In 1998 my ex-wife divorced me. I was never served with divorce papers but my signature appears on the service form. Obviously this was forged. In the divorce I have been ordered to pay child support. I found out about the divorce when I received a garnishment letter in the mail from the Washington State Child Support Enforcement Agency. I was able to get a copy of the decree from them. I have not seen nor heard from my son in almost 10 yrs. Is there something I can do to have the child support rescinded?

When we separated, she walked out on me and my son after having an adulterous relationship. He was only 4 then. Several months later, after I obtained legal custody, she took him for a 2 week visit in the summer of 1998 (before the divorce). At that point we talked about a possible reconciliation. She left the state with my son, got custody of him in another state after telling the courts in California that she could not find me. She then proceeded to get the divorce. I haven't seen my son in almost 10 years. I have found out that she changed his name to her last name. After hiring a private detective to locate her, I contacted her and was told that my son wants nothing to do with me. I have diligently (albeit reluctantly) paid child support. She moves around so much from state to state that it's almost impossible to serve her with any court papers. I currently do not know what state she resides in.

After so long, my relationship with my son may be irreparable. I don't want to cause him any undue mental anguish by taking his mother to court on charges of fraud and forgery. If I give up my parental rights to my son, can the child support be rescinded without my ex-wife's consent? If not, then I have no choice but to take her to court and file criminal charges. That is my last resort. Please, someone give me some useful advice.


Steven ([email protected])


PS: I have always paid my child support. I don't runaway from my problems so if you're a man hating spurned woman, please move on. One last thing, remember, she left me and my son for another man.

You can petition the court in the state where the decree derived from.

However I think you have some more serious things to take to court considering your signature was forged on the divorce decree. I would imagine that would make the entire document invalid.

Can you get out of child support? Ummmm... NO!

You helped bring that child into the world, you are responsible for the costs, at least in part, for that child.

If your argument is that you can't see your child, so you shouldn't have to pay... well, then, try to get custody and/or visitation with your child.

You are responsible for supporting that child from birth. Regardless if you choose not to see the child, you are still obligated to support them. You are not going to be able to get child support stopped... won't happen.

If you were never served with divorce papers then how do you know what's in the decree? Where was your attorney in all this? Have you been paying support since 1998? If so, how did you know how much and where to pay?

There are a lot of questions raised by your question and I think there is a lot more to this story.

But the bottomline is you are the father of that child. Therefore you are responsible for providing some level of support. If you haven't seen the child for 10 years, that is at least partially your choice. Have youmade any attempts to visit since the divorce? Did the divorce decree say anything about visitation?

How about giving us the whole story?

GOOD QUESTIONS!!

I almost missed that you edited your original post adding 2 paragraphs to give us more of the story. You should have added them in a new post.

OK, First you can relinquish your rights but not your responsibilities. So giving up the rights will not do end child support.

And while, I agree its possible your relationship with your son may be irreparable, I still think there is still more to this story. So you obtained legal custody initially. I assume you have court documents to support that. In 1998 she took the child for an approved visit and then kidnapped him. Yet you didn't file kidnapping charges then? Had you done so, I doubt if she could have fooled the courts (if she indeed did).

You stated you hired a PI. What were the results of that? If you have diligently paid child support, who have you paid it to? If she moves from state to state how does she collect it? Why was a garnishment necessary?

Frankly, I don't think you have exhausted all avenues open to you. And yes, I do believe you need to file criminal charges, you should have done so immediately. I think you need to send copies of the original custody order (prior to her kidnapping your son) to any agency asking you for child support along with a letter stating that since you have legal custody any claims for child support are fraudulent and the child should be returned to you. Granted, your son may hate you for this, but with therapy, he may come around. As a son, he may not have liked not having a father and moving from place to place not having friends, etc. Once he sees the lie his mother has made him live he may come around.

Your task will not be easy, but you should not have waited 10 years to implement this.