Back child support on deceased child

[jjafo2]

Jurisdiction

Tennessee

My son passed away a little over a year ago. I was given in the mail papers demanding back child support from the courts the one year anniversary date to the day. I was unemployed for a couple of years and when I became regularly employed again, my son chose to move in with me and lived with me up until he died.He lived with me approximately three years which is also about the amount of time I was not paying support.We did not take payment through the courts but now they are the ones demanding it. So I would assume she filed for back child support.She also filed income tax on him while he was living with me as well.That was another verbal agreement as well as her not paying support while I had him living here with me.I was under the impression it would be a wash.I don't know what to do at this point. Still not dealing very well with his death.It was an accidental suicide.I need any help I can get at this point.Im at a lose and am not exactly flush with money.

 

[adjusterjack]

If the arrears accrued before your son came to live with you then you owe plus interest.

If any of the accrued arrears occurred while your son lived with you, you should be able to file for an adjustment.

I suggest you get down to the court house and get a complete copy of your case file so you can figure where the alleged amounts are coming from.

Then you can figure out what to do next.

Meantime here are some resources about modifying child support in TN:

tennessee petition to modify child support at DuckDuckGo

 

[army judge]

I need any help I can get at this point.Im at a lose and am not exactly flush with money.

First and foremost, please accept my condolences upon the passing of your son.

You didn't ask, but I suggest you find an emotional support group for grieving parents, or for relatives of suicide victims.

Some people grieve for years, decades, maybe forever; that's why you need to get help.
If you have a physician, ask him or her.
If you know a religious official, talk to him or her.
Please take the first step, and God bless.

For your legal issues, here is a start:

Know Your Rights as a Dad

There are other such sites in your area and state.

The U of Me has a great law school clinic, which does help people with legal issues:

Legal Clinic - School of Law - University of Memphis

Lastly, there might be help available through legal aid:

Memphis Area Legal Services

Free Legal Advice - Public Resources - Memphis Bar Association

Memphis Legal Aid & Pro Bono Services - Justia Tennessee Lawyer Directory

You're going to need a lawyer or a law student to help you work through the alleged arrearage on the child support.

 

[ElleMD]

Your post is a bit difficult to follow but it appears that you had a court order to pay child support but did not do so for many years. At some point, during some of those years, your child may have lived with you and a year ago, while living with you, your child committed suicide. You never bothered to amend the court order or pay the support as ordered, even for the period(s) of time the child was not living with you.

The death of the child would of course, unfortunately, end the obligation to pay support. You don't mention other children, but if there are other children not would not end the obligation to pay support for them. Only a court can modify the amount due.

As for the old order, you still owe the support. If you could not afford it, you needed to request a modification. At the very least, once you became reemployed, you should have paid up. If there was a change in custody, likewise, you could have filed for a modification. It may or may not have meant you would no longer have owed any support going forward, but the amount likely would have been reduced. Since you didn't file, that didn't happen.

How the other parent filed taxes isn't your concern (assuming you even know how they really filed them). File yours as appropriate and let the IRS sort it out if necessary.