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View Full Version : Child support - father in jail most of the time - never collected - can I now?


charmed0708
Jan 21, 2010, 02:42 PM
We went to court to file for paternity - the father was in prison at the time so I never received payment. Now he is out and has a great job but the kids are now over the age of 18 and either in college or working. Can I get the child support owed? What do I do if I can? This is in the state of Texas. We did receive support from the state for about 8 years.

cdad
Jan 21, 2010, 05:02 PM
If the children are over 18 then you can't collect anything at this point. Was there an order in place already ? How much was it ?

charmed0708
Jan 21, 2010, 06:01 PM
There was an order as far as paternity but an amount was never stated. I'm assuming this is due to his being in prison. I just thought I'd try because I'm earning less than 30000 a year and still having to pay my girls expenses while they get through college. He's got a job where he earns the same as I do but yet doesn't think he should contribute any amount of money to their education.

Fr_Chuck
Jan 21, 2010, 06:08 PM
You can only collect if there was a actual child support order in place.
Even in prison, there should or could have been a order put in place

charmed0708
Jan 21, 2010, 08:20 PM
Ill get a copy of the order and check if there was an amount stated. Thanks for all the advise!

stinawords
Jan 21, 2010, 10:27 PM
A paternaty order wouldn't have an amount stated. The child support order is where you would have to look. I'm going to guess from what you said that paternaty was established but support was never ordered. Did you ask for support to be ordered? Because if there was never an order for support there is nothing to collect because nothing was ever owed.