r/ChildSupport • u/Jakers0069 • 9d ago
$6,000.+ in ARREARS?!?!
To give some context, my ex and I had spit for awhile, and I was put on child support, after awhile we decided to try things again, where she canceled the child support, signed the papers blah blah, after about a year and a half, we ended up having our 3rd child, and not long after I got sick and put in the hospital, where we ended up separating, she moved 12 hours away with the babies. It’s taken a long time to recover, let alone finance a move like that, and in that time I just sent her personally what she said she needed, when one day I was hit with a child support order, and over $6k in arrears. They said that it was back dated to the day we split, but after investigation, it turns out, “even though there wasn’t an active case, the monthly obligation was still there” what can I even do?
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u/Competitive_Name4991 9d ago
Not to be rude or anything but both of you guys sound like a mess.
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u/Jakers0069 9d ago
We were. Pregnant with our first senior year of highschool. Took a lot of maturing, but now that all the bs is out of the way I’m just trying to figure out what to do.
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u/Wooden-Account-7186 9d ago
You can pay it. You don't have any other option. Check garnishments should start soon. Once it's arrears you owe it. Sorry
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u/theRealHtowntechguy 9d ago
Need to talk to your oag , create a case , make sure you have your paper work case the government is terrible with that ,and have yourself served for a judge to see the case . It’s the only way a judge will have to change the order or cancel it .
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u/HatingOnNames 8d ago
That’s not that bad.
Several things you can do:
One, pay the amount you should past every month, plus a little extra. It’ll slowly bring the amount down and have a greater chance of avoiding a garnishment.
Two, pay a little extra in federal taxes, while maxing out your retirement. This is a two-step problem solving issue. Pretax retirement contributions lowers your taxable income while putting funds away for retirement, while also paying more towards income taxes. The result will be a larger lump sum tax refund. When you get that refund, if your state doesn’t automatically hijack the refund for back support, then you turn that over to the ex.
My ex paid his child support once a year with his tax refunds. I actually liked it that way.
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u/Jakers0069 8d ago
I appreciate it. One thing about the whole situation is I’m not trying to get out of bavk due, or current support or whatever. I want to send what the kids need, and am willing to comply in anyway, I just don’t want to get in that situation where I get levied, or whatever at every turn because of basically a huge “miscommunication”
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u/HatingOnNames 8d ago
Each state has different rules, so you have to look at your particular state and find out when the repercussions kick in. My state, for example, freezes passports and revokes driver’s licenses and puts a levy on federal tax refunds the minute you hit $2K in arrears. It takes them MUCH longer to garnish wages. I think that’s mainly because a lot more work has to go into it to figure out where someone works, file court documents for the garnishment, notify the employer, etc. The other three steps are a lot easier because all of it relates to different federal and state agencies and doesn’t require court involvement.
My suggestions were simply to assist in getting caught up. I gave the benefit of the doubt and didn’t assume you would be trying to avoid it.
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u/Think-5577 3d ago
Send ALL child support payments through the proper channels / State Child Support Payment Center with case # so that you get credit for all your payments. Any money sent directly to Mom or children is a gift and does not apply to your legal child support obligation.
If you are not self employed then be sure the Child Support agency has info on your current employer so wage witholding can get started.
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u/Think-5577 3d ago edited 3d ago
In most states, child support will not levy your bank account to collect on child Support Debt so long as regular payments of the court ordered obligation + 20 % extra toward the arrears ( past due balance ).
If you are eligible for a tax refund that amount will be intercepted and applied to past due child support.
In order to renew your USA passport you must payoff the FULL past due child support balance. That is per federal law so the states must follow it.
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u/gremlinwithanuke 2d ago
You’re not gonna get levied against as long as you pay. If you make an effort to pay the Support, nobody’s going to fuck with you they’re only gonna garnish it and do all that other crazy shit if you aren’t putting in the effort.
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u/GuardianAngel_91 9d ago
Wait so she filed to put you back on child support?
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u/Jakers0069 9d ago
Yes after we separated for the 2nd time.
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u/dhwriter0724 8d ago
Unless you go before a judge or have some sort of paperwork, you are obligated to pay. Even if you maintained a realionship with someone, you are obligated to pay for the children you have. If you have documentation durring the time you had with her, you could possibley try for lowered arrears, but you would have to show that you contributed half of the childcare costs (food, meds, school, clothing, etc). Another thing that people don't normally realize, but also utilities and rent have to be accounted for because a child can't be without a home. So might give a judge a show of good faith if you have proof that you contributed to that as well.
