Q: Non-custodial dad owes $35,000 in child support.How can I take action to hold him accountable?Can he be forced to work?
My daughter is 9 and the dad has been in and out of prison. When she was 1, the courts ordered him to pay $300/month in child support and it’s been collecting since then, up to about $35,000 with no payments from him. He is now married, has a newborn, no job, and still refuses to help out in any way. I’m fed up and want action on this case. The State of VA has done nothing and his tab just continues to accrue. I get a letter every few months from VA stating they are still trying to contact the state of MD, which I’ve been receiving for years now. He can go back to jail for all I care but if they can force him to get a job, even better. By the way, he has lived in Maryland and I no longer live in VA, but now NC. Please help! Thanks!
A: Unfortunately we don't allow slavery any more - so no, he can't be forced to work. Bottom line - you are not going to get blood out of a stone. So as I see it, you have two options: 1) Let it go! Based on your description, the odds of you ever seeing dime one of that $35 k pie in the sky are likely less than slim and none. Don't worry about it and just let child support enforcement do their job and if you ever get any money - great OR 2) obsess over how unfair this all is and continue to allow him to negatively effect yours and your child's lives. Maybe you even keep dutifully hammering away at it until you get him at least put in jail - for a little while. In the end however, it is very likely that what you end up with will not be worth the effort and stress. Enjoy this one little possibility - he is likely not living it up, most people live in squalor in order to avoid paying child support. His life is likely maybe just a slight tish better than being in prison.
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