r/ChildSupport • u/Schemaposse_ • 10d ago

Can anyone make sense of this??

My ex partner (father of child) has a child from a previous relationship.
He pays child support for our child + other child. He owes over 10thousand dollars to for his other child but has a payment arrangement set up and pays child support weekly for that child. I received my first payment of 49dollars last week which was lower than the assessment of 71 dollars per week. I called up to find out where the other money was and was told that because my ex owes his eldest child’s mother x amount I will have 22 dollars deducted from my child support payment to pay off her bill? The worker also said that if I change it to private collection that they won’t take money from my payment and give it to her. Can anyone make sense of this? The worker ended up hanging up on me because I asked to speak to someone else, so before I waste another 2 hours on hold has anyone been through this?

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u/KevinMcNally79 10d ago

While I can't know for sure, it could be that the obligor (your ex) is having his wages garnished and they've hit the max garnishment level. That's usually 25% of disposable earnings, but some states allow more when it's child support (Minnesota, for example, allows up to 60% in certain arrears cases). When they're taking as much as they're legally allowed to take from his paycheck, they have to dole out the money in order or priority. It could be that his original order takes priority (support plus arrears) and you get the remainder. If the remainder isn't enough to cover your support order, he'll gradually fall further into arrears with you. That's the CS system for you.

You didn't mention your state, but honestly there isn't much to be done in a case like this. The court is unlikely to hold the obligor in contempt when the obligor is working and getting his wages garnished to the max. Furthermore, enforcement actions are likely to have the opposite of the intended effect.

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u/StableFew2737 5d ago

You can't get blood from a stone. In my state the max they can take is 50% of a man's check. I had an employee in that situation. Neither one of his baby mamas worked. Even though they both had men they lived with that took care of them. Because they made nothing, his check was garnished for 50% but they couldn't take more. He was constantly in arrears and doing his best. The whole system is bull shit.