How to Enforce a U.S. Child Support Order in a Non-Reciprocating Nation

[aardvarc]

My boys lost today too Doggie - but it's ok for both of us - they're just playing and looking at 2nd/3rd stringers. The GOOD stuff is yet to come. I see both our teams play at the same time next Saturday. Meet you on FB! =)

[lida]

for all that might be interested: This is the reply I got from a lawyer in Spain; this lawyer is located in the region where the father is
likely residing:


""Dear Ms. XXXXX


thank you for your e-mail.



In order to enforce a US order in Spain, you need first to have it recognized in front of the Spain Court of Appeal. Once you have the exequatur (which means that the US Court Order can produce its effects in Spain), then you can proceed enforcing the Court Order against your child’s father. Once the order is effective in Spain, we will need to draft and serve to the child’s father a summon asking him to pay and, if he doesn’t pay within 10 days, then we can attack his property / saving.

The estimated costs for the procedure in front of the court of appeal and the following enforcing could be between Euro 2.500 / 3.500 (plus 4% compulsory contribution), provided that there is no opposition by the child’s father. Should the child’s father oppose the recognition of the US order and/or the enforcing of the order, then a more complex lawsuit will start and we can estimate costs around Euro 5.000 (plus 4% compulsory contribution). Please note that I am speaking of Euro and not of US Dollars.

Before doing anything, however, you need to be sure that the child’s father has actually property / savings that can be attacked, otherwise you risk to spend money and fail to obtain the requested result.

Please let me know if something is not clear. ""

Its easier than a lot of you guys think it is! There is a bit of initial burocracy but the way I read it, its possible.
you know what? I m giving it a try and see what happens.

If someone want to share their opinion on the response I received, I d be glad to hear what other people think

[tex11]

I don't think anyone suggested it would be overly difficult if you were willing to work within the Spain legal system and using an attorney there. Spain is no third world country. The only reason some countries choose to not be a reciprocating member member under UIFSA is due to legal conflicts with their laws and the terms of the UIFSA, not because they do not advocate child support. So while these countries are not as simple to collect child support as UIFSA members, it can be done thru their legal system, which will not include Interpol or US federal warrants and other things you raised.

Though there are still a few countries whose judges may still spit on a U.S. Court Order.

The attorney wisely cautioned you to try ensure your ex has income and assets to garnish. In the U.S. ones home is exempt from child support liens, as are a few other exempt items. Which is likely the case in Spain. So you need more to bank on than the knowledge he owns a home in Spain.

[Dogmatique]

for all that might be interested: This is the reply I got from a lawyer in Spain; this lawyer is located in the region where the father is
likely residing:


""Dear Ms. XXXXX


thank you for your e-mail.



In order to enforce a US order in Spain, you need first to have it recognized in front of the Spain Court of Appeal. Once you have the exequatur (which means that the US Court Order can produce its effects in Spain), then you can proceed enforcing the Court Order against your child’s father. Once the order is effective in Spain, we will need to draft and serve to the child’s father a summon asking him to pay and, if he doesn’t pay within 10 days, then we can attack his property / saving.

The estimated costs for the procedure in front of the court of appeal and the following enforcing could be between Euro 2.500 / 3.500 (plus 4% compulsory contribution), provided that there is no opposition by the child’s father. Should the child’s father oppose the recognition of the US order and/or the enforcing of the order, then a more complex lawsuit will start and we can estimate costs around Euro 5.000 (plus 4% compulsory contribution). Please note that I am speaking of Euro and not of US Dollars.

Before doing anything, however, you need to be sure that the child’s father has actually property / savings that can be attacked, otherwise you risk to spend money and fail to obtain the requested result.

Please let me know if something is not clear. ""

Its easier than a lot of you guys think it is! There is a bit of initial burocracy but the way I read it, its possible.
you know what? I m giving it a try and see what happens.

If someone want to share their opinion on the response I received, I d be glad to hear what other people think

No offense to anyone, but on which planet does that equate - even loosely - to it being "easier" than you were previously told?

