Q: My child's father has asked me to not file for child support, however, he will not help financially. What do I do?
His father barely sees him, and does not want to help financially, even though he said he would. He never offers anything and doesn't even help buy him anything. I don't know what I am supposed to do anymore.
A:
Both parents have a legal duty to support their children. Child support is paid to the parent with primary physical custody or the parent to him a support obligation is owed under the shared custody guidelines computations. A child support case can be initiated in the Commonwealth of Virginia in one of 3 ways: (1) administratively with the Dept. of Social Services, Division of Child Support Enforcement; or in court as either (2) a petition for a determination of child support in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court; or (3) incidental to a divorce case in the Circuit Court.
Any parent considering filing a support proceeding in court should first consult with an experienced Virginia family law lawyer.
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