child support

[purr]

Hey DU parents.. I got a question about my hubbys ex.. and want to see if anyone has dealt with this.

We're headed for ANOTHER contempt hearing against her. She lost custody to us and we took her out for child support. Shes supposed to be paying a measly 200/mo (with arrearages) for my husbands son.

Since we've filed (2 years ago in May), we have been in court countless times because she stops paying after a few months from being held in contempt.

She didnt show up today and told my MIL that she has to work tonight for the only weekend of the month she has her kid. We already have a court date in May, and she suddenly got A JOB when she got served the court papers.

Will they still hold contempt charges even though its been 6 months since we've received any payments and she suddenly just got a job again? We will be consulting with our attorney on Monday but its Saturday and well, shes not there today :)

Why is it she can get away with this - if my husband did that, he would've been in jail the first time, not proceeding to the 4th contempt hearing.

[Tab]

1. Well, a lawyer is who you should be asking

although I would venture to say that if she is not paid up, she would at least qualify for consideration of contempt charges - not to say they might actually go through - but you could probably still get a hearing on it. But it all hinges on the details of your case, your state, and your state's laws, so work with your lawyer. Presumably if this is a pattern you can get some sort of judgment, but I note that even getting a judgment is no guarantee of compliance.

[Maru Kitteh]

2. My ex Husbandfromhell has put me through that more times than I've kept

track of. I have a HUGE box of files from all his contempt hearings, etc over the years. His lousy order is even smaller than yours, $170!

He's an expert at manipulating the system to just barely keep his sorry ass out of jail, most of the time anyway. There have been a couple times he was thrown in but that was after about a year or two of non-payment.

Sadly, this will probably be a way of life for you. Isn't it sad to realize how little some people can value their own children?