrs. ago.

Well to get all this current info on my exW to give to Child Support Enforcement (CSE)... I went on-line with my computer, and went to a site called KnowX. For all of $2.88, it gave me every piece of info I needed on her except her current apartment # and place of employment.

I hired someone to go and get me that apartment #, and they also came back with where she worked... as well as the current alias she was running under... she had changed her name.

Well armed with all of this... I gave it to CSE and about 2 weeks later they started garnishing her pay check.

Needless to say... it took a very long time for me to finally get my exW to live up to the Court Order.

If she quits her job, and does not forward payments to them on her own... and they have to go looking for her again... she will go to jail this time around.

Now that she is in the system, according to CSE... she will be very easy to track... even if she jumps States.

The State here handles it all once they are in the system.

It moves pretty slow sometimes... but if you hang with it... they will eventually catch up to them.

The Feds... also get in on the act. If they are in arrears... they take their Federal Income tax refund. This State also suspends any licenses they have... including their drivers license, as well as taking any State tax refunds.

I'm not sure if this will help you any... but it is by far cheaper to let the State handle it, than to have your attorney try to find him.

Good Luck!

Stay Strong!

Wallace

my situation is a little wierd, i have been receiving CS from wage garnishment, as of July 18, I have not received anything. He is still working, however, they stop CS. Is it just a mistake from the employer or you think something else is going on? I called DCSE, but have not heard back from them. I guess it will just take a while for me to know whats going on from DCSE.

bump

...to continue discussion of 1-time annuity settlements. Anyone familiar with these?

I live in FL our D was in escambia county Al. I did get in touch with child support enforcement in Fl. they are handling my child support payments & court ordered medical and school. they can go after the deadbeat parent not just for childsupport but any court ordered payments. X thinks just because he pays the childsupport they wont do anything for court ordered medical & school. X is behind $1800.00. so far they ask IRS to intecept his federal tax refund for non payment. next step is to go after his paycheck. they can put liens on his car or his home he bought with OW. They will also be checking to make sure X is paying the right amount of childsupport for FL. I was told my support is low for FL. escambia county AL does not make deadbeat parents pay or wont help go after them. My X is a sheriff officer & knows the Al courts wont make him pay.

Thanks for all the posts. I guess the 1-time annuity settlements don't work or no one has experience with these on MB.

Next question then... is there a "Good Way" to process and collect from a deadbeat? I guess what I'm asking is, from those of you with experience in this, it seems to boil down to whatever the enforcement agency is. Is there a better, faster, easier way to do this?

bump

L,
Go to Findlaw.com
Hire a hit man.

A.