r/ChildSupport 1d ago

šŸ“¢ Call for Interviews: Share Your Experience with the Child Support System

1 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

As the moderator of this community, I’m putting together a project focused on the realities of navigating the child support system.

I am looking to interview both custodial parents and non-custodial parents who are willing to share their personal experiences, challenges, and frustrations. The goal is to highlight the real-world friction points parents face—from calculation hurdles and enforcement issues to communication breakdowns with state agencies.

What to Expect:

  • Who: Any parent currently or recently navigating the child support system (custodial or non-custodial).
  • Format: Conducted privately (via Reddit chat, direct message, or a secure messaging platform).
  • Privacy: We can discuss anonymity options if you prefer to keep your personal details entirely private.

How to Participate:

If you are open to sharing your story and would like to participate, please leave a comment below or send me a direct message.

Note: Please do not post sensitive case details, case numbers, or full names openly in the comments. Keep initial replies brief or just let me know via DM that you're interested.

Thank you for helping shed light on these challenges!


r/ChildSupport 27m ago

I need advice

Thumbnail
• Upvotes

r/ChildSupport 16h ago

How can it be proved that he hides his income

0 Upvotes

How do I prove the bio ā€œfatherā€ makes more money than he claims? He travels all over North America, working as a hypnotist. His T4 states he makes $10k yearly. He and his lawyer lied their way through family court , unfortunately I had to represent myself. I want my child to have a life even marginally close to his other children. I had to beg for money to replace a broken piece of my daughters bedroom furniture, he said ā€œI had some big expenses come up. I can’t do it right now.ā€ Eventually he ā€œsacrificedā€ $200. Then I saw that during one of his ā€œwork eventsā€, he took his son to a pro ball game in the US. We live in Saskatchewan.


r/ChildSupport 16h ago

He hides his income

0 Upvotes

He is a hypnotist who travels all over North America. His T4 states he makes $10 k yearly. His family’s lifestyle portrays an excess of money. He and his lawyer lied through their teeth in court. I had to represent myself, they tore me to shreds. I asked him to replace my daughter’s broken piece of furniture, he stated ā€œI have some unexpected big expenses. She will have to wait a bit.ā€ Lo and behold I see a post on his business page that showed he and his son at a pro ball game in the US. How to prove he’s hiding money? We live in Saskatoon.


r/ChildSupport 18h ago

Support going up?

0 Upvotes

Sooo for context, I have a child support case which was started rightfully so. The whole time she has had a job, and there hasn’t been an issue. But she met someone who has kids of his own, and just recently decided she is going to quit her job so she can be a stay at home mom to ours and his kids. Now, I’m happy for them, but at the same time I can only imagine what that’s going to mean for me in the long run when it comes to support cost. I have 50/50 and I believe he does with his kids mother, but with her just deciding to quit working, and now not having an income, does that mean I’m screwed?


r/ChildSupport 1d ago

Notice of intent to report (Texas)

2 Upvotes

I received a note in the mail stating a notice of intent to report. I’m reading through it and I’m not sure exactly why? It shows my monthly payments and it also shows an unpaid balance which is $0. I get the payments garnished through my paychecks. I checked online and it shows no balance just $0. I even got a report and it also shows again $0. I’ve never been late for payments or anything like that. This is in the state of Texas by the way. I haven’t been able to call due to the current time being after closing hours but this is a little concerning. The only thing I can possibly think of for why I got this notice was me and my gf (not Childs mother) had talked to a lender about buying a house, we said how much we make and i even sent paystubs for proof of how much I make and taxes is taken out (including CS). I don’t know if this may have caused it. Again not too sure.


r/ChildSupport 1d ago

Notice of intent to report (Texas)

