Q: I’m court ordered through DHS to get $160 but I barely get it. If I closed the case & used a lawyer could I get more?
He has like 5 other child support cases but his oldest two kids are grown. My child is 10. He feels like as long as I have him on child support through dhs he doesn’t have to do anything else so he wants me to close my case so that the arrearage won’t add up. He keeps changing jobs and doesn’t report them. He also has a business. He said the other mothers agreed to drop the cases but his lawyer told him even if they did I couldn’t get more support bc they will still be looking at the number of kids he has.
A: First, if you drop the case with DHS, the arrearage will continue to accrue. Second, generally, child support is based on a net income figure for the paying parent and any previously court-ordered child support, not the number of children he has. If his older children have emancipated, they cannot be used to reduce his support payments to you. Closing your case with DHS will not guarantee additional child support; however, a private attorney will put in the time and effort to discover all sources of income, the facts surrounding other child support payments, and the possible emancipation of his other children. Therefore, the potential is there for additional income.
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