Here is the situation... I know after you read this, you are going to shake your head and say "How stupid can a person be?" ; however it is what it is, and help is needed now! (Parties are Defendant (Def), Child's Mom (Mom) and Child from this relationship (*child).

Def was separated from his legal wife and was not living in the household with his child from marriage. While separated he had a brief relationship with Mom. After a few months Mom moved.

Two years later, through Def Employer, he receives a w/holding notice, requiring employer to w/hold $1,014 per month for child support. His income at the time was less than the amount of CS. Def made arrangements to move in with family and work in exchange for room and board for his daughter and himself.

Def did not know who to contact, or what to do about the issue.

A year later, a friend helped Def request copies of the legal docs.

It appears there may have been an error made on the Obligation Worksheet. The Gross Monthly Income is listed as $2,858.22 for the months 6/1/04 - 1/31/05 and child support is determined $514.48.

Def paycheck stubs confirm an amount $2,858 for the total wages for the 8 months.

When arrears were determined on the Obligation Worksheet, the Monthly amount was entered as $514, then multiplied by 8 for the total $4,112.00 and $500 for arrears monthly... And have continued to add up until present.

Def made several attempts to resolve this issue. Def had not seen or talked with Mom, except for the w/holding notice sent from Washington, he did not know where to find Mom.

The original filing was in Clark County, Def residence. Def called Clark County and he was told to con tact Washington. When he contacted Washington, he was told to contact Clark County.

Def submitted a request for review with Clark County DA that was ignored. He requested a board meeting, via telephone with Washington, and received no response.

Def is remarried; Def and his wife are responsible for the support of three children.

*Child is 4 years old. Def has not met *Child, spoken to *Child and does not know how to find * Child nor *Child's Mom. He does Not know if *Child is his.

Total arrears as of Feb 4, 2008, according to DA are $22,094.46, + $514 mo CS.

Def wants to ask arrears be reduced to judgment of $4,800 (the total for CS due if exact income is used $100 X 48 months - 4 years) and wants to request Termination of Parental Right on the grounds that he didn’t know about child when Mom left, hasn’t had any contact with *child or Mom since she left and has no way to contact them now or in the future.

Can this be done? If not, what can be done? Where are papers to be filed at in any case? How is Mom served if Def doesn't know her location?

Any advice is appreciated!

Thank you!:o

You can't terminate rights.
You need to GO to where the CS was filed and demand that you want your day in court for a re evaluation. If everybody is ignoring you and giving you a run around that is all I can see other than getting a lawyer consultation.

Wasn't the defendant ever served with a notice from the Family Court of the Mom's county of residence? He should have been served with a notice for an application for adjudication of paternity by Mom. A hearing would have been scheduled at which Mom, Def. and the child would have been ordered to submit to a DNA test to prove (or disprove) paternity. If the Def. was in fact confirmed to be the father, then an order of child support would have been established based on def's income, as verified by pay stubs and/or tax returns. There seem to be a lot of irregularities in the story here, such as how was child support ever established without proof of paternity? And how was such an inordinate amount ordered without verification of income? A lot of gaps remain here and need to be closed.

[QUOTE=foxxxy]Here is the situation... I know after you read this, you are going to shake your head and say "How stupid can a person be?" ; however it is what it is, and help is needed now! (Parties are Defendant (Def), Child's Mom (Mom) and Child from this relationship (*child).

Def was separated from his legal wife and was not living in the household with his child from marriage. While separated he had a brief relationship with Mom. After a few months Mom moved.

Two years later, through Def Employer, he receives a w/holding notice, requiring employer to w/hold $1,014 per month for child support. His income at the time was less than the amount of CS. Def made arrangements to move in with family and work in exchange for room and board for his daughter and himself.

Def did not know who to contact, or what to do about the issue.

A year later, a friend helped Def request copies of the legal docs.

It appears there may have been an error made on the Obligation Worksheet. The Gross Monthly Income is listed as $2,858.22 for the months 6/1/04 - 1/31/05 and child support is determined $514.48.

Def paycheck stubs confirm an amount $2,858 for the total wages for the 8 months.

When arrears were determined on the Obligation Worksheet, the Monthly amount was entered as $514, then multiplied by 8 for the total $4,112.00 and $500 for arrears monthly... And have continued to add up until present.

Def made several attempts to resolve this issue. Def had not seen or talked with Mom, except for the w/holding notice sent from Washington, he did not know where to find Mom.

The original filing was in Clark County, Def residence. Def called Clark County and he was told to con tact Washington. When he contacted Washington, he was told to contact Clark County.

Def submitted a request for review with Clark County DA that was ignored. He requested a board meeting, via telephone with Washington, and received no response.

Def is remarried; Def and his wife are responsible for the support of three children.

*Child is 4 years old. Def has not met *Child, spoken to *Child and does not know how to find * Child nor *Child's Mom. He does Not know if *Child is his.

Total arrears as of Feb 4, 2008, according to DA are $22,094.46, + $514 mo CS.

Def wants to ask arrears be reduced to judgment of $4,800 (the total for CS due if exact income is used $100 X 48 months - 4 years) and wants to request Termination of Parental Right on the grounds that he didn’t know about child when Mom left, hasn’t had any contact with *child or Mom since she left and has no way to contact them now or in the future.

Can this be done? If not, what can be done? Where are papers to be filed at in any case? How is Mom served if Def doesn't know her location?

Any advice is appreciated!


I think you have to fill in the gaps here - if I understand correctly the father was never served with any papers, never admitted paternity, never signed a birth certificate, didn't know about the child, never had paternity testing but is paying child support under a Court Order? Shouldn't he make certain this is his child?

And, no, you can't just terminate fatherhood. The child still has to eat whether the father knows where he/she is.

Go to the Court that issued the Order and find out what's going on - or have an Attorney do it for you. An Attorney can find both Mom and child very easily by following the Court documents.

Confused by the whole scenario but it sounds like the father should take care of this before it gets any worse.

Ok, he is wasting his time taling to the "mom" and talking to Child enforcement and he is waisting his time talking to the clerk,

He has to file a motoin in the court that issued the order to admend the original order. He needs an attorney,

If he has a copy of the original order then that's the best starting place. He MUST file papers to release him from paying child support and to release / dispute any and all arrearages. Those are first and foremost. He needs to find ALL of the payments he has made so far and keep them safe. He is going to need a good lawyer for this. The grounds for releasing child support is paternity.. same with the arrears. He can ask for a paternity test at the hearing / trial. Then if he is the father of the child ask that the courts calculate the proper child support at that time from day 1. Then ask to be credited what has already been paid. He will need tax returns etc and also to show he has an existing child. Any court documents supporting his claim and if he is now married he needs to explain his marital obligations as well. All this should be taken into account for calculating child support. Its against Federal Law to take more then 50% of gross earnings regardless of how many children a person has and that figure jumps to 65% if there are arrears ( worst case ). He needs to get on this now and not wait any longer or wallow in any pity party because this is his child ( maybe ). If he wants to see her that's yet another separate action to file with the courts ( visitation ). He should be able to file all 3 actions with visitation last pending the outcome of the paternity testing. Good Luck.