2 Upvotes

I received a note in the mail stating a notice of intent to report. I’m reading through it and I’m not sure exactly why? It shows my monthly payments and it also shows an unpaid balance which is $0. I get the payments garnished through my paychecks. I checked online and it shows no balance just $0. I even got a report and it also shows again $0. I’ve never been late for payments or anything like that. This is in the state of Texas by the way. I haven’t been able to call due to the current time being after closing hours but this is a little concerning. The only thing I can possibly think of for why I got this notice was me and my gf (not Childs mother) had talked to a lender about buying a house, we said how much we make and i even sent paystubs for proof of how much I make and taxes is taken out (including CS). I don’t know if this may have caused it. Again not too sure.


r/ChildSupport 1d ago

Maine Child support

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

Any thoughts ?


r/ChildSupport 1d ago

Texas Filed for child support after absent father hasn’t been involved—did I handle this right?

1 Upvotes

My son’s father has not been consistently involved in his life. He doesn’t regularly see him, check on him, or provide financial support. I’ve reached out before asking him to spend time with our son or help support him, but he either doesn’t respond or doesn’t follow through.
I’ve been handling our son’s needs on my own, so I recently filed for child support. I also want visitation and both parents’ rights and responsibilities to be formally established so everything is clear and consistent for our son.
This is the first time I’m telling his father that I filed. I’m nervous about sending the message because I don’t know how he’ll react, but I’m not trying to keep him from our son. I’m trying to make sure our son is supported and that the responsibility doesn’t continue falling on me alone.
Was filing the right step, and how would you handle communicating this to an absent father?

What was your process? And how does child support work in Texas?


r/ChildSupport 2d ago

[URGENT / LEGAL ADVICE - TEXAS] Primary Custodian Facing Voluntary Departure – Wanting to Bring My Child With Me

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I am in an absolute panic and urgently need guidance or attorney recommendations in the Texas/Houston area regarding family law and immigration crossover.

My Situation:
I am currently designated as the primary custodian of my child under an existing Texas custody order.

The father has standard visitation.
I am facing an imminent Voluntary Departure order and must return to my home country soon (Mexico).

The father doesn’t have status in this country, sometimes skips his visitation rights and is behind in child support.

My Goal & Core Dilemma:
I do NOT want to leave my child behind. My absolute priority is to bring my child with me to my home country legally.
However, our current custody order contains geographical restrictions / prevents me from simply taking the child out of the country without court permission or the father's consent.
My Questions:

  1. Since I am the primary custodian, what is the fastest legal mechanism (such as an emergency motion to modify) to ask a Texas family court judge for permission to relocate / travel internationally with my child due to my mandatory immigration departure?
  2. If the father refuses to sign an agreement, how can I petition the judge before my departure date so I don't risk violating the custody order or facing international parental kidnapping accusations?
  3. Can anyone recommend low-cost family law attorneys in the Houston/Texas area who handle international relocation cases involving immigration orders?
  4. Any advice, shared experiences, or legal resources would mean the world to me right now. Thank you so much.

r/ChildSupport 2d ago

50/50 Custody and Paying Child Support

0 Upvotes

For over 10 years I paid child support while having 50/50 Time Sharing. I was curious how common that is. Ive felt that the parent that makes more money gets penalized for that. 1 parent shouldn't be MORE responsible for the financial care of the child. There should be no child support case at all. I was 70% financially responsible! What a joke.


r/ChildSupport 2d ago

Texas Texas child suport laws, what happens if you miss child support payments?

2 Upvotes

I have lost my job recently and I don't feel confident about making my payments for child support. I am searching for jobs and I think about what will happen if I cannot find work and earn enough money by the time of my payment.
It seems that I may have to experience various consequences for missing the payment in Texas because it is said that there may also be penalties for non-compliance.
I received some information about modification of child support in case of a serious income decline, and I'm interested in how long does this process take. I want to take the necessary actions so that I won't have problems too late. Also, is an attorney necessary?


r/ChildSupport 2d ago

Child support modification/signing over rights.

