Abating Child Support in Florida

[fila12]

I filed pro se for contempt against my former husband for contempt for non payment of child support. He is 10k in arrears. A hearing was never scheduled.

He filed for contempt against me last week for not sending the children to him for spring break. (Spring Break was drasticall reduced due to snow make up days which he was aware and tickets were in excess of $1200 each by the time the school sent the revised schedule. I in no way could afford that kind of money for travel and offered two extra days to his summer time, which he never responded) His case for contempt was referred immediately to the general magistrate and yet my case (filed in January) never was.

I called the judges court admin and am waiting to hear about my hearing. In the midst of speaking to the court, they advised me my ex has also filed to abate child support. (quite the joke since since he has only made two payments and none in ovet a year.)

What is the likelihood of me being held in contempt when I not only emailed him about spring break, but mailed him as well with no answer from him?
What about the costs for travel and him not paying child support? In my approval for relocation, I was to pay for spring break travel, but it was originally a 10 day break, not two as it turned out and the general magistrate told him then he needed to start paying child support. (contempt is going to the same general magistrate).

Also, what is the likelihood of them abating or reducing child support?
He has had no change in circumstances (he has more truck, atv, and motorcycle payments now then he did when support was ordered) because he went out and financed all three which he didnt need to do. He is self employed and two years after separating/divorcing trying to say its my fault he is not busy. Additionally, the children are with me 100% of the time now since we relocated.

State of FL is truly useless for support enforcement, new state has hands tied waiting for FL.

I need help.

[Mr. Knowitall]

Does the court's visitation order require you to pay all travel expenses? Why didn't he buy the tickets himself?

I suspect that the petition for abatement is premised upon your not providing access to the children.

[fila12]

Thank you for responding.

I was to pay for spring break and summer travel for this year only. I probably would have had to pay all travel except he hadn't paid any child support at the time of the relocation hearing and he still hasn't paid. When we were going through the divorce he wanted to terminate his parental rights in exchange for not paying child support. I was the one who wouldnt agree to that. He wants to abate child support because he simply does not want to pay. As he put it " I don't want to be in my forties and have nothing because I have to pay child support." I did not send them for spring break because it was only two days and I could not afford the costs. The school only sent home the notice the week before of the revised scheduled. I asked him if he could help with the costs and he did not respond to my emails I sent him. I also asked if he could not help financially to make alternative arrangements to add those two days onto his summer vacation. He didn't answer. He has a po box number so I can't send certified mail and he doesn't respond to emails. I have not kept him from his children - he hasn't called them once since we moved. (3 months) The children call him several times a week because I make them call. He still hasn't paid so much as one penny to help take care of them. I have learned to have written documentation when it comes to anything with him. I have also sent him several emails regarding summer schedule as well so I can try to get tickets as financially affordable as possible and he won't respond. He is difficult to say the least.

How likely is an abatement (is that the correct term?) ?

I have my emails and letters I sent him regarding spring break, I have emails and letters I sent regarding summer.

I am not trying to keep him from his children, but I am on the verge of bankruptcy and don't have $2500 to fly them for two days.

[Mr. Knowitall]

I find it hard to believe that a school suddenly changed its spring break schedule from a week down to two days, so I expect the judge to be skeptical as well. Be prepared to prove that to the judge. And be aware that it's not up to you to pick and choose which parts of a court order to follow, and you agreed to pay travel expenses. (The failure to pay child support may be deemed a mitigating factor, but the judge may still want to know why you waited until the last minute to buy tickets or address the issue of their cost.)

I doubt that the court will give a support abatement if in fact the father has not been paying support or contacting the children, assuming you do nothign to anger the court (such as telling a story the court determines to be untrue). But if you need the court order modified, ask the court to modify it instead of assuming you are free to ignore your duties due to hardship. Let the court decide what relief your hardship warrants.

