Contempt Hearing Involving Arrears Only
My question involves child support in the State of: California
Hi everyone, my name is chris and i need some advice regarding an upcoming hearing for contempt which involves an arrears only case. Best way to start is to explain my story. This is kind of a long story so i will thank anyone now who takes the time to read and maybe have some advice.
OK so i was married for several years and had 2 kids, in january 2003 we had an ugly split. We lived in california I ended up moving to my fathers in Arizona and going to work for him where i made 8 dollars an hour, after a few months a child support order was set for $453.00 a month plus $200.00 per month towards any arrears owed at the point the order was issued, the order was dated from the day i moved out so even tho i had sent her some money i started off behind the 8 ball...it wasnt long before the garnishment began and they took 50% of my paycheck every 2 weeks, unfortunately this wasnt enough to cover the order so every month i fell further and further behind. For the next couple years i worked regularly for 2 jobs and was garnished automatically. during this time i was young and dumb and never fought for a modification but thats neither here nor there at this point. Even though i was being garnished half my pay and barely surviving as it was i still fell behind, after 3 years i was behind about 6k i think it was total (every month they tacked on interest of course inflating this total)
So in 2006 my ex comes to me with a way out, sign over my rights and it all goes away. Now i know what some may think at this point but this woman kept my kids from me intentionally, and after 3 years of child support on my ass, and her not letting me see the kids and turning them against me saying things like i left cause i dont love them, etc. (just one example of the type of person im talking about this woman had my 5 year old daughter go up to the woman i met after i left my ex and ask her why she stole her daddy away) She has used the kids against her parents, my parents etc, so i got sick of it all and made a huge mistake and signed the paperwork. I figured when they got older maybe i would get a chance to redeem myself.
Well the current support order was halted at this point but the arrears she decided to not forgive like she had said she would...So the order amount of 453 a month doesnt change it just switches to arrears only order and i deal with garnishments when i was working for the next couple years. in 2011 i finally worked with child support and scheduled a hearing to go in front of a judge for a modification hearing.
Now side story in 2010 i came to the realization after 6 weeks at a new job that i was incapable of working full time due to some physical disabilities (i suffer from several spinal ailments that cause a tremendous amount of pain and discomfort making it impossible to do much of anything regularly) and have since been fighting for SSDI unsuccessfully so far. I am only 37 so severe back pain is almost impossible for me to get it without a long fight of appeals, i was just recently denied again matter of fact this last week, they recognize my medical records just feel its not severe enough...
So now back to the modification hearing in 2011, at this point i had my first ssi denial, i explained everything to the judge, why i wasnt paying etc, he then set the order at 150 a month, which i informed at that moment i didnt even have the abitlity to pay that in which he said he had to set it at something and that was the minimum, then told me to take in any paperwork i had medical wise to the local support agency in my area (which i did)
So now we come to august 2013, i just received some paperwork for order to show cause for contempt of court, one charge for every month i have missed since the last modification in 2011. The hearing is set for september 17th...I have no idea what to do at this point, i have submitted income expense declaration to the court, i made it clear to the judge 2 years ago i was unable to work therefore had no income...i have spoken to child support enforcement recently even informing them i was in the same situation, unable to work or even provide for myself much less pay this order...I truly am unable to work, believe me if i could work and just pay this 150 a month order so they would leave me alone i would. i have run out of ideas and extremely worried jail is next...any help would be very much appreciated...thank you. :wallbang::wallbang::wallbang::wallbang:
Re: Contempt Hearing Involving Arrears Only
I'm not going to comment on the whole signing away rights issue, aside from... Just know that in the future, your kids will probably NOT understand, and you'll be extremely lucky if you have any meaningful contact with them when they are adults. I hope they can find it to forgive you and get past it at that point.
