Overpayment of Support, Held by Court While DNA Test is Pending

My question involves child support in the State of: Pennsylvania

Hello and I want to say thank you right off the bat that you have something like this. With that said here is my story:

My husband has a open case pending DNA results. The other parent lives in another state & has scheduled the test 4 times and all were a no show since July of 2011. Now, he still pays every month but the judge has it on hold. Never missed a payment but pa never corresponded with the other state so they had it as if he was about 3400.00 in arrears & took his federal income tax of 3100. Then pa also has it saying arrears owed 3700. Even though they are holding the money each week since a judge put it on hold pending the DNA outcome. So, pa took his state tax return of 1754. When in reality he isn't even in arrears it's just being held by them.

So we get no where when we call them about the overpayment & they agree saying wow this shouldn't have happened like this. Lady said to write a letter explaining & hand it in. Well, that got no response. Now when he calls they say you have to wait it out because we gave her 60 days to comply and if she don't we're closing the case. We feel stuck because Other state is holding 3100. & pa has got about 5000. Or more we don't even know exact amount except we asked for a paper saying how much & we got some print out of 3400 but we think that was before they got the state. We feel THAT isn't even right because on another case it was kinda the same situation judge put money on hold waiting not a DNA but an out come on who filed & they had show proof of something's. long story short they couldn't and case was closed but all the money that was put on hold (which was 400.00 a mnth, holding 4 months of that) they said he couldn't get that back & they were moving it to the other case toward arrears. Which at that time the arrears for the 1st case with the DNA, was very little since they go by when 1st started the case till the actual order gets worked out. It was about 3 months totaled 1029. They said in arrears and they started taking it out of his pays tub right away. For the 1st case he pays 343.00 a month but comes out weekly since he gets paid that way.

So, now our concern/ question is (1), why since it is so obvious there is an 4,854. Over payment they won't give it to us now instead of them saying wait till the outcome on April 18th to see if she has gone to take the test or we close it. Then (2), from reading so many forums on here let's say she goes & the child is his will they just send everything (including the over payment) to the custodial parent. We calculated they have including what they take out every week & the tax returns is over 7000.00.

I'm so sorry this is long I just wanted you to get a bigger idea of what's going on. Please any advice would help. Thank so much again.

You haven't given us the procedural history of the case, so we don't know where the case was filed or what has happened in the courts of either state. Please start by telling us what state you mean by "the other state", and which state issued the support order and is overseeing the paternity proceedings, and how this ended up in interstate enforcement even before paternity proceedings were concluded. Was there a prior default?

Here is a little back round: my husband & his ex moved up here from Louisiana with his mother about 9 yrs ago. Just before they moved up here they got back together & about 2wks after they got together she said she was pregnant. He knew she slept & was with her cousin before they (hooked) back up but he wanted to start fresh up here since they already had 2 other children together. Well, in the end she never gave up her drugs, baby was born & he signed birth certifacate anyway. They broke up & she took off back down to LA with the kids. Then we meant & he turned his life around & we got custody of his other daughter (not the one who the case is for). Who is 14 & lives with us.

The other state is Louisiana and that is where the child lives with her grandmother the mother signed over custody yrs ago since she was in jail then took off to Mexico, but she is now back & lives with her mother & child but grandmother still has custody. The case started when they (grandmother) got welfare in LA, I guess they made her go through their domestics for support. In that time they were trying to track down my husband who lives in pa. One day in jan of 2011 while my husband was at work he was served with papers from domestics. They had the conference & said he has to pay 343.00 a month & they back dated it to when he was served instead of when the case 1st started in LA. So the arrears only turned out to be about 1000.00. We go through pa's domestics & they were suppose to communicate to the LA domestics. It was finalized in April of 2011 I believe, then in June of 2011 we went back to domestics & he seen a judge with why he wanted a DNA test. We had copied papers off her (bio mother) Facebook saying someone else was the father & my husband was not & how she gets money every month from someone not even the father. So, judge signed off on getting one & once he did that he also put a stop to her getting any money & has it on hold in Pa. Since then she has failed to show up to 4 DNA test appt. so now the judge says if nothing happens by April 20th case will close. But the pa domestics never communicated this to the LA domestics & from the time judge stopped payment it started accumulating arrears down there. So, they took 3100 of his federal and have it on hold (so they say) down there. My husband kept contact with LA this whole time & tried to tell them what was going on up here but up here wouldn't send them anything for months until he threatened with a lawyer. I know that sounds odd but I am being truthful. Ok, so that is the situation with LA. Now , as for PA they are horrible with him. Though he pays each week & they have it all, they don't put it in the system as such & it has it as arrears owed & each month it goes up & up. Well since it has in system as arrears they took his pa state return of 1574.00. So all this money they got from his taxes is an overpayment and all they tell him is he is going to have to wait till either she goes & takes the test or case closes.

There is so much to this case it drives me crazy lol. I worry because what if they do end up sending her all this money. What, we take her to small claims haha that is a joke. We seriously do not know where to go or what to do. We both do our best for our family and don't really have the money to get a lawyer & nothing come out of getting one. So if you know if there is something we or a lawyer can do to get what is his back. Just the overpayment, we know all the other money he pays every month they have to keep till case is determined.

I hope I clarified most up. Also, PA is over seeing the DNA testing, my husband took his months ago and like I said she failed to show up 4 times. But LA domestics just told us that I guess they threatened her welfare if she don't show up at the next appt. so I'm sure she will make this one.