Retro chiild support

[mam_]

Husband has a child, 18. Will be graduating HS this summer. Divorced when the boy was an infant. Child support never ordered. Has not seen the child since the 5th birthday.

Now, we are receiving the court docs for retro child support and health care coverage. We have asked for a delay and received it until February.

Even though the child is about to be emancipated will my husband still be ordered to pay?

The ex wife was married for all of the childs life and is no longer. She has moved back home with her mother (with the boy).

How far back can this retro support go? We do not have health coverage for ourselves because we cannot afford it...we certainly cannot afford to pay for a child. (we have no children)

Right now there is no feasible way that we can even hire an attorney. I am trying to contact legal aid right now. But with the holidays I can get no where.

Also, can the courts order me (current wife) to have paying responsibilities in this matter?

She is in Tenn and we are in Florida.

 

[mam_]

I am not understanding why so many users questions go unanswered on here. Are we not asking the question appropriately or what? Even though they may seem silly or not of a large importance they are to us.

Just wondering...

Thank you.

 

[meent13744]

to answser your question

I am new on here and am reading old post. but no she cant get back suppot only support from the day of filing for example....... she file DEC 14 2004 and you go to court April 2005 she can only get support for Dec 04-Apr 05 and since the son is turning 18 she gets nothing she should have thought about cs long long time ago. If she tries to threaten you guys into paying have her to put it in writing then threaten to sue her for extortion. and no they cannot come after your income since you are not a bioparent..... hope that this answers your questions.

 

[Duranie]

Every state is different. It is likely he will be ordered to pay some back child support. He had a child and chose not to get anything legalized, so this might come back and bite him. If the child was his, he did have a legal obligation to support it. If he left it with the mother to deal with, then that is partially his fault.

You just cannot have a child and not take any responsibility.

she did some daddy shoping it sounds like, so she may not get much in her favor but your husband needs to see an attorney for a free or low cost consultation, or he can contact legal aid if he qualifies. A law school close by might be able to help him too.

By the way, here is another website that seems to have much more activity than this one.

http://community.lawyers.com/messageboards/list.asp?

 

[mam_]

Well, it's been ordered

The judge ordered $200+ a month in the amount of $25k+. Considering she has lived her entire adult life by using state help they will of course receive their monies. Judge said no to any insurance from us.

We never had a problem with supporting the child or paying the state back. We just had/have a problem with her lazy (never held a single job in her life) self getting anything of it. I have no clue if she receives any of it.

We also had to pay all court costs and filing fees. They did order garnishment of his wages each month. And it does appear on his credit report.

Strangely enough we also received our entire tax refund this year which was definetly not expected. Sent 1/2 to the court anyway.

The child ended up quitting school for the forth time, has a p/t job and lives with grandparents and mother.

Just an update and some information for those maybe in the same boat.

 

[mam_]

Forgot to add, they set the retro date to the date that he left her...so we are talking about 17 years and 7 months.

There are always extenuating (sp?) circumstances for some Dads. They are not all deadbeat dads that just up and leave a bundle behind voluntarily. My husband was one. I won't detail here but he had a damn good reason for leaving and never going back. Yes, the child suffered without his biological father and that is the one true unfortunate fact of this sad case. He hasn't seen his son since his 5th birthday. In two months they will be meeting 'for the first time' since.