I’ve asked about child support before, but this is a different situation.
My boyfriend and I moved to a new town and got new jobs over the summer. He has an 8-year-old daughter with his ex-wife, to whom he pays child support. The first paycheck for the new job did not take out the child support, and neither did the second. So he calls his ex-wife and tells her that she needs to get in touch with the agency or whatever and get it seen about. To this day, no child support has been taken out and he started the job one of the last couple days of June.. perhaps the 29th.
Yesterday, she leaves me a message on facebook (she next to never pays her phone bill) asking for my boyfriend to call her, it’s important. I tell him and he decides he’ll call her this weekend when we go back to our hometown to visit. This morning, his step-mother calls me to tell me that my boyfriend is in some serious sh**. I’m not exactly sure how it went down, but because he did not contact the state to tell him where he worked, his license has been suspended as of September 1. Which was 15 days ago. And we have had no knowledge of this! Now they want to take him to court to get $2000+, which is double what he should actually owe if he missed 2 months of payments!
Our financial situation has been terrible since we moved (the worst move of my life). My income was supposed to be a nice 33k, but because of certification issues and other things, I am making student wages until I can take care of it (probably the end of the year). So I basically bring home the rent check at the end of the month. I also have a student loan I am paying back ($200/month), plus we have power, water, cable, cell phone, insurance, etc… other bills that HE is having to pick up! We were able to save a little under $1400 to help get us through the end of the year. But it seems all of that is going to go towards repaying the child support.
Now after all of that.. is there anything we can do about how much is owed? It’s $120/week.. and it should only add up to something over $1000. Can we set up a payment plan? There is no way on this Earth we can cover it all at once!!
Also, bonus question I guess… we are in Georgia. I was told that the child support laws changed to include the mother’s income as well as the father’s. Well, if she and her current husband don’t work (lazy SOBs), wouldn’t that only raise his support amount? Should we even try to go back to court to readjust the amount? She doesn’t have young children to keep at home.. all of her kids, including my boyfriend’s, are in school.
Sorry such a long question!! Any help? Or anybody want to make me feel any better about this situation???? 
I could really use it!!
Okay, I am understanding that it is his responsibility to inform the agency.
No, neither the mother nor stepfather work. Just plain sorry (my opinion!). I believe they are living on the child support and any money from the stepfather’s parents (with whom they live). They may also have welfare, since my boyfriend had to sign some papers to confirm his contribution dealing with food stamps.
LadyB — EXACTLY! They are just living off what he gives them. And she calls all the time asking for money…. I mean, it’s not like we want sweet girl to go without, but it’s borderline ridiculous. We have enough of our own financial problems without worrying about his ex’s! She had a job for 3 months though, got to give her that *eye rolling.*
maccrew – i only mentioned that they were in school to say that there was no reason for her to sit at home on her @$$ and not have a job.
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I am not familiar with these laws…but this is what I took from this story:
Your boyfriend should have been the one to call the agency when he noticed that his child support wasn’t being taken out of his check. It was his responsibility, so now he has to deal with the punishment.
He’s being penalized for failing to notify the child support agency as to his new workplace so the garnishment could be properly placed. It is generally up to the wage earner being garnished to supply the info to the proper agency. He can try to get the fines reduced. if he can’t, he can certainly spread it out over a period of time.
He should ask for a modification of child support if the mother has the means by which to contribute. Are you saying neither the mother or stepfather work? What do they live on besides child support payments? Most courts, if they find the mother able to work, will assign to her a sum deemed suitable to her ability to earn based on education, training, and past employment, perhaps only minimum wage. If that were applied to this situation it would reduce the amount the father would contribute. You’d have to talk to a local attorney to know how the courts are ruling in your jurisdiction.
Its the NC parents responsibility to let the agency know where he works, lives, etc., not the mothers.
You should contact a lawyer for the rest of your question..
well that sucks.. but honestly.. you knew the ex was not responsible so he should have been the one to make sure the payments got set up. what did you guys do with the money that should have gone to child support? Did you just think that it was extra and spend it??? If it was not set up and he KNEW he should be making the payment i would think you would have put that money in a separate account for the kids anyway. Pretty much all you can do now is go back to court and see what can be done.
