I recently filed an application for child abandonment against my ex and we go to court for it on April 2, 2010. Here is my situation : I got a child support order in place as of 11/2007 and he was ordered to pay $200 per month plus $50 interest if in arrears. When we went to court on that date we both had to fill out income sheets. At the time I was working full time so my gross pay was around $4000 per month. He deliberately put zeros going down the entire sheet claiming to have nothing, and he said he was living with his grandparents. I didn't learn until months later that he lied, come to find out he had an apartment where he was paying around $650 per month in rent, plus he received a lump sum of $15,000 for his Social Security Disability check; reminder : he already had all this at the time we signed the court order, so he didn't report ANY of this. He gets a check because he is bipolar. Second, since 11/2007 he has only made four payments that total around $1100. Two of those payments were involuntary meaning the state sent them to me because he was in a work program while incarcerated.

DHS is now in the process of serving him for Contempt as well. Is it possible that since I have a judgement against him I could subpoena his old apartment complex to see what figures he put in for income to use this in Contempt court against him? Also since he received that lump sum from Social Security and lied on his income sheet in court, could that be used for income to increase my child support amount?

He was incarcerated July 2008 until December 2009 on other charges so now he owes me around $6000! He just started back getting his Social Security check and I reported this to DHS and they said that they sent SSA a letter but I haven't heard back yet. Do you think when we go to court my amount will increase cause now all I get is unemployment and a $99 Social Security check for my daughter because of him? He gets $635 a month.

What is going to happen at the abandonment hearing? Out of spite he has started sending derogatory messages to my phone and picture messages of him sitting in front of a table full of money shotting the finger at me. What can I do??

1. yes you can attempt to subpoena any of his money records, banks, work, disability, sociail security and more.

2. during the time he was in prison, he can ask to have any payment reduced to state min, since he had no income during that time.

3. Your error, if you did not review all of his money records before the hearing, you just dropped the ball, in fact he is required to furnish you a copy, just as you were required to furnish him a copy of yours.

Since this is the first time you have taken him back to court for non payment, don't expect a lot to happen except for him to be ordered to pay again, and warned by the court. And to provide a plan, and be given an amount to pay for any arrears.

So you mean to tell me that they aren't going to do ANYTHING to him even though clearly by law this is rightfully abandonment? He has been out of jail for four months and I haven't received any cash, even though he get a check each month??

Do you mean to tell me, even though he clearly lied on court documents in the original order that if I can present the evidence they aren't going to do nothing to punish him? I don't understand. I thought that was called perjury.

OK, while GA ( one of the few states that do so) calls it "abandonment" it is really just failure to pay child support, true abandoment is leaving the child at walmart and driving away. Totally different and also a crime in GA. Most states don't list non payment

In GA, a father can not even lose his rights for merely not visiting and not paying child support, so while it has a name that sounds serious, it is not the "crime" so don't think of this as a criminal act, it is still considered civil and a family court issue.

The truth of the matter is, GA jails ( and esp your country) are over crowded, so they have to decide, do they release a thief or a con man or who do they release from jail to make room for someone not paying child support.

So courts often try hard to work with them many times before they put them in jail and if they do, it is often either weekends or for a few weeks and then he goes back to court with a plan for repayment.

But they courts will still use his figures unless you can prove he has other income.


Also Disability checks are not normally garnished ( have to review to see if they can even be garnished in GA)

But if he is receiving Disability, then his children can file a claim for a disability check also, as a dependent of someone on disability,
So once he was approved, you needed to sign the kids up under his disability to receive their checks also.

And again, you will have to prove he lied to the courts, ** don't expect them to investigate.

And most likely if anything, they will fine him for contempt or give a few days in jail.

And also since this was before his prison time, that it happened, it will not violate his current status.

It is but in divorce and family court, they are use to everyone lying, I doubt that there is 5 percent of the cases where one party or the other does not lie.

Think of the criminal cases, the suspect claims he did not do it, he testifies and swears he did not, but they have evidence and prove he does, his perjury is not addressed.

In most child cases, one party claims the other abuses, mistreats or does something wrong, even when the other side proves it is not true, it is not addressed as perjury, it is just proven wrong and they go on.


Family court in GA is not like TV courts and the judges also don't see it in the best interest to put anyone in jail, since they can't pay support if they are in jail, they attempt to find ways to get them to pay,

Normally ( but not always of course) you will have to take him back several times before they start looking at jail to make him pay. Dekalb is better than some counties in GA, just thank God you are not in Fulton

I have never seen perjury addressed by Family Court - ever.

And I've seen some blatant misrepresentations. It just doesn't happen for all the reasons FrChuck stated.

You said you are getting a check for your daughter because of his SSD. So yes, you are receiving money. The time he was in jail do not count as him not paying... of course he didn't pay he didn't have any income he was in jail! He should have gone to court to have the support order modified when he went in and it would have been lowered. So, no I don't see an increase in support coming your way. And as fr. Chuck said four months out of jail with out extra cash is not going to put him behind bars again either. Do you really want him in jail? Because like I just said the support will be lowered and you could even loose the SSD check for your daughter because if in jail he is not getting it either.