[fila12]

So, despite the fact I have several emails I wrote to him, a letter I wrote to him, offered to pay for his travel (would have been cheaper and as an adult, he could get a connecting flight and as unaccompanied minors they need direct flights)... and he did not answer of my correspondence, I will be in contempt and despite I tried to offer alernative arrangements. And, even though it was a financial impossibility, and he hasn't paid child support in a year, I am in contempt but he can sit in the court room and he is ok, despite not paying a cent. Great system. and yes, I have filed contempt on him regarding child support.

And yes, the school only sent home notice the beginning of the week before regarding the snow make up days and the schedule change. Their break went from 10 days (including weekends) to 3 and Easter weekend was mine.

I am not a dishonest person.

[Mr. Knowitall]

That's not what I said.

[Xena]

Thank you for responding.

I was to pay for spring break and summer travel for this year only. I probably would have had to pay all travel except he hadn't paid any child support at the time of the relocation hearing and he still hasn't paid. When we were going through the divorce he wanted to terminate his parental rights in exchange for not paying child support. I was the one who wouldnt agree to that. He wants to abate child support because he simply does not want to pay. As he put it " I don't want to be in my forties and have nothing because I have to pay child support." I did not send them for spring break because it was only two days and I could not afford the costs. The school only sent home the notice the week before of the revised scheduled. I asked him if he could help with the costs and he did not respond to my emails I sent him. I also asked if he could not help financially to make alternative arrangements to add those two days onto his summer vacation. He didn't answer. He has a po box number so I can't send certified mail and he doesn't respond to emails. I have not kept him from his children - he hasn't called them once since we moved. (3 months) The children call him several times a week because I make them call. He still hasn't paid so much as one penny to help take care of them. I have learned to have written documentation when it comes to anything with him. I have also sent him several emails regarding summer schedule as well so I can try to get tickets as financially affordable as possible and he won't respond. He is difficult to say the least.

How likely is an abatement (is that the correct term?) ?

I have my emails and letters I sent him regarding spring break, I have emails and letters I sent regarding summer.

I am not trying to keep him from his children, but I am on the verge of bankruptcy and don't have $2500 to fly them for two days.

Unless your ex can PROVE that he has a disabilty, or has custody of the kids, nothing you've listed here is in any way legal grounds for an abatement under Florida law.

As for the contempt filed against you, get a copy of the payment record from the court clerk and use that in court to prove that you have not recieved CS and therefore do not have the funds available to pay for tickets. Even if the court does find you in contempt, it's very likely that nothing will be done, AS LONG AS: you forget all of the other stuff and concentrate ONLY on the cost of tickets and his non payment of the CS.

You need to get a hearing date set on your contempt mtion for his non payment, has that been set yet?

[bluebelle]

Also, generally in FL family court you set your own hearing dates. You coordinate with the judge's or magistrate's judicial assistant & then send out a notice of hearing. Waiting for the court to do it is a waste of time. If he hasn't paid child support, they can grant your contempt motion and order him to pay a purge of a portion of his arrearage, which should get you some money if he pays it.

Save all of your correspondence with him. If you are truly destitute & he hasn't paid, I doubt the court will punish you, but you can't ignore court orders - you should get it modified. Unfortunately, when you chose to hold up his end of being a father, you bought into transporting the kids to his doorstep, something he's obviously not interested in doing.

[Xena]

Also, generally in FL family court you set your own hearing dates. You coordinate with the judge's or magistrate's judicial assistant & then send out a notice of hearing. Waiting for the court to do it is a waste of time. If he hasn't paid child support, they can grant your contempt motion and order him to pay a purge of a portion of his arrearage, which should get you some money if he pays it.

Save all of your correspondence with him. If you are truly destitute & he hasn't paid, I doubt the court will punish you, but you can't ignore court orders - you should get it modified. Unfortunately, when you chose to hold up his end of being a father, you bought into transporting the kids to his doorstep, something he's obviously not interested in doing.

Some county's have a "Self help" center that assists in setting hearing dates. The OP should call the court clerk to see if her county has one, or check the self help centers at www.flcourts.org