First of all, since when is it his ex’s job to make sure his child support is taken out of his paycheck? It’s his responsibility to pay his child support on time. If it wasn’t coming out of his paycheck is it considered an added bonus for him? His daughter still needs to eat you know. He should’ve written his ex a check each week for $120 and mailed them to her; that way when it went to court he had proof he paid those weeks and wasn’t behind in his child support. You won’t be getting sympathy from anyone here because he didn’t pay his child support so now he owes mega mucho to his ex.
Second, in most states if one parent doesn’t work they still have to contribute to the child’s well-being. In other words, a court will pretend they have a full-time job making minimum wage (what they are capable of making but choose not to) and base their portion of child support on that amount so just because she doesn’t work doesn’t mean he pays 100% of the child’s costs.
Finally, your boyfriend’s ex’s new husband’s income/job status has absolutely NOTHING to do with child support. He can make a million dollars a year and still doesn’t have to contribute one penny to the child’s support. He didn’t lay down and make this child so he has no legal obligation to support her.
CHild support has ALWAYS been based on the mother’s and father’s income… It has nothing to do with his ex’s new husband.. He can be a millionaire for all the courts care.. It was up to your boyfriend to notify his new place of work about the support order.. He is now in arrearages, and yes, his license can be revoked, tax refunds can be held back and other sanctions until he is current again. Also, her kids being school aged has nothing to do with support amounts… (been there done that)
HE should have known better… Whether an employer takes the child support from a NCP’s wages or not does NOT mean that the person does not owe the money.
He SHOULD have called agency and notified them of his new employment AND asked for the mailing information to SEND IN HIS PAYMENT MANUALLY!!!
The wage garnishment is used as a courtesy and security to both the NCP and CP, but is NOT a requirement.
If your employer screws up and doesn’t withhold the $$$ then you send it in. The child doesn’t wait to decide when they need this or that… They need it when they need it…
GRR… Stupid people REALLY P*SS ME OFF!!!
i thought he had to let HR at his new job no that he needed CS deductions taken out of paycheck.
guess what,even if not taken out of check,he sure could have mailed a check to the ex.
this is not an excuse not to pay.
well i live in georgia,but my hubby is paying cs to his child that ;lives in missouri where we are originally from.their rule is they inclde both parents income.and if the mama does not work,they put your last working wages on there or if they cant find any,they put u as making min wage.cause topo many women use cs as a meal ticket in missouri.they feel if they get enough they dont need to work.like my hubbys ex has become a stank gold digger since they split.while he was in iraq for 14 months,i took money to his mom to buy stuff for the baby and the bm took advantage of that.she figured she would send the baby over dirty and with no food or diapers to his mama and aunt house when they would watch her daily while she lied about going to school each day.she seen that clothes and food and diapers were over there,so she didnt think she needed to leave things over there.and she left her hungary too when she dropped her off.but my hubby did the bm one better and put his self on child support.so he pays nothing over that amount.meaning her lazy ass has to get up and work or keep mooching off her now husband and his 5 kids.she was angry that she only gets half of the cost for her child and not full.she thinks its ok to not work and assume u keep full custody and get your child taken care of fully by one parent.doesnt work like that.sorry to speak so long.but just like to tell people the drama we had dealt with before putting hisself on cs.just make sure either u or him keep on cs for the state u are in.get numbers for your case workers that u can call with any question.i have a whole list of numbers and addresses that i can call anytime needed.the state is nicer to the father when he puts hisself on and cooperates with them on the monthly amount.tell your man to find out who to keep in touch with and it will make his ex and her man look very horrible.then when it comes to modifications.your man wont have to pay more cause he keeps in touch with his living situation to the state and current on his payments.email me if i can be anymore help.i know how it feels to have a hubby with a lazy golddigging ex and the state almost take the mothers side and accpet her being lazy and not caring for her child