Child Support Screw Up

[Nope]

I don't even knots anyone might have any experience with something like this. But all thoughts are appreciated. DH and his uBPDex had court about a year and a half ago where her CS obligation was doubled. Since then she has paid at all maybe a handful of times. She also hasn't given us any money for counseling or braces or anything else for the kids. You know how it goes.

But they did do a tax return intercept, so we've been waiting for the six month waiting period to be over so that we could at least get that money. We were expecting that lump sum in just enough time to be able to get the kids all of their school needs for this fall.

We were just notified by DCSE that there is an unspecified error with the CS modification that the uBPDex complained about that makes the modification void and unenforceable. They won't tell us what the problem is, but before this came to light the case worker told me she was complaining that the start date for the modification was unclear.

Soo... .This effectively cut what she owes DH in half. Does anyone have any thoughts on our recourse? The way I see it is that we have three options. 1) Either let the past go and file for a new modification, which given current financial realities would be more favorable to us than the last modification. Or 2) See if there is some process by which we can get the modification fixed. My big issue with that is that I strongly suspect that they won't backdate fixing it to the previous date of the order, no matter how badly she clearly hasn't been acting in good faith to pay anything.

Or, of course, option 3. Let it go. Accept that she'll never have to be responsible in any way for these kids and that the financial hardship that places on me, DH, and our little one is just going to have to be my problem.

[ForeverDad]

Does anything there appear unclear?  For example, if it was intended to be retroactive and she claims it wasn't for some reason, then it should at least be effective prospectively, that is, after the order was issued.

I'm thinking a lawyer could file stating ex hasn't paid all child support and seek either enforcement or... .a clarification or affirmation of the order since CSEA is not enforcing the order?

I am convinced you had the best magistrate available from among those at the court.  I had the magistrate twice.  The first time we didn't have a history with the court and the magistrate bent over backward to give mother the benefit of the doubt.  The second time magistrate did not hold back calling her out, though she still gave mother some leniency which I'm sure I wouldn't have gotten if I was the one misbehaving.

Edit:  There is no assurance that if you return to court that you'll get the same magistrate.  My lawyer told me cases are assigned on a rotation basis if there is no action currently pending.  He told me what happened behind the scenes at one post-divorce hearing.  The magistrate knew my ex would walk out and file something immediately.  She didn't want to deal with ex again and so asked the clerk how busy clerk would be so the order could be quickly written and date-stamped before ex filed again.

[Panda39]

Neither my SO or his uBPDxw had an attorney by the time of the divorce hearing so the judge assigned the writing of the decree to the CE who was an attorney.  She did a lousy job the one thin both my SO and his ex could agree on.  There was no end date to the alimony in the final order 

My SO was able to submit it back to the court for review/revision and was able to get the missing information added back in and end alimony when it was supposed to end (I assume there was a review of the court transcript), so you might be able to get a correction.  I would ask your attorney if that is a possibility. 

Panda39

[Nope]

FD - We moved the order to our home state and the modification was done in our home state. Our L for the modification is away on vacation, so we are still waiting to find out what happened. Nothing looks unclear to me. But I'm waiting to hear back from the L f for real answer.

Panda - I'm pretty sure we can get it fixed, the problem is that I don't believe a judge will retroactively fix it since the start date should have been nearly a year and a half ago and his ex has barely given us anything anyway. As far as court is concerned, my DH has deep pockets compared to his ex, so making her pay isn't as much a priority. We bend over backwards to make sure the kids don't feel the pinch, but it's tough with DH being the only income.

[Nope]

Update.

So... .Apparently, our state has an obscure statute that says that the only way DCSE in our state can enforce a modification against an out of state payor is if the payor came to court in our state asking for a modification. Because the in state payee asked for the modification, it is null and void.

Yes, that is exactly what we just got told. Apparently, this is a very obscure statute that, frankly, doesn't get brought up by DCSE unless the payor is being a really squeaky wheel and actively fighting having to pay. If the payor just pays, then DCSE takes the money and never brings it up. If the payor fights and screams and keeps calling, they give them what they want, which is a way out of payment.

So, we've lost more than a year of the modification and there is no way to get that money back. DCSE is sending enforcement to DCSE in her state with a request for them to do a review and modification, but all she has to do is refuse to hand over her W2 and there won't be much they can do. By the time anything gets sorted out I suspect SD15 will have graduated high school and SD14 will be just a couple of years away from doing the same.

She is on a Disney vacation as I type this... .

[Panda39]

She is on a Disney vacation as I type this... .

Of course she is 

It always amazes me the what these folks get away with... .sigh.

Panda39

[Anamika]

She is on a Disney vacation as I type this... .

This is what kills me.  They state over and over they have no money.  But they go out to eat every night.  Go out and buy toys or stuff all the time.  Go out to bars all the time and drink all night long.  Now has two cars, one brand new!  But cannot meet obligations for their children.  She cannot even pay for school supplies for the children!

Last month my company sent a CS payment in error.  It was stopped by the court after I gained full custody.  I emailed her and told her that day of the error.  We're 6 weeks on and she sent me one $25.70 check.  Which is weird because that amount doesn't divide evenly at all,  .  She says she doesn't have the funds to pay it back and will send $25 every two weeks.  It will take her 80 weeks to pay me back!  This is just her way of trying to be in control and hurt me.  Now here's the best part.  My friend sent me a screen shot of her Facebook.  She's going on a cruise.  You just have to laugh and focus on your children. 

[Nope]

She actually never argued that she couldn't afford it. She argued that she didn't want to pay it. Seriously. She said she didn't want them to take it directly out of her paycheck (which they couldn't do without her permission since the judge didn't check the box for that on the modification), and she said she didn't want it taken from her tax return (which they garnished her tax return anyway, but will now be giving a big chunk of that back to her since the modification is null and void). She literally told DCSE that she'd send checks for however much she felt like paying whenever she got around to it.

Currently she is not giving us a penny because she doesn't know what she should pay because she was originally told it was one amount and now she's being told it's another amount, and until she's completely clear on what she owes she isn't going to just blindly pay. (She kinda has a point.)

DCSE is handing over enforcement to the DCSE in her home state because they don't want to deal with her and because DCSE in her home state is better equipped to modify and garnish as necessary. Too bad they didn't do this more than a year ago when we first submitted the modification.