Conflicting Orders and Dates

My question involves child support in the State of: Tennessee

I am unsure on how to proceed, and would like some advice.

We (my ex-husband who is the ARP and myself the PRP) had a court date in Nov in which my ex-husband was charged with civil contempt with the ability to purge himself of the contempt by making set payments monthly. The Assistant District attorney specified in the order the amount that was due, and set four consecutive court dates for this to be reviewed. He instructed me to check our TCSES case the evening before these dates, and if ARP failed to make the purge payment in full, we were to come to court. Our case was set for Dec, Jan, Feb, and in Mar we would have one more to review the arrearages due after the tax lien had been settled.

ARP failed to make any payments until the morning of 12/14, and only tendered a little less than half of the amount required while in court. When we were called up to speak to the dist. attorney, we were told that we were not on the docket, and there was no mention of the civil contempt order. They did not have the order on file, and it took some insistence on my part for them to search for it. It was found, but it was disregarded. I was told that it was better to allow the wage order to start than to have him jailed. His employer was noticed once in Oct, and twice in Nov, but as of 12/14 there had been no payments received. He has quit every job he gets when he gets notice of a wage order, so I think that is what he has done this time as well. They failed to verify his employment or ask for any proof of income. They spoke briefly to him about having his drivers licence reinstated, and sent us home.

I phoned into the child support office today to ask if I even needed to attend the next court date, and she informed me that the new order trumps the old order but I should go anyways. (Order of continuance> Civil contempt order)
I am unsure if I should attend court on 1/18 as stated on the contempt order, or wait and go in on 3/8 as per the order of continuance? I am leery, because it doesn't seem that everyone is on the same page.

Would it be beneficial to hire an outside lawyer to represent me?

Thank you for any advice!

I'd absolutely attend, Mom!

Even if it ends up being a waste of time, I'd attend anyway.

Is there ANY way you can get an attorney to help you?

Your ex has an attorney, correct? For that reason alone I'd do whatever I could to get an attorney myself. I know it's the holiday season and most of us just aren't flush with extra funds at the moment but yeah - I'd try everything (legal!).

He does not have an attorney. He waived his right to 30 days and counsel in the civil contempt charge.

I hate the thought of wasting much needed money on a lawyer if they are going to go along with the attorneys representing the child support office. Would obtaining private counsel circumvent the TN child support office/attorney?

Edit to ask- Is it standard practice to disregard prior orders such as this matter? I had a very difficult time getting this on the docket, and am very disappointed with the results.

I'd be disappointed too, in your situation.

Hiring your own attorney won't circumvent the practices of the TN child support office. I do agree with you however, that someone somewhere is on a different page than everyone else. For this reason alone it might be worth at least an initial consultation with an attorney.

I really do understand your frustration.