8 Things NOT to do in Court if you want to get your Child Support

1. Do not roll your eyes or mutter under your breath when your ex is testifying.  Although justice may be blind, most judges are not. Judges  rarely appreciate one party's use of facial expressions to mock the other spouse's testimony

2. Do not keep referring to your child as "my" son or "my" daughter. More often than not, a parent who consistently uses “my”  with regard to the children is a parent who is overly possessive about who should raise them.

3. Make sure that you've disclosed relevant and potentially embarrassing personal facts to your child support enforcement representative or attorney. Nothing can hurt your Child Support or custody case as much as an important negative or embarrassing fact that your representatives are not aware of.

4. Don't bring your extended family and friends to your Child Support hearing.  If you need a support system to get you through the hearing, pick no more than two people to sit quietly in the courtroom.

5. Don't wear torn blue jeans, your muscle shirt or your mini skirt to court. Months of preparation can be undone in an instant if you are dressed to tease rather than to testify. A provocative outfit may be great for the weekend after but it's a fashion disaster for your custody and support case. When you select your courtroom attire, pretend you're heading for a job interview.

6. Be prepared to describe the positive aspects of your ex’s parenting. A child support and custody case can be won or lost with the single question, "Can you describe some of the positive aspects of your spouse's parenting skills”. If you can't say anything positive about your ex to the court, the judge will know you're probably not saying anything positive about your ex to the kids.

7. Don't display hostility toward your ex’s attorney. Your ex’s attorney is probably not on your Christmas list. If you're openly hostile you're probably scoring more points for the other team than for yours. Keeping your cool on the witness stand is a great way of saying that you have nothing to hide.

8. Don't read or receive text messages during the hearing. If you want the Court to pay full attention to your Child Support case, make sure that you do the same.

Chris Wright
Child Support Network
1-800-398-0700

Why Can't I Withhold Visitation for Unpaid Child Support?

The child has the right to both visitation and child support. Visitation with both parents is considered to be in the best interest of the child.

If a parent has not paid child support, the child still has the right to visitation. A custodial parent can't deny the non-custodial parent the right to visitation just because there is unpaid child support.

1.  The non-custodial parent cannot stop child support payments because a custodial parent is denying visitation. Child support and visitation are viewed as two completely separate issues in the eyes of the law. Parents don't "earn" the right to a relationship with their child by paying child support.

8 Life Skills We Forget to Teach Our Kids

From dadomatic.com

In part from an article  by Jeff Sass

In a world where toddlers are touch screen wizards, and teens can text more  eloquently than they can talk, it is easy to lose sight of some basic “life skills” that have no connection to being “connected.” and that ultimately may be more useful than how to manage their Facebook presence.

1. Cooking and Nutrition – If you look around you it is impossible not to see the serious problem we have with health and fitness in this country.  Our Fast Food nation is fast becoming an unhealthy nation. Teaching kids to cook for themselves is a great way to get them to understand basic nutrition, and to get them to eat better.

2. Doing Laundry – Sure, it is a chore.  But it is a chore that one day or another we all have to do.  Do your kids know how? Can they add  detergent  to a load without causing a suds tsunami in the laundry room?  Do they understand the concept of separating colors, and hang drying vs. the dryer?  

How do I collect my Child Support?

If the father will not admit to paternity the court will establish that he is the father. A child support order can then be entered and the child support agency can begin collecting and enforcing the child support order.

If you need information about Child Support Enforcement in your state you can find it here State Child Support Enforcement Agencies.

1.  Establish Paternity

If you were not married when your child was born, the first step is to legally determine the father of the child.  Either parent can request a blood test to establish paternity.

2.  Get a Child Support Order

All states have official child support guidelines. The guidelines are used to calculate how much a parent should contribute to financially support his or her child.

3.  Enforce the Child Support Order

The most successful way to collect child support is by income withholding from the non-custodial parent's employer. Child support orders require the employer to withhold the money that is ordered for child support, and send it to the state child support office

4. Finding the Absent Parent

When a parent's whereabouts are not known, it is usually possible for the child   support office to find him or her with the help of state agencies, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles, or the Federal Parent Locator Service.

5.  How do I enforce the Child Support Order?

     

       Withhold income

·        Deny Passports

·        Intercept federal payments

·        Set liens on property

·        Withhold tax refunds

·        Report child support debts to credit bureaus

·        Suspend or revoke drivers, professional, occupational, and recreational licenses

6.  How and where do I apply?

Contact your local child support office to apply for child support services. Your state may allow you to apply online.

7.  What can I do if the State cannot Collect my court ordered Child Support?

There are private Child Support Collection Agencies in the Child Support Network who can collect for you if the state cannot collect your Child Support for you.  

How Judges Decide the Amount of Child Support

Using State Guidelines

Every state has a formula for calculating child support, and judges use those formulas to determine how much child support will be paid in each case. The formulas themselves can be quite complicated, but it’s pretty easy to estimate what your child support might be by using free online calculators:

State Child Support Guideline Calculators

Alabama               Alaska                   Arizona                 Arkansas
California              Colorado              Connecticut         Delaware
D.C.                       Florida                   Georgia                 Hawaii
Idaho                     Illinois                    Indiana                  Iowa
Kansas                  Kentucky               Louisiana             Maine
Maryland               Massachusetts    Michigan               Minnesota
Mississippi            Missouri               Montana                Nebraska
Nevada                 New Hampshire  New Jersey           New Mexico
New York              North Carolina    North Dakota        Ohio
Oklahoma             Oregon                 Pennsylvania        Rhode Island
South Carolina    South Dakota      Tennessee            Texas
Utah                       Vermont                Virginia                  Washington
West Virginia        Wisconsin            Wyoming              

The biggest factor in calculating child support is how much the parents earn. Some states consider both parents’ income, but others consider only the income of the noncustodial parent. In most states, the percentage of time that each parent spends with the children is another important factor.

*7 Tips to Help you Find an Absent Parent for Child Support Collection*

You've probably tried to find someone online before.  Usually what happens is some website pops up telling you that you can “Click Here” to find out everything you want to know about your subject. For a fee.!

Why pay for information that you can get free of charge, if you know where to look?   Here are just some of the resources that are totally free:

1. Phone Records

It only takes a couple of minutes to search using online directories for a parent who owes back child support. Be sure to search multiple areas and states such as places where  your ex previously lived or may have moved. Many child support debtors no longer subscribe to a ‘land line,’ but it’s still worth a shot – you might get lucky, or you might find a relative.

While there are literally thousands of online telephone directories, here are some of the more popular ones:

AnyWho: www.anywho.com
AT&T Directory Assistance: www.corp.att.com/directory/

Statutory Rape Victim Owes Child Support for Child He Never

Knew Existed ...

‎

A 22-year-old Arizona man was astonished to find out that he was the father of a
6-year-old daughter he never knew existed. That's shocking enough. But then he got
slapped with an order to pay $15,000 in back child support. And then it gets even worse.

ARIZONA (WITI) — He was served with papers demanding child support
and that's how he found out he has a daughter, now six years old. He
 became a father at the age of 14. Nick Olivas is a victim of statutory rape,
so should he be forced to pay child support?