Deadbeat Dad

[capellam44]

I am writing for a friend of mine. She has contacted lawyers over the phone and said none will take her case in the state of Colorado, so she didn't want to post here. I'm hoping someone here has a bit of advice I can pass along. About a year ago, her partner left her. They were never legally married, but lived together as husband and wife in the state of Missouri. Together, they had 2 girls. About a year and a half ago, he left my friend and his kids. It was just about a year ago that my friend moved to Holly Colorado to be with her family. Before leaving, she and her ex agreed to terms of child custody and support and filed it with the state. It was a self filing. The ex agreed to take the kids for Christmas and summer breaks while my friend (Theresa) kept them during the school year. He also agreed to pay a weekly amount for child support.
Within the past year, he has taken on a new girlfriend and is supporting both her and her kids while neglecting his own. He is behind $2,000 worth of child support payments. He misses more than he makes. There is always some excuse as to why he can't make them. Now this single mom of 2 is struggling to pay her rent which greatly effects her children.
Does she have any recourse to go after this guy for back child support? Does she really need to retain a lawyer in MO in order to collect support?

Side Note: The lawyers contacted were to change the arrangement of custody. As the father created his children poorly when they were staying with him, Theresa wanted to obtain full custody which is why she needed to retain a lawyer in MO. However, I do hope that deadbeat dad laws differ from custody.

 

[army judge]

Custody has nothing to do with child support.
I suggest you suggest to your friend to visit three or four local attorneys.
She can ask several questions, get additional information, and decide how she wishes to proceed.
I'll withhold the really bad news, preferring that she seek answers on her own.
All I'll say is that people are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars of child support.
Google "deadbeat dads or deadbeat moms" and you'll see much, much more.
To her the two grand is a big deal.
To the child support system, its just peanuts.
It'll be years before she sees a couple bucks on that debt, if she ever sees anything.
She's in the system now, and the system cares a little bit, but is overwhelmed.