I move to Ga. About 5yrs ago. I have a NJ child support order. The other parent lives in Ca. I haven't received child support in over 6 months going on 7 months. My case worker here in Ga. Reached out to the state of Ca and was told CA will not enforce my case if the other parent is unemployed to no fault of his own; they have suspended his DL and will wait until he contacts them about the suspension. My case worker here in Ga mentions the child abandonment law but didn't tell me how to file. I would like to know if I can file and how do I go about filing. He's also in the arrears well over sixteen thousand dollars. What a dead beat! Our child is in college and our NJ order state that he has to support the child until the child is finish with school. How does this law work with the daddy being in another state? One last question, how can a person fight for another country and don't take care of business at home. So sad.

Talk further with your case worker but it does not sound like abandonment to me. He may be inviolation of the court order but you need to talk to NJ about that.

I move to Ga. About 5yrs ago. I have a NJ child support order. The other parent lives in Ca. I haven't received child support in over 6 months going on 7 months. My case worker here in Ga. Reached out to the state of Ca and was told CA will not enforce my case if the other parent is unemployed to no fault of his own; they have suspended his DL and will wait until he contacts them about the suspension. My case worker here in Ga mentions the child abandonment law but didn't tell me how to file. I would like to know if I can file and how do I go about filing. He's also in the arrears well over sixteen thousand dollars. What a dead beat! Our child is in college and our NJ order state that he has to support the child until the child is finish with school. How does this law work with the daddy being in another state? One last question, how can a person fight for another country and don't take care of business at home. So sad.


This is a legal question, not a question about how to raise children, and I have requested that it be moved to the legal forum.

Here is info on child abandoment - http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/family-law/child-abandonment-read-first-364259.html. I have no idea why a case worker would suggest an abandonment "case" with you. I would ask him/her.

If he is in violation of a Court Order you take him back to Court to get it enforced. You would have to contact the Court in NJ and ask that the matter be transferred to GA so you could file there. You may need to make a formal application to the Court. Of course, if GA is already involved in the child support issue it may have already been transferred and GA may already have jurisdiction. You will have to ask.

It sounds to me like he doesn't have the ability to pay and so the Courts will do nothing - but you don't know until you try.

I don't understand the "fight for another country and not take care of business at home" part. Is he in the military? If so, I don't understand why he's unemployed - ?

Yes, he's in military. Not sure what he does. He has not had a relationship with the child now for many years. Ca. Wants me to give information about him that I don't have. I tell them all the time I know just as much as you do. I have no connection at all with the daddy. I only receive support when he's deployed and when he's not it stops. NJ closed my case when I moved to Ga. Because both parties are in different states but says the order stays the same because it was opened in the state. I think she said that because at one point she saw he had the funds in his account to pay the past due and current support and was not paying. A lien was placed on the acct but was removed because Ga. Was not the enforcing state but the enforcing state did nothing. I don't know who to turn to about my case. Georgia says they are the middle man, Ca. (which is his state) won't enforce and the state of NJ closed my case. How else can I get help? He's been in violation off and on for 19 yrs mostly off. Thank you for your reply.

First, GA is one of the few states that calls it child abandonment when a parent doesn't provide support for their children. What it boils down to is child support and enforcement of it.

You need to get the case transferred to GA so that can enforce the support order.