I had twins when I was 18. When they were 1.5 years old my mother was given legal custody while I got on my feet. My children moved back in with me full time when they were 6. For the past 9 years I have provided 100% financial support and care. Kids are 15 now. We live in Lucas County Ohio & my mother, who is still technically legal custodian, lives in Arizona.
Through all these years Lucas County CSEA has continued to charge me for child support. They are aware that the children live with me full time & I am supporting them. My mother's attorney has also substantiated my claims. The CSEA caseworkers have told me for years that the only way they will stop charging me for support is when I get legal custody. They are going to garnish my wages now.
I have paid for all the years that I wasn't supporting my children directly. The money CSEA is taking from me now is being taken from my children. Is there any way to not be charged child support without having legal custody?
2007-10-20 03:48:03 · 5 answers · asked by Pinched 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
To answer some questions:
No, I don't think my mother has been recieving any support. It's probably building up in CSEA's bank.
The reason I haven't, & don't want to, change custody is because my childrens' father will then be pulled in to sign. Last time I talked to their father about this he said the only way he would sign custody papers for me is if I granted him unsupervised weekend visitions & tax credit. The man hasn't bothered to see them in 11 years & is a herione addict. He still lives in the same town as we do. I'd rather not open the door (for him) to see the boys. It would shock them. I'd rather leave that for when they're 18 years old or if their father gets himself together enough to get visitation on his own, not by threatening his signature. Courts would only grant him supervised visits. It just doesn't seem worth it to me to get custody and, as a result, bring their horrible father into their lives.
2007-10-20 04:31:02 · update #1
No -- legal custody is about who gets to make the decisions for the child -- physical custody is about who takes care of them.
If you have been providing full financial support and care, then you are already paying child support -- to the children and yourself as caretaker.
You should not be required to pay to someone else -- especially not to someone who isn't taking care of the kids -- and the statement about you needing to get "legal custody" first is not correct -- that's not how the law works.
You need to go to the court who ordered child support -- or your local court if the children now live in a different state -- and get the court to correct the prior (and now incorrect) custody order. An attorney licensed in your state (specializing in family law) would be able to help with this.
2007-10-20 03:56:23 · answer #1 · answered by coragryph 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There's an easy way to resolve this...get legal custody. I can't imagine a single reason why you would be against that, because you *need* legal custody.
Until you get legal custody, they will continue to take child support from you.
You should have dealt with this years ago, because now not only do you have to deal with getting custody (which should be a fairly easy process), but you have to deal with the 9 years of back child support that you now owe.
EDITED TO ADD THIS AFTER YOU ADDED ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
You need to talk to a local attorney. Many will give a free initial consultation. But, yes, Dad can petition for visitation, and may very well be successful, at least in gaining limited/supervised visitation.
Mom should be receiving the support they are garnishing from your wages, so she/you need to find out why that isn’t happening. If you want to ‘work around the system’, you could pay the support, she receives it, and then sends it back to you (of course, there will be a time lag in there). And keep in mind, there is also the issue of back support.
Again, talk to a local attorney.
2007-10-20 04:30:09 · answer #2 · answered by kp 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are going to have to apply for legal custody. As your mother is on your side she will consent and the whole procedure should be relatively cheap and simple and quick.
You could also apply for the recovery of the support you have paid for the years you had physical custody, but that money may have gone to your mother and the CSEA may attempt to get it back from her.
If you are not making a large amount of money this is something legal aid would cover.
2007-10-20 03:54:04 · answer #3 · answered by elysialaw 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
why dont you just get legal custody back? wouldn't that solve the problem. I supose it not what they should be doing its what they are doing if you and your mother have tried to fight it and they still keep taking I would say get some advice from an Attourney. I don't think they should be still taking from you but each state is different is it Arizona that is taking it or Ohio two states two different laws. You need to find out if you don't know for sure.
Good luck with this one.
2007-10-20 04:03:52 · answer #4 · answered by Meesha 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wow, you must have a lousy mother! Tell her to go to court and