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Tue 29 Jul, 2014 08:28 pm
About 10 years ago, when I first went to the AG to file to collect child support, my child's father worked as an independent contractor and successfully hid income so that he could manipulate the system and only have to pay a minimal amount in child support. The amount ordered was $265 per month; in the state we lived in at the time, that was the amount paid by someone who made minimum wage (about $7 per hour). We both married and moved to different states and didn't have much contact. I knew that a small amount was deposited into my account every month, and that the amount was not reflective of what he would have been ordered to pay had I had his tax returns reviewed, but this was not a person I wanted to confront so I left it alone. About a year ago, right around the time my daughter turned 18 and the support ended, I found out that my daughter's father has, for a number of years, owned an extremely successful business. Earlier this month, my daughter went up to stay with him for a little while; she found out that this business brings him an income of somewhere around 500k per year. My husband, my daughter and I are struggling just to figure out how we're going to get her to and from school without going broke, while he has pretended for years, and continues to pretend to this day, that his life is just so unbearably difficult for him with his half-million-dollar-a-year income. My question is, even though the support ended about a year ago, is it still possible to have his income reviewed and force him to pay my daughter all of the support that she was cheated out of for about 10 years?
@AGsParentalUnit,
That's a good question for a lawyer. Perhaps you can contact a local legal agency/Bar association and find someone who might deals with legal mediation or pro-bono work lawyers to help you get some justice?
There are some people on the forum here who have some decent legal expertise that might guide you a bit better.
Good luck.
@AGsParentalUnit,
Quote:Earlier this month, my daughter went up to stay with him for a little while; she found out that this business brings him an income of somewhere around 500k per year
prob cause he knows that he is home safe now, and wanted to rub it in. I have a feeling that this is going to go under the heading " you snooze, you loose". That is a hell of a detail to not notice for years.
Quote:but this was not a person I wanted to confront so I left it alone.
Ya, now the question is who is this kid going to be most pissed at, him or you.
EDIT: I am not a lawyer. My understanding is that many states have a department whos only purpose is to go after deadbeat parents. It is prob worth finding a phone number and making a call.
Before you do anything, think about whether this is about you or your child.
If dad is as bad as you say, your child knows it, too. If dad is out of state it will be an expensive proposition. You might get better traction if the state the divorce was made in can be made a party to any lawsuit and in fact, they may be the injured party here legally if dad committed a fraud and lied to Support Enforcement. Especially if the state made contributions to your child's healthcare or offered ADC or education because dads contribution was low enough to qualify for assistance. And if the state is involved, it might get the state he is residing in involved if there is a good reciprocal agreement between the two states.
Like Ragman says, good luck, because dad obviously can afford a lawyer and he seems bent on cheating his own child. I hope you can get your state support enforcement dept in on this.
@bobsal u1553115,
Quote:Like Ragman says, good luck, because dad obviously can afford a lawyer and he seems bent on cheating his own child. I hope you can get your state support enforcement dept in on this
Ya.. " I cant afford to get my kid to college and he makes a half million a year, should I sue?"
The state is the only hope, they work for free.
@hawkeye10,
Not sure how I could have noticed; we live about 1,100 miles apart. He's not someone I wanted in my own life, and while I knew he was not working at some minimum wage job somewhere, I didn't think that the disparity would turn out to be one of such asinine proportions.
She knows now how the whole child support case went down, and over the last month that she's been up there, she has gotten to know more about him as a person...she's most definitely not pissed at me.
@bobsal u1553115,
I appreciate what you're saying, but this is most definitely about her. I have no need or desire to keep a cent for myself if we were to find some way to hold him accountable. Every bit of it would be used for her education, which is what we have been struggling with.
That is an interesting point that I had not considered. The state had no part in her education, childcare, or healthcare, so I doubt it would have any interest in filing suit against him.
I suppose I'm going to need all the luck I can get.
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