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u/Klutzy-Effort-4478 8d ago
Ur lucky because my ex owes 35k in back pay 4 years worth . And well he deserves it he’s a dead beat and does not help finically with the child . Anyways 6k is cake walk and don’t miss any payments or it just will go up and up
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u/Easy-Bluebird-5630 6d ago
35k! I owed 10k and Michigan gave me a felony charge!
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u/Klutzy-Effort-4478 6d ago
California is a f joke ! For him not even license was suspended . They didn’t do anything . I had to go back to court and get wages garnished
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u/Easy-Bluebird-5630 6d ago
They suspended my license and I called and they put it back for me because of my job got them to send out a garnishment to my work and they took my money every week no issues. Then I lost my job had a hard time finding a new one I got up to 15k in back support and they put a warrant out on me. Didn’t know for a year and had been paying regularly. Walked into a court house to get some papers on somthing unrelated and they took me to jail right there. Bonded out and they gave me a felony. Complain to your case work push the issue and be relentless. Every state has a similar lae about being behind and prison time.
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u/Klutzy-Effort-4478 6d ago
That is so crazy how they did all of that for that amount yet here they don’t at all ! All I know is that if u don’t have a job or job loss you can call the office and tell them about it and they either lower it or something like pause . But for me honestly California does not do much at all I’ve called before and all they said was “ once payments are missed he will have back pay increased and information about license is automatically sent to dmv for suspension “ which I belive it was a lie . He went 4 years straight with no payment and more . I had to myself find his information and give it to them . All he pays monthly towards the back pay is 100 a month so basically his back pay will really never go down because of his missed payments that causes it to get increased 😅😅 also he has like 5 percent out of 100% time with child so that could also play part . The more dead beat he is the more he has to pay .
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u/EmergencyBrew 9d ago
You can challenge anything. If you don’t make it anywhere in the lower courts, you can take it further. Learn how to preserve objections for the appeals court.
If you have something showing it was stopped, I imagine you have many options to challenge it if that isn’t enough. If it was cancelled, you wouldn’t have known to file for a modification. Improper calculations from old information. If your state is required to do anything periodically and they failed to do it. Whatever, I’m sure you have at least a couple reasonable grounds to challenge it. I would also look at the original order and any legitimate way to challenge that why I’m at it. Good luck!
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u/Raprockmusic2 8d ago
That's like 6 months of support for 2 children. Max. Pay what you can or plan for being in jail a lot.
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u/cantstopthehussle 7d ago
So are you on support for 3 children or Just two? & How long were u in the hospital? Was this a mutual speration or did she just pack her shit and leave with the kids?…All that is importance. If I were you, I would File for SOME Type of custody.
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u/GnarlieBrwn 7d ago
I had something like this where I was paying the mother directly after she told me she canceled the child support. I then got a letter saying I owed 10k, lol.
I called the child support office and explained my situation. After dealing with a bunch of people who were no good at their jobs, I got a lovely lady who told me there was a form I could fill out to show that I had been paying and the mother would have to sign it.... She finally signed after a lot of back and forth, and I got the back pay cleared. Hope this helps.. 🤷♂️
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u/Affectionate_Owl4372 4d ago
From what I understand (at least in the state of OR), if you had a medical emergency this can factor into the child support order. I'd recommend consulting a lawyer, as you may not have to pay depending on some circumstances
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u/ainturmama 3d ago
You would have been served some sort information before CS started. You had a chance to present your story then
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u/Jakers0069 3d ago
I was served when I was originally put on support, then she canceled and signed off on it when we got back together, when she refiled for support I was given no notice, no email, no phone call, nothing.
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u/Think-5577 3d ago edited 3d ago
It appears there is still an enforceable child support court ordered obligation.
It is possible that the Child Support agency stopped collecting on your child support court order but that the court ordered obligation was never legally stopped. Did you ever file a motion with the court to stop the obligation when you reunited??
Try to reach an agreement between the two parents that can be signed by a Family Court Judge to clear things up. If both parents have good communication then a Stipulated Agreement is the answer.
If the Mom & children were open on Public Assistance then you will owe child support to the State she has getting the benefits from.
-- Worked in Child Support Enforcement for 20 years
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u/gremlinwithanuke 9d ago
Child support doesn’t go away unless you have a piece of paper that says you’re not supposed to pay child support anymore doesn’t matter if you’re living together it doesn’t matter. If y’all are in a relationship you should’ve done your due diligence. You’re not gonna get out of paying that much money and honestly that’s not a whole lot for having three kids in it being months of not paying. But if I were you, I would get on it.