Re: Can an Ex File for Child Support Arrears for a Child She Kept Me from Seeing
Step One - get copies of the judgment.
If a support order was issued, mom will be able to collect. Tennessee has no statute of limitations on the collection of child support and interest accrues at the rate of 12% per year (Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-5-101(f)(1)).
As Dog said, TN doesn't recognize the defense of laches in child support cases.
If you read through some of these threads, you'll see that posters are frequently told that support is not a ticket to see a child for CPs who try to deny visitation for non-payment. Even though dad wasn't seeing the child, he still had the obligation to support the child. It isn't free money. It's money that, if he was ordered to pay, is due to her for the cost of raising his child.
I get your frustration and anger. I do. But if a support order was in place she is entitled to collect.
Re: Can an Ex File for Child Support Arrears for a Child She Kept Me from Seeing
Don't get me wrong, I understand as I was a child myself out of a divorce. I just think that the
laws suck where this is concerned, why should a mother be allowed to collect years after the fact just to be spiteful and
because she has decided to quit her full time job and sit on her butt. And when we met with her a several months ago before we
decided we even wanted to speak with the EX she said "this is not about money or wanting child support, my child wants to meet
her father.... But I chose to keep the child away all these years" How is this fair and how it can even be allowed baffles me, It
was not my hubby's fault he was kept away from his child cause we searched for her,asked around etc for years then gave up. Then
they found us.
I will be getting the copies of divorce papers next week and I hope and pray there is nothing in them about support since the laws back then
where alot different then they are now. So if they divorce papers say he was to pay child support, then what happens if she should decide to file
for back support ? Im not going to set and worry about it because I have health issues and can't handle the stress of all this just having heart surgery.
She may not do anything and just talking since she was pissed off, but u never know.
So do they make people pay this money all at once, do they jail you, take your home etc for the back support ? What actually happens in cases like this?
I have read many threads on here where people have not gotten money and so on but I know each case is different. I just want to know how my life
is going to be effected by this now as I am just the wife of the hubby involved.
Thanks
Re: Can an Ex File for Child Support Arrears for a Child She Kept Me from Seeing
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Dolphin_Lover
[FONT=Comic Sans MS] I just think that the laws suck where this is concerned, why should a mother be allowed to collect years after the fact just to be spiteful and because she has decided to quit her full time job and sit on her butt.
And exactly who do you think was supporting the child without dad's help for all those years? The child support fairy? If she's sitting on her butt now, when the child is an adult, it's no one else's business. She's STILL owed any money that was accruing for all those years when she WASN'T sitting on her butt while supporting the minor child.
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How is this fair and how it can even be allowed baffles me, It was not my hubby's fault he was kept away from his child cause we searched for her,asked around etc for years then gave up. Then they found us.
If dad had an order for visitation, and visitation was denied, then HE needed to get off his butt YEARS ago to have visitation ENFORCED. The courts don't have ESP - until and unless dad brings a problem to the court's attention for help, nothing happens - that's how things are "allowed"....when no one bothers to take the steps for things to be done. If dad chose NOT to pursue the matter for all that time, he really has no room to complain. "Asking around" means nothing. How many family law attorneys did he consult, or how many MOTIONS did he file in COURT regarding his visitation? If the answer is "zero", then yes, dad's lack of visitation with his child is exactly 50% HIS fault.
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I will be getting the copies of divorce papers next week and I hope and pray there is nothing in them about support since the laws back then
where alot different then they are now. So if they divorce papers say he was to pay child support, then what happens
Then it's time to start seriously saving and going over your budget - because if a child support order has been in effect for all these years, dad is going to be many thousands of dollars behind and his monthly payments aren't going to be small.
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if she should decide to file for back support ?
The child is now an adult. If there's not already an order in place, mom can't get one at this point.
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So do they make people pay this money all at once, do they jail you, take your home etc for the back support ?
They start by setting up a monthly payment plan. If that doesn't get paid, then they can do other things, such as suspending drivers licenses, professional licenses, hunting/fishing licenses, garnishing wages, and things usually only escalate beyond those methods in dire circumstances.
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What actually happens in cases like this? I have read many threads on here where people have not gotten money and so on but I know each case is different. I just want to know how my life is going to be effected by this now as I am just the wife of the hubby involved.
If there is NOT already an order for support in place, then there should be no economic impact to you and hubby - it's way too late for mom to start the process of seeking money now. If there IS an order for child support in place, and arrears have been building up for all this time, hubby may be looking at a hefty new monthly payment until support is paid off.
For the benefit of others reading this post, take this case as an important lesson:
If you marry a person who has children, you NEED to know what their divorce decree says about child support - and you need to know this BEFORE you marry and entangle your financial lives together - lest you find yourselves a decade into a marriage and hear "I don't remember if I'm supposed to be paying child support", and find out there's a debt of many thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of dollars hanging over your spouse's head - a debt that cannot be discharged with bankruptcy, and can be attached to wages, property, and can even result in incarceration in extreme cases. It's not a romantic conversation to have - but it's an absolutely vital one unless you're willing to risk being financially blindsided down the road.