If anything, the attorney is warning you that there's a decent chance of you walking away with exactly...nothing. You realize he's talking (should Dad be a pest) about $6500 DOLLARS (give or take), right?

[EA1070a]

No offense to anyone, but on which planet does that equate - even loosely - to it being "easier" than you were previously told?

If anything, the attorney is warning you that there's a decent chance of you walking away with exactly...nothing. You realize he's talking (should Dad be a pest) about $6500 DOLLARS (give or take), right?

My first thought on reading that response was "massive pain in the caboose."

My second thought was "dad has home field advantage and will fight it tooth and nail."

And my third thought was "take the quoted figures, double them at a minimum, and you're closer to the real cost."

Those figures are, I'm sure, retainers.

I've spent too long watching parents beat their heads against a wall during interstate cases with the full force of US law behind them re: wage assignments, tax levies, license revocations, passport restrictions, etc.,let alone dealing with an international case.

Sometimes when you stir the pot you get some nasty surprises.

Personally? If I had that much to spend to go after support I'd tuck it away for college or a rainy day, and support the kid on my own. Each to his own.

[lida]

thank you for your opinion, EA1070a, I truly appreciate your point of view. And thank to all the others

I would never imagine that my kid's dad would leave the USA, the most successful country and become, an actual debtor criminal, a fugitive; which means living in hiding, with fear to be captured, and facing jail time with a debit that compound 10% interest every year.

I thought he would stay here and pay. Probably is my fault also; I dated this person only for a few weeks, then I got pregnant and he didn't like that. Then I took him to court when he was begging me not to do it. Then I asked him to agree to a 650$ a month payment, which was actually more than a third of what he was making every month. He never talked to me ever since I took him to court, and saw the child a few times only.

- - - Updated - - -

""In the U.S. ones home is exempt from child support liens, as are a few other exempt items. Which is likely the case in Spain""

you are so wrong, I know people with a lien on the house because of child support debits; its also listed as part of enforcement methods listed by the child support agency.

[Dogmatique]

That bit is true actually, according to NOLO though it is state-specific.

a fugitive; which means living in hiding, with fear to be captured, and facing jail time with a debit that compound 10% interest every year.

Oh, I'd bet he's not hiding. More like laughing in your face, because the very second he's contacted by Spanish officials, he's going to magically "disappear" again, to oh...I dunno, Poland maybe. Perhaps Morocco. Heck he can stay in Spain.

Because of you don't want anyone to find you, you won't be found. Trust me on that one.

But hey, if you want to throw more money at it without seeing a result, have at it.

[tex11]

"

In the U.S. ones home is exempt from child support liens, as are a few other exempt items. Which is likely the case in Spain

you are so wrong, I know people with a lien on the house because of child support debits; its also listed as part of enforcement methods listed by the child support agency.

Actually, you are incorrect. Nolo is not always a reliable source of legal information, and there is room to question the reliability of all "the people you know" who supposedly have child support home liens.

TEXAS for one DOES NOT allow a child support lien on ones homestead property, and it's a good bet many if not all states have similar statutes. And the law does not allow the proceeds of such a sale to be touched until six months after the sale, allowing the homeowner time to roll that money into another home.

https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov...l#ch11_enforce

Texas Liens and Foreclosures
A child support lien arises by operation of law for all amounts of child support due and owing, including accrued interest. [TFC § 157.261(a)] It attaches to all of the obligor’s real and personal property. [TFC § 157.312(d)] This includes bank accounts, stocks and bonds, insurance proceeds, retirement accounts, and vehicles. It does not attach to homestead real property, nor to the proceeds from the sale of such property for six months. [TFC § 157.317]. It does, however. attach to all of the obligor’s personal property, including household furnishings, livestock, and personal possessions. [Texas Property Code §42.005]

Occasionally child support liens are incorrectly placed on real estate that qualifies as an exempt homestead, but that can be corrected by the courts if needed.

[Dogmatique]

As a rule, NOLO is far more accurate than certain posters here.

But yeah, I didn't include a homestead exemption.