Q: Do I have to send my child support payments directly to my ex wife since she hired a private lawyer?
Hello, I went to court in Baton Rouge, LA at the East Baton Rouge Parish Courthouse in June 19 for Divorce and Child Support. I was told by my wife’s lawyer the amount that was calculated for me to pay and that’s was that. Reasonable custody given and I was on my way. But one thing was missing, I didn’t have the case number to include on the payments. I wasn’t new to child support and I knew I had to provide a case number when making payments.
So I go on to contact DCFS and ask what’s my case number. I gave the woman my name and date of birth. She goes on to say there’s no open case on that. So I reach out to my son’s mother and ask her what’s the case number. She doesn’t have it.
So I tell her I need the case number so I could send the payments through the court and get credit for them.
A few days later she says she spoke to the District Attorney for child support and he says that DCFS doesn’t handle my child support payments and I have to sent the money directly to her.
A: Your wife may have had a private attorney. Look up the lawyer on the Louisiana State Bar Association website or look at the end of the petition with which you were served. You can send the child support directly to your wife or her lawyer. But ONLY do so by check; not money order, not cash.
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