Not Getting Child Support

Updated on April 09, 2012
J.M. asks from Longview, WA
29 answers

I am divorced and remarried. I have not recieved child support from my ex in over a year. I am in need of the money he owes even if I only get a little of it, anything helps. I have tried to do everythign to get child support enforcement to collect this money from him, but because he lives in Colorado and I live in Washington they say there is not much else they can do. I even tracked down his employer and reported it. His debt is raising more each month and we are finding it hard to get by. I was wondering if anyone out there knows how to get child support from someone that doesn't want to pay it, and what else I can do to make him want to pay atleast some of it. I don't have the money to pay for any attorneys, I did all that through the divorce, (just got that paid off) any advice would b e helpful. Thank you, J.

1 mom found this helpful

What can I do next?

  • Add yourAnswer own comment
  • Ask your own question Add Question
  • Join the Mamapedia community Mamapedia
  • as inappropriate
  • this with your friends

So What Happened?

Thank you everyone for all the advice. I do already have a case with child support enforcement. I am going to try everything to figure out how to get this extra money. I do not need it to get by and I have already checked with DSHS about it and I do not qualify for assistance so that didn't help me any. I am afraid that he may be working under the table, but I am going to keep pestering the child support enforcement office about it until I see results. Once his debt has reached around 10,000 then I plan on going through supportkids, because then it will be so high that it will be better to get something rather than nothing. I do already have a set amount that he is suppose to pay and he has tried to pleed with me to change it, but I have refused. I know that he may not be able to afford it anymore, but that is not my problem. He hasn't helped with anything and then refused to cooperate throughout the divorce process, raising my attorney bill through the roof and then when his attorney put a lein on his house he then decided that he would just start agreeing rather than fighting me on it all. Now I am left with a debt to my parents and other neglected bills because I had to pay for the attorney, while he sits in his new house and doesn't really have to worry that his credit is shot because he already got to buy a house. Well, that is why it is important to me, that and he does nothing else to help with my daughter, can't even make a phone call to talk to her. I don't tell my daughter about any of this, we just kind of ignore him all together, she really doesn't even know him, and has a really great Dad that loves and takes care of her. She knows that he is not her real father, but that a Dad is the person who takes care of you, is there for you, and loves you. She is a smart kid. That is why the money is important. Just really need it to get back on my way to having a better life, pay off past bills that I have struggled to pay. I am going to get tax returns from him this year because he was in the military last year so that will help to pay off a lot of bills, and he is suppose to claim her this year but does not get to due to the fact that he is behind so far on child support. This will help a lot to know that the tax returns are atleast coming soon. I just need to pay off these old bills so that I will be able to buy a house for my child to live an grow up in, and that opportunity is coming this year thanks to a wonderful program called self-help housing.

Thank you everyone though for all the advice and help. I am going to do all I can to try and get the money that I am entitled to and that I could really use to help my daughter to have a better life!!! That's what it's for right! Thank you!!!

Featured Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.S.

answers from Portland on

You said you reported this. To whom did you report it to? His employer? You need to report it to the state of Colorado's Child & Family Services and/or District Attorney's Office, as well as Washington's. I don't know which state is actually responsible for helping you collect the debt, but one of them is!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.C.

answers from Portland on

I haven't seen a but like $200 in child support from my son's dad and anytime I ask for money he always has an excuse. I hate to say but the only way I know to get the money is seek help from an attorney. Maybe you can find one for low-income families or ask the child support division to recommend someone who maybe able to help you.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

L.C.

answers from San Francisco on

As far as I know, as long as you have his SSN, employer info and is reporting his income, etc you should be able to open the case. It does not matter where he lives, he can live in Mexico for all I know...SSN is all that matters. Then he needs to be served, and since you know where works, that's it. His employer HAS to respond by law or they can get introuble. I'm telling you all this because this is how I opened my case.

Good luck.

More Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

C.S.

answers from Anchorage on

Honey I know what you are going through. This is what I did. Get a hold of the child support enforcement where he is in CO. Give them all of the info how much he is to pay you each month, how much he owes you, and where he works. I that does not work when you go to do your taxes let them know what is going on and they should be able to go aftor his taxes to get you what he owes you. I have done both thats how I know it works. There are web sites that can help also www.supportkids.com and supportcollectors.com It will not be easy. And also too you might wnat o look in to the cild support laws in Washington and in Colorado because their is a law that if the child support paying parent does not pay over a 3 to 5 year time span they can loose all rights to that child. There are also attorneys that can help you with little to no money at all. You have to find them thou. do a web search in your local area also in his too.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.E.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi J.,
Is child support clearly outlined as a part of your divorce settlement (I am assuming it is, but just thought I'd ask)? If so, I think you can go to your local District Attorney's office (court house) with a copy of your divorce/case number and file a contempt of motion (it might cost you a few hundred dollars to do so). I believe they can attach his wages for your child support payment (as long as he is not self-emlpoyed; it becomes more difficult) and can even prevent him from regestering his vehicle with the DMV if he is "flagged" by the D.A. for not paying child support. If he does not pay, I think he can also be held responsible for owing you 10% interest on all monies that he owes you.
This is what I believe to be true - I may be incorrect. Start at the D.A.'s office/Court House in your city.
Good Luck.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.C.

answers from San Francisco on

Hello
I am in the same situation so maybe I can help.FIrst question is do you have a child support enforcement case open in the county you live in? IF you have a child support order from your divorce you go to your local child support enforcement agency and open a case.
If you reported who he works for to DCSS then they should start garnishing his wages for current support. Call DCSS and ask them I reported the non custodial parents employment information to you have you garnished his wages or whats going on. You dont need a lawyer to take him back to court for the support its an interstate case file the paperwork in the county where you live if the case was orgnially filed in another county and or state you just have to change the venue. I know this all sounds very confusing but it is possible I can explain more on how to file with no lawyer if you would like my email is ____@____.com and I will explain more and can get you the forms for your state etc.

Good Luck

A.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.W.

answers from San Francisco on

J.

The only way I know to get the child support is to go to court and have his wages attached. You can do the paper work yourself or there are paralegel offices that will help you for a much smaller fee than a lawyer. You can got to court in the state you live in but he will need to be notified. Then they will send a court order to his employer to take the support directly out of his check before it is issues to him. Now with that being said, if he really doesn't want to pay you there is no way you can get it from him. I have heard of men "quiting" there jobs and getting either there former employer or a new one to pay "under the table". This is really hard. You can ask for federal assistance for the child that is his and then it takes it out of your hands and places it into the welfare depts and believe me they will go after him!!
Hope this helps.
S.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

R.B.

answers from Portland on

support enforcement is not telling the truth, i live in washington, and my ex lives in montana. he has two daughters (both live in washington). support enforcement collects every month for both of these girls.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

B.D.

answers from Portland on

Try calling Child Support Enforcement and requesting that they garnish his wages. It will take a court order but your case manager can handle that and it is their job to do so. Just find out who the case manager is and give them his work info including address and phone. If you have the name of his boss or manager that will be very helpful for this process. The child support is handles by the county treasurer in most states some states have their own department. Hope the info helps. B.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

V.H.

answers from Las Vegas on

I don't know about washington but in most states you go to the district attorney's office and they will enforce across state lines. They will take it from his paycheck and place a redirect on his income tax return. They can also take his driving liscense away and ban him from getting buisness liscenses. I would contact your local legal aide for advice. ~V.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.T.

answers from Los Angeles on

Im not sure how you go about it, i think through the district attourney's office or call your local child support agency, and ask that they directly deduct it from his paycheck. Its called a Wage Assessment. As long as he is getting a paycheck it will come out before he even gets his check. He can't stop it that way. I hope this helps a little.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

G.M.

answers from Portland on

Hello J.! I have been battling child support with my ex too! For almost 5 and a half years now! One thing you can normally do is get a personal judgement against him. This forces him to pay you when he files his taxes or when he tries to purchase a home or anything like that. As well there is that 800 number like the other gal mentioned. They will assist you in the processes depending on which state and help you get your money!!! Good luck!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.A.

answers from San Diego on

Well, it's really hard to say when you will get the $. Depending on the fathers' work status, does he work under the table ?has been there for a while? I am going through the same thing. I have 3 kids and 2 dad's. My sons' father has not paid in 5 yrs. He lives here in Calif. about 10 min. away. But he always has a different job andmost of it under the table, so it is very hard to track him down. I would suggest that you continue to bother the child support agency in your area on a weekly basis. You mentioned that you advised them with his wirk info. correct? Call them and keep on them about what happened , ask if they've contacted his employer and when you can expect to see the $. The more info. you provide the agency the faster it will be. If they are not helpful you should ask to speak with the supervisor. Make sure you note the name of the person and time for each call that you place. The last thing would be to collect Welfare from the state. Then what would happen is that once your ex starts to pay, the $ you were given by the state would be re-embursed first then they would give you the remainder. But yea, it sucks dealing with child support. Good luck to you.
Stay strong adn don't give. Ps. I don't recomend an attourney just because it does cost alot of $ and they pretty much do what you can do on your own.