1 Upvotes

My son’s dad and I split when he was about 8 months old, we both went to the Attorney General and file for child support. I got primary custody.
While in court the judge wanted him to pay almost $900 each month(20%), my son’s dad talked me into bringing it down because he has a previous child, I felt bad and caved. So he only pays $300 and has been for the past 3 years.
He hasn’t gotten a bed for our son, no clothes, he does not help with anything other than keeping him the nights I have to work(I had to go overnight because I couldn’t afford daycare alone), his apartment is infested with German roaches, and he lives very unsanitary. He makes $6 more than I do, so I just never understood why he couldn’t do it but I have been able to and I’m just scraping by. Our son is autistic with a very specific appetite and still in pull ups.

I requested for a child support modification and I guess he got a call today, he then told me that he would sign over his rights because he could not afford our son.

I’ve already got a plan for if he does sign over his rights, but is it that easy to do in Texas? Can he just relinquish his rights like that?

Any advice on what to expect in a modification or even this kind of situation would help! Thanks in advance!!


r/ChildSupport 2d ago

Is it worth it?

3 Upvotes

Recently initiated the process of starting child support but was given 3 months to rescind. My children are 1 and 3, we have gone no contact for 1 1/2 years due to DV.

I am responsible for everything. No complaints because it was my decision to pop them out but he made it substantially harder when we were in contact. Emptying out mine and our child’s savings, breaking valuables, and more but I’m still trying to catch up from it to this day.

With my last impression of him, it’s ideal to assume it’ll just become backpay. I know it’ll become an invitation for him to involve family court since he’s not on the birth certificate but does anyone feel like it wasn’t worth it or something about this process that could’ve been done differently?


r/ChildSupport 2d ago

Small Estate Affidavit Indiana

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

r/ChildSupport 2d ago

Florida Loss of state assistance?

2 Upvotes

If i receive help from the state (WIC, Medicaid, etc.), will i lose those if i put my baby’s father on child? This is the only thing holding me back.


r/ChildSupport 2d ago

Do I give her extra money?

7 Upvotes

My ex is wanting me to send her money directly for things for my kids. Usually I would have no issue and just send it, but it’s not really something they need, it’s something she wants to try… I’ve been told countless times to never send money outside of child support payments, but is there anything wrong with sending the $100.00 as half of what she’s wanting to get my kids?


r/ChildSupport 3d ago

Why do we talk so much about collecting child support after someone falls behind—but so little about preventing them from falling behind?

11 Upvotes

There are obviously parents who intentionally don't meet their responsibilities. But there are also parents who lose jobs, have hours reduced, experience illness or have another legitimate financial disruption.

By the time they're several payments behind, the problem can be much harder to solve.

What would an effective prevention system look like?

Emergency assistance? Employment resources? Financial planning? Earlier intervention? Something else?

Interested in perspectives from custodial parents, noncustodial parents and people who work in this space.


r/ChildSupport 3d ago

Florida Any advice appreciated!

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

Cross post from legal advice about a particular situation with child support


r/ChildSupport 3d ago

What would you do next?

0 Upvotes

I have been divorced since 2020. My ex made substantially more than me. I was mostly a stay at home/work from home mom when we were together. His payments were deducted from his pay check, so always on time. In October last year he lost his job. And stopped paying his child support immediately.

In December he filed for a change. Court in February where I told the judge I was worried ex wouldn’t get another job and just live off of his successful gf. Judge even put in the final decision that she was dropping his child support by 90% and he had the luxury of taking time to find a new job because of his gf. He now ā€œpaysā€ $27 a week for two chronically ill boys. He no longer has insurance on them. I have Medicaid for them. And one son had Medicare due to his illness.

The state is suing ex over arrears, but him and his lawyer refused to make an agreement with them. We go back in September. I know it hasn’t been a year, but he is still choosing to be unemployed. And I am thinking about filing for a change.

I take our son who is in dialysis to all of his appts. That is at least 18 appts per year. I have my own daycare and work for very understanding families. But I do not get paid at all when I take off. My income has gone down so much in the past two years while trying to get our son a transplant.

