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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Posts
    2

    Default Child Support Obligations After Stepparent Adoption

    My question involves child support in the State of: PA

    Hi everyone, I am new here so I apologize if I am not detailed enough. Here is where I am lost. After my divorce, my ex-wife still lived in PA and opened a child support case for my son and a daughter she had prior to us getting married. She met another man and married him, and then moved to GA. From GA she signed up for child support enforcement, but the case is still in PA (just being enforced from GA). After a couple years in GA, they have a couple more children and decide to move to TX. The man she married is a responsible Army sergeant who has always treated the children very well, and they asked if I would be willing to sign a step-parent adoption so the children all had the same last name. I did, and have regretted it every day since. But that is beside the point, what's done is ultimately done.

    Now for my question - it's been a couple of years since the step-parent adoption and the child support case is still active in PA. What is the process for stopping the case? I am well aware that I will be paying any arrears, but the case is continuing to accrue when it shouldn't be. I've asked one local attorney what my options are, and he basically said it would cost thousands of dollars and it was almost guaranteed nothing would change.

    Can it be stopped with a court order? Can a lawyer send off the step-parent adoption paperwork to PA to stop it? I am lost on this, and don't know where to turn.

    Thank you for reading and I appreciate any direction.
    -pwdev-

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Child Support Obligations After Stepparent Adoption

    If by "active" you mean that you have unpaid arrears from prior to the adoption, pay your arrears or get your ex- to file a satisfaction of judgment forgiving them.

    If by "active" you mean that for some reason you have allowed the state to continue to assess monthly support past the date of the adoption, you should of course petition for the termination of that order. Retroactive modification of support is, to say the least, tricky. If you've been running up support, interest and penalties for years you can again see if your ex- will agree to enter a satisfaction of judgment to resolve that debt.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Posts
    2

    Default Re: Child Support Obligations After Stepparent Adoption

    Thank you, Mr. Knowitall. The state is still assessing monthly support, and I was told that only my ex could change that status. I am not looking to drop the arrears, just the monthly assessment.

    With that said, do I need to petition with a local office for the order to be terminated or in the state in which the case was opened?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Somewhere near Canada
    Posts
    35,894

    Default Re: Child Support Obligations After Stepparent Adoption

    You'll need to file where the original (or most current) orders originated.

    I'm sorry you were told that only your ex could file; both parents can file at any point if there is a change of circumstance or a certain amount of time has passed.

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