Q: My ex is threatening to stop child support payments for our 18 year old, who is a senior in HS. Can he do that?
He lives with me and is a 4.0 full time student. He will graduate in June of 2018. I drive him to school and back. Take him to his after school activities. He's a student editor for his HS school paper. I use the child support money for food, clothing, basic hygiene needs, all his school supplies and all things pertaining to my son's well being. I do use a small portion to put gas in my car, to transport him because we are not in walking distance of the school. The money is not mismanaged. My child is not emancipated, not a defiant young man, does not smoke, drink or participate in any activities that would plague a parent. I cannot believe the ignorant, neglectful stance his father is threatening to take. He has already set up his cell phone to not take our text messages or receive our phone calls. (I promise you, we've been divorced for 14 years, I have not been a bothersome ex at all...he's on his 6th wife now!) Truly, can this man be any more thoughtless of his child?
A: Presumably you have a child support order. In your child support order it should spell out when child support ends and typically such order generally state that child support ends on the child's eighteenth birthday, unless the child has not graduated from high school and is still in school full time, in which event support ends at time of graduation. I would recommend that you contact the department of child support services ("DCSS") and ask them to enforce your support order that you currently have. In the unlikely event you do not have a child support order, contact DCSS and have them open a case for you to obtain a court order in the amount he has been paying you - or a higher amount if the facts justify it. DCSS will enforce the support orders by attaching his wages so that his employer will have to cut a check to you for the child support and the remainder to him, but there are limits to the amount they can attach. In either, the point here is that you can prevent him from making good on his threat by having DCSS HELP you either enforce an order you already have or obtain an order that you should have and enforce it by attaching his wages. Best of luck.
Justia Ask a Lawyer is a forum for consumers to get answers to basic legal questions. Any information sent through Justia Ask a Lawyer is not secure and is done so on a non-confidential basis only.
The use of this website to ask questions or receive answers does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and Justia, or between you and any attorney who receives your information or responds to your questions, nor is it intended to create such a relationship. Additionally, no responses on this forum constitute legal advice, which must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. You should not act upon information provided in Justia Ask a Lawyer without seeking professional counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. Justia assumes no responsibility to any person who relies on information contained on or received through this site and disclaims all liability in respect to such information.
Justia cannot guarantee that the information on this website (including any legal information provided by an attorney through this service) is accurate, complete, or up-to-date. While we intend to make every attempt to keep the information on this site current, the owners of and contributors to this site make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to from this site.
