[ncmommy79]

What would the process be for reporting someone for felony abandonment of his children? I live in NC which allows misdemeanor and felony charges for abandonment in regards to not paying adequate child support and making oneself unavailable and eluding parental responsibilities. Now what I don't know and this confuses me is the statute doesn't necessarily specify whether a court order has to be in place as far as the felony charge goes; it does specify that a court order is necessary for the misdemeanor charges since every 30 days that pass without payment can result in a misdemeanor charge. Now I could be mistaken but that is how I understand it. Could someone correct me if I'm wrong? My ex boyfriend kicked us out back in March and just recently changed his phone number so I'm unable to get a hold of him and he hasn't provided support but we do not have an order in place so I know technically he doesn't owe me anything yet. Would I need to get a lawyer or just speak to the DA about this or go to the magistrate's office? I just don't know. All I know is he makes more in one week than I do in a whole month and he should be providing for his kids. I'm not expecting miracles and I doubt even with an order he won't pay anything so I may just be wasting my time with all of this.

[twinkiedooter]

You first need to get him designated as the father of your child and have a child support order in place so you can collect any child support. Once you get the child support order in your hands you can then go to the local Child Support Agency and see about garnishing his wages to satisfy the court order. You just can't file abandonment charges as you were not married to him.

[Fr_Chuck]

Yes, unless he is on the birth certificate or has been proven the father he can not be required to pay or be required to pay anything.

Next to my understanding there has to be a order of support, since he does not owe support and can not be requried to pay until there is one.