View Full Version : Child support garnishments
Alamb
Sep 20, 2006, 02:18 PM
My husband pays child support to his ex girlfriend for their 8 year old daughter. They were only 17 when his girlfriend had her. His ex and him only dated a couple weeks when he moved out of state. He was informed he had a daughter two years after she was born. We finally convinced his ex to allow my husband to see his daughter last year. Everything went really well.He was a great father to her and to our two boys. Then his ex decided to leave where she was living with out any warning. We have no contact information at all for his ex or his daughter. He was current on his child support up until they left. It has been exactly a year since they disappeared and now she has filed for child support though the State of Nevada ( we are assuming that is where they are). He is a year behind now since we could not send any money to her. We live in a state that gives an annual amount to the residents on October 4th. We received a letter saying that if he did not pay the amount in full by October 7th (30 days from the date of the letter) that his information would be turned over to be garnished by the state or the IRS. We just received a letter saying that the state will be taking his money he is supposed to receive on the 4th. The state only waited about 10 days, not the 30 days to report him. Is there anything we can do about that? I believe that it is illegal for them to not to give him the full 30 days before turning it over to collections with the state?
The WB
Oct 7, 2006, 09:42 PM
I don't think there is really too much he can do. The state may be collecting for the welfare she may have received while she was out of touch. If that is the case you're helpless. Find out where he is supposed to send the money and start sending. Also, send a copy of the original order to the Nevada child support office or procecutor. Be glad he got some kind of notice so he can at least plan for it. Divulge as little info as possible. I'm not sure but I think she would have to come back to your state to get more money
s_cianci
Oct 8, 2006, 08:00 PM
How does the state know that he hasn't been making his payments? Obviously he couldn't since he didn't know of her whereabouts but if he was sending the payments himself instead of via wage withholding I'd like to know how your state is suddenly aware of an arrearage. However, if the state makes up their mind that they're going to intercept your tax refund or garnish your wages, then there's probably little you can do. Given your situation I'd make it a point to regularly check the records of your own state as well as those of Nevada and document what money she receives, either sent directly by you (I hope you're saving the cancelled checks) or through garnishment. Keep track of what you've paid and what you owe. You might want to talk to a lawyer about getting credit for the year for which you didn't know of her whereabouts if in fact she moved away without your knowledge and without informing you. I also question why she's filing a new claim in Nevada. The original claim from your own state should still be valid, even if the mother changes residence. There is really no need to get a new order established. If she's trying to get payment for the year in which you didn't know of her whereabouts, that's where talking to a lawyer comes in. Technically she'd be entitled to it but a judge may consider the circumstances in this particular case.