Q: I would like to file a motion to have my child support motion forgiven.
After a rocky 18 years, my daughter is in college and I have not had any communication with her mother in over 10 years. I have taken her to family mediation, which she has done nothing of what was agreed upon. Now I am trying to move on with my Life and my child support arrears are a major obstacle. I want to petition the court for forgiveness due to intrinsic fraudulence. My daughter is an adult now and if she chooses not to want a relationship with me then I have to find peace in that. What I will not find peace in is continuing to pay for a child that I was not allowed to see or participate in her Life. Please help!!!
A: Honestly, you can certainly ask the court to forgive the arrears, but it is doubtful that it will happen. Visitation and child support are 2 separate issues. If you wanted a better relationship with your daughter, then you should have pushed hard for a custody order and then enforced its terms via contempt charges on your ex if necessary. The fact still remains that the child deserved financial support from both of her parents, and whatever money you withheld (for whatever reason) means her mother was under more of a financial burden as a result.
A: Neither your current nor your past relationship with your child is relevant. You have an obligation to pay child support. If you owe arrears, that means someone else had to step up to the plate and pay your share of the support for your daughter when you did not. There are no grounds to 'forgive' arrears merely because you also did not take the steps to force proper visitation while she was a child. Essentially whether you like it or not or find peace in it or not, it is very likely your only realistic option to avoid paying the child support you rightfully owe is to hop from place to place, job to job and live off the grid to a large degree. However, it never hurts to consult with a local family law attorney who can review your circumstances in more detail to see if anything can be done. Best of luck.
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