S. single mother of 3.:)

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

C.H.

answers from Las Vegas on

Hi J., this sounds like what my sister went through.
She turned him in as a "Dead beat Dad" he could not get a fishing or hunting lience, and lost his driver;s lience also untill he started making reg payments, she also got his tax refund.You can put a lean on his home if he is a home owner.
She even rote the govener,Just dont give up !!
I would think you could have his wages garnished, no matter what state he lives in. All you need is his employer, and his social security #, The child support office should take care of the rest.
That is all I can think of to tell you, Hope you succeed. Let me know if this imformation helped. By and good luck. C.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

V.A.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hello,

I am not sure if this information will help you or not. I live in California and out here we have Healthy Families medical insurance and when you don't make enough money they transfer you to Medi- Cal. Now I know that when filling out that information they ask you if you are recieving child support from the other parent and if not by law they have to report it.

Basically the government will go after your ex for the money. And if he doesn't pay monthly they will garnish it out of his income tax return. I know of someone who has it garnished out of his paycheck.

I hope this helps you.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

D.G.

answers from Eugene on

The county District Attorney's office should have a family law or division of child support department. They should have a case for your child and it doesn't cost anything for them to work on your file. At least they do in Oregon. You may have to pay for an attorney to drag him into court to get his wages garnished if the DA won't do it. But they should. Keep trying. I know how you feel.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

L.C.

answers from Portland on

You can get his wages garnished. It doesn't matter if he's in Maine! If he's working under the table, then threaten to report him and his emploter to the IRS unless he starts paying up! That'll get his attention.

Make a stink! The squeaky wheel gets the grease!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.C.

answers from Fresno on

Without having to go the route of a lawyer, you should first try through your local child support division. is it originally in a court order? if so then his new employer MUST complete it and take it from his check or they can be in trouble by the law.

On a side note: go back to school. it is the one investment in YOU that can never be taken away!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

D.B.

answers from Las Vegas on

Hi J.,
I am very surprise that you said that you can not do much about it, well I think you can contact the district attorney office to open a case get as much information you can like social security number, where he works, normaly the district attorney's office help you alot, but probably each state have different regulations, for example my husband was married before and when he divorce his first wife in the divorce papers they state that he was suppost to pay her a specific amount of money each month, when we meet we move to New York and he keep sending her the money thru his mom to give to her, well, when we move back to California we find out that she report him as he did not send her the money, the district attorney office did a lot like he was not allow to drive since they removed his driving license, they contact the employer to start paying back payment to them, etc.
So call again the district attorney office if you have his address where he lives, where he works, etc. one way or another he will pay everything he is not paying you.
Good Luck!!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

R.W.

answers from Portland on

Hello, I heard on the maury show that there is a phone number that you can call and they will help you get child support. I believe that number is 1-800-supportkids or something I'm not quite sure, but you can give it a try. There might even be a web site like supportkids.org or supportkids.com or something.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

C.A.

answers from Portland on

I have lived in another state from my ex for many years now...gosh like 10! At first I didnt' know I could get support taken out of his paycheck, but through Child Support divisions provided by the states they normally can get them taken out and sent to you without your ex's permission. That's how I get mine. My ex wont apy me a penny if I had to leave it up to him. My advise would be to register with the Division of Child Support for Colorado and then let them know all of his information INCLUDING his current employer and then they will get your banking information and take it out of his paycheck before he even receives it.

