Q: Can my ex husband collect support from me, if he owes me over $9,000 in arrears?
Hi, I have a 17 year old son that lives with my ex husband (only as of the last 8 months), and he is now trying to collect child support from me. The thing is, he owes me over $9,000 in child support arrears. Can my ex husband collect support from me, if he owes me?
A:
The support payments would only be transferred to the other parent if the custody modification was approved of by a court. If this has not occurred, a recalculation of support would also need to occur. That is, the support obligations can (and usually are) different between the parents because the support obligations are restricted by ability to pay (e.g. if father pays 4K a month and makes 200K a year, but mother makes 50K the transfer of custody to father would not require the mother to pay 4K a month). If the father does file for a modification (which probably should occur), any obligation that you have towards support will be offset by any unpaid support the father did not pay (there are some exceptions to this general rule, so talk to a lawyer about the details).
In short, you may have to pay support, but your support obligation is likely not the same as the father's obligation (it could be more or less). Offsetting for unpaid support is allowed with "transferred" support obligations in most circumstances (provided that it can be proven). Contact a family law attorney for details.
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