First and foremost, my daughter has been getting a Social Security check since 2008 because he is her father. The problem is that it is only $99 per month cause his lazy never hardly worked! Second, SSA cut his check off while he was in jail the entire time but they never stopped her check. Third, I would rather see the loser behind bars locked up than see him out free on the streets spending his money on random strippers, call girls, etc. rather than paying me. I forewarned him that this is going to be a hell of a year for him because if I have to I will file an application for child abandonment EVERY 30 days if I have to, just to purge the money out of him! Either he can start paying me on time monthly or he can just pay the Dekalb County Jail $1000 to get out every time they lock him up. :mad::mad:Just keeping it real.

I have to say that with that attitude it won't be long before the courts start to ignore you and it may cause a change in custody. You need to be very careful with making threats of any kind.

I will have to agree with califdadof3 it is very possible that those people serving the papers and those hearing the cases will set them aside, or ignore them at a point if they feel you are merely filing to "get back at him" they will of course have to accept them if they are valid, but then you can't file if you still have a open case, so if the one you filed last month has not even been heard yet, you can't refile another one. And the courts look very poorly as being used to "get even"


If you can provide evidence that is acceptable in court, they will change the amount ordered, IF you faile to prove your case it won't change.

Also remember what you file in family court is not criminal charges, but civil, and this is just failure to pay support, not the same crime as abandoment in most other states,

The civil courts can find him in contempt and order jail and Georgia does this more than many other states, but normally don't until they have tried hard to collect other ways.

In order to keep it real you need to take a step back and look at the situation. Your case hasn't even been heard yet so no, you can't file again. You will also have to keep your attitute in check when going to court or you will be on the losing end.

That wasn't a threat, it was a promise and I will tell the judge that I told him that! I think you need to look up the meaning of threats, plus legally I'm considered his debtor now that he owes me! Change in custody, get real, there isn't a judge in the state of Georgia that would give him custody. One because he has an extensive mental and criminal history (serious felonies) and because he isn't stable at all, doesn't even have his own place and his license are suspended. Plus like I said, I'll be filing EVERY thirty days that he doesn't pay because the law says that I can. Okay let them attempt to ignore me then I will file a complaint with the state bar.

I know a couple of people from regular officers and detectives for Dekalb County that told me that I can do this and there are many women that do whenever these deadbeats don't pay, in Dekalb County. Just in case you aren't familiar with this area, it's the richest county in Georgia, all they care about is money so I strongly doubt a change in custody. Like I said $1000 fine every time he doesn't pay!

As we speak I'm organizing a group of custodial parents seeking to collect back child support from these deadbeats here in Georgia. We are going to put pressure on our local representatives to push for new legislation that would allow more stricter penalties for non support.:D tty

Good luck to you on that. I hope it goes well for you please come back to let us know your progress.

Yes, I'll also be interested in how this plays out.

I'm putting my money on the table that this will be the end of the thread.

Go read up on child abandonment in Georgia, it is a CRIMINAL OFFENSE. The first two times it's a misdemanor and the third conviction is a FELONY! They can't ignore my application because each application filed is $10. This isn't about get back, this is about collecting a debt that is rightfully and legally due to my dependent child. Plus I keep all paper work associated with child support enforcement and he has only made four payments from 2007 up until now. Like I said I would rather see him locked up and spending unnecessary money that he could've just paid me rather than squander it on frivolous things!

I didn't say I filed for child abandonment in February, I said I filed for contempt and the judge said that DHS can only file contempt charges so I left it alone but the law didn't say I couldn't file for abandonment on my own as a remedy to collect. A lot of these men need to learn to keep their things zipped up if they don't want trouble.:D

There is a first time for everything. Setting precedents!

Sorry but they aren't going to just throw away the amounts he already owes me, that just ain't going to happen. Second, yes my daughter gets a $99 check from SSA but I have a court order stating he has to support her until she is 20 years old. Nowhere in that order does it state he is exempt from paying the court ordered amount because of a $99 check sorry. Like I said I'd rather see him in jail than out on the streets intentionally not paying me.:mad:

That's a two way street babe! ;)

Just for your information : Section 207 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 407) protects Social Security benefits from assignment, levy, or garnishment. There are exceptions but none of them is for state taxes (just federal obligations, child support, etc). However, while they cannot garnish your SSD, they can freeze bank accounts and seize/levy other non-exempt personal property. If your SSD is in such an account, you will have to prove that the funds are SSD and therefore exempt in order for the funds to be released.

My case will be heard this Friday. I will let my lawyer talk for me.:cool:

I think I will get an increase because in the original order he claimed his income was $0 and he was still ordered to pay $200/month then and I was working full time making good money. Now the tables have turned, he now has some income and I'm not getting as near as much as I was on my job plus you have to take into count the presumptive amounts and deviations that I pay like (life insurance, daycare, etc.) that wasn't listed in the original court order!