Have you paid nothing in the last two years? If you haven't even made any attempt to pay something, that is not going to look good for you. If you were still behind but showing an attempt, the judge would likely be far more lenient with you and agree that your continued arrears are not because of a willful failure to pay. However, if you can show no effort, s/he may very well find that your failure to pay was in fact willful. At that point, the judge can impose whatever punishment s/he feels is appropriate, which could possibly include jail time.
Also, if social services hasn't deemed you completely unable to work, its likely the judge won't buy your word on that. Especially if you have been going round with them for all this time, they still don't agree that you qualify for disability, and you haven't put any of that effort to actually working. A judge may wonder why you can't find a minimum wage desk job filing paperwork or sorting mail.
If you haven't paid anything since the last time you were in court, and if all of the above is true, I think your best shot is to go in with a good plan for how you are going to make the required effort, hope and pray that the judge believes you're sincere and is willing to give you another chance, and actually do it. Having a new job by the time that you go to court wouldn't hurt either. Even 20-25 hours a week would be better than nothing
Re: Contempt Hearing Involving Arrears Only
Over 70% of SSDI applications are routinely denied. Go talk to a good SSDI attorney. Those cases are handled on contingency, and if the lawyer thinks you have a good case they'll take it on.
As for the arrears, while non-payment is not usually treated with the same severity as non-payment of current support, you might still be facing some unpleasant penalties. However, nobody can predict what the judge will do. And the 10% interest is going to really do you in. Have you spoken to a lawyer? Because you should.
Re: Contempt Hearing Involving Arrears Only
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Just know that in the future, your kids will probably NOT understand, and you'll be extremely lucky if you have any meaningful contact with them when they are adults. I hope they can find it to forgive you and get past it at that point.
That is one of the good sides to this story, my stepson (her son from before we met) right before he turned 18 his mother threw him out and he came to me out of the blue, he lived with me for 2 years and now he is on his own, long story short he saw first hand all the lies his mother had told him plus other people who were around and witnessed told him what really happened and the things his mom would do. Now we are best of friends talk all the time and he has clued his brother who is 17 now in on everything, so hope is not lost there at all :) believe me signing that paperwork was not something i took lightly, my kids were snatched from me, that is a very long story that isnt really relevant to this hearing tho.
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Also, if social services hasn't deemed you completely unable to work, its likely the judge won't buy your word on that. Especially if you have been going round with them for all this time, they still don't agree that you qualify for disability, and you haven't put any of that effort to actually working. A judge may wonder why you can't find a minimum wage desk job filing paperwork or sorting mail.
in response to this, i have medical records, quite a bit of them actually, including notes from 2 separate drs saying im unable to work due to my condition...ssdi is a whirlwind of bureaucracy, 90 percent of all people that file for it are denied until the final appeal process. going into filing for ssdi i knew would be a 3-5 year process (that is average) maybe longer in my case. there is another catch there, you cannot apply for ssdi and at the same time look for work...the point of ssdi is i have exhausted all options and cannot maintain any employment to support myself.
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Even 20-25 hours a week would be better than nothing
again if that was something i was capable of i would, cant sit for long periods, cant stand for long periods, i have not even stood up straight in over a year, every day is a struggle especially now without any health insurance or dr care. i cant even say if i will be able to get out of bed from one day to the next, and have lost everything because of it...if it wasnt for my family i would have no roof and if it wasnt for food stamps i would not eat.
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Over 70% of SSDI applications are routinely denied. Go talk to a good SSDI attorney. Those cases are handled on contingency, and if the lawyer thinks you have a good case they'll take it on.
i actually finally did that and binder and binder took my case as u said on contingency...like i say i have medical records fortunately i had full medical for almost 2 years so went to a lot of drs, i was just starting epidural injection treatments and blocks when i lost insurance but at least have the records.
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Have you spoken to a lawyer? Because you should.
kinda why im here, cant afford an attorney so figured this might be next best thing. my only option its looking like is show up to court with as much paperwork as possible, fortunately i have proof that when i was capable of paying i did...