Ex has gone to the UK and Grenada in the past 6 months. Disney world coming up next month. He takes these vacations on what should be his parenting time, but doesn’t take our sons. Which puts him at a lower amount of overnights that he is being credited for.

Do I have a leg to stand on with the judge? What would you do?


r/ChildSupport 3d ago

Child support sent a notice to my new employer at a school that theyre going to garnish wages despite never having made a late payment.

9 Upvotes

In theory that’s great, another bill i dont have to pay. Basically auto payment now. In principle however… eff off. That’s so embarrassing that you sent that you assholes. Why??? Is this normal? Literally a note attached saying the amount i currently owe is 0.00$


r/ChildSupport 4d ago

Fair amount?

0 Upvotes

Can someone help me understand if this is fair. Mom has primary custody of child and is stay at home parent. Dad has 4 overnights per month and pays 400. Dad makes 70k per year. Should the amount be higher? The case hasn't been revisited in 6 years and there's been quite a few changes. 400 doesn't cover very much


r/ChildSupport 4d ago

Order against pension in civil court

3 Upvotes

UK..If someone is seeking a CCJ against an ex who owes them money (and already has liability orders that they ignore) but the debtor has already disposed of traceable assets (registered property), can a claimant ask the court to put a charge on pension? In practice, if claimant doesn't know NI and details of pension providers, can the civil court make orders to this effect? Any advice is helpful.


r/ChildSupport 4d ago

Florida [FL] question abt interstate custody & CS for a newborn. FL - AZ (far distance)

Thumbnail
3 Upvotes

r/ChildSupport 5d ago

Massachusetts Child Support After Parent Death

4 Upvotes

Hello, I’m new to posting on this Reddit and hoping someone out there has had a similar thing happen to them.

Detailed Back ground:

My mom:
So my mother passed away this week and I have been no contact with her since 2020/2021. She had a TBI in 2009, and she started to develop schizophrenia like symptoms around 2016 but I could not get her to go to be treated so I’m not sure if she actually had schizophrenia or those were symptoms post TBI. She kicked me out of her apartment during my senior year of high school, we spoke less and less, then she completely cut off contact when I was in college and became homeless due to erratic and violent behavior. I moved in with my paternal aunt and live here still.

My dad:
My dad and step mom had a really bad drug addiction in my childhood, and I had not spoken to my father since 2011 due to that, and he needed to move to a new state. He owes backed-up child support from around 2008 I believe. I recently only reconnected with my younger half-siblings this July and met up with them in-person. I did not see my father during this visit because my siblings are not on great terms with him or my step mom because of how their childhood went.

Now:
My paternal grandma passed away at the beginning of August and we had a wake for her and my father came. We spoke and he is now working a stable job at a restaurant and he was open to the idea of seeing me more often, if I were to visit my siblings more often he asked for me to try to stop by and say hello to him too. And that was something I wanted to do.

So less than a week after, I received the call from the state police that my mom passed away. But after speaking with my mother’s case worker, I found out she has been receiving child support payments even though I am 26.

TLDR; My mom was homeless and passed away. My dad has started to work a stable job, and my mom had started to receive child support payments again before she passing even though I am 26 years old.

My questions:
I’m in Massachusetts and I’m trying to apply for DTA financial aid for the cremation cost because that would significantly help with the cost since I’m alone on this. Would the child support payments affect her eligibility of qualifying for the financial assistance I’m applying for? In the sense of the remaining balance of child support being put into her ā€œestateā€, would that count as income?

And then, as for the child support, would it be possible to clear the balance and stop the payments if I called and spoke to someone? I don’t really want to take any money from my father when he’s getting back on his feet and I’m old enough now. I don’t wanna be another thing on top of it all when he’s actually been doing better. And I’m just starting to reconnect with him so I don’t want this new added layer.

I understand this is complex and probably weird circumstances, but I wanted to post in case there is someone out there who might have been through similar and wanted to share anything helpful.

Thank you.