Good Luck!!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.M.

answers from Honolulu on

Hey J.. well at the moment I'm experiencing the same situtation. Honestly there are somethings they can do about it. I think u should talk to legal services cause usually they help people like us who can't afford it. U have to take him to court seriously or have that dead beat dad to give up his rights to the child its clear he is neglecting her. Is he on the child's birth certifate? If so, did u contact people in washington? all i know is u are suppose to file it and give information in where he works. If he gets paid under the table then that is a different story because they can't take nothing from him if he is working under the table. there are no taxes taken from him thats y. so if that is the case all u can do is file it in where ur from to the child support agency. have all information in handy from him to his relatives just in case he disappears. u know some people like to disappear. so when he applies for a real job that gives him a paycheck it would automatic go to the legal system because his social will alert them. just hold on and keep ur head up...Ur the best mom that any child could ever ask for.
good luck and be strong...

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.G.

answers from Sacramento on

If the child support is a court order then send a certified copy to his employer. They have to take it out. After you get back the green card (from the certified letter) then contact the payroll dept and find out what the schedule is for you getting this 'court ordered child support'
Remember to state that it is court ordered..
go from there. They have ten days(working days) after a pay period to send it to you.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

T.K.

answers from Honolulu on

Hi,

I'm not sure if it's the same in Washington, but I live in Hawaii and my ex moved to Oregon last year. My child support comes right out of his paycheck (he's a federal employee). Couldn't your support office do the same thing since you know where he works?

Good luck!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

You should look into a company called supportkids.com they are a child support collection agency, so you do have to pay them, but not out of pocket they keep a percentage of what they collect for me it's 30%, and a $499.00 case creation fee(or something along those lines) which does seem like a lot. But I figured 70% is better than nothing. Personally I just opened my case so I haven't received any money, but I know others who have and love them. They are based in texas and work throught the U.S. good luck.!!!!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

R.M.

answers from Seattle on

i have the same problem, i live in Washington the father lives in Wyoming , my sons dad makes 12 grand a month yes 12 thousand dollars and has never paid a dime, dshs says they cant enforce child support because he lives out of state , i even called and gave them his address and license plate number. she said dshs got notified that he was working but couldn't collect because it was out of state, this is something i just dont understand. his back child support is now up to 39,700 .

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

L.B.

answers from Anchorage on

Hi J.,if the state you are living in say that they cannot help.and you cannot find someone to help you figure out away to get the child support you might have to go to his state and request it from the courts there. every dtate is different for how they proceed. but i cannot figure why if you have proof why you cannot get it. if your state is saying there is nothing they can do then how do other parents get child support even when they live in another state. if that was the case every parent that owed would move to another state to get out of paying. you should call around in your state and see if you can find a attorney who will do pro bono for you if you cannot afford one.because if you are needing the child support to help you like you say it might be a long process. just because one owes doesn't mean they will pay sad but true.or call some attorneys that have free consultation tell them your case and see what they can do or recommend sometimes attorneys can get the other side to pay for attorney fees for you check it out. if nothing can be done then you will have to do something to help with your finances. I wish you good luck hopefully i gave you some help.~L.~

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.P.

answers from Portland on

Have you talked with someone from the county Family Law office located in District Court. Oregon also has a Child Support Division within the Attorney General's office. I live in Portland and we have both of those offices in town. I don't know if there is a District Court in Longview. You probably could find information on the internet. If you receive public assistance the state will help you file for garnishment. And your divorce attorney might give you information and advice without charging you. Most attorneys do not charge for the first visit.

I'd start with the Attorney General's Office and their Child Support Division. Perhaps you've already done that and didn't get any help. They should at least give you information on what you can do. The fact that he lives in another state might make it more complicated because your state has to communicate with his state. But living in another state does not prevent you from getting child support.

I would definately not go to the state he lives in. You live in Washington and that is where court action has to take place. The other state only enforces what your state orders.

I know that you can get a court order to garnish his wages. I think that's the next step after the court order in which you get money when he files his taxes. Although I think it's all in the same order. If you can't afford a private attorney you can get one thru the Public Defender's office. They charge based on a sliding scale.

You may not have to have an attorney. The District Court Family or Domestic Law office may have forms that you can fill out and file with the court.

My granddaughter's father isn't paying court ordered child support either. She got help from the welfare office when she was getting assistance. They got a court order but I don't remember the details of it. Garnishing wages even if it were on the order wouldn't help in her case because he doesn't work. It seems like she could've gone a step further so that he would be arrested but she chose not to do that.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.R.

answers from Fresno on

There should be a way if you know your ex's SS#. I know mine and if he ever stops paying, I think I can contact the child support office with his SS# and they maybe able to do something. I hope!

For Updates and Special Promotions
Follow Us

Related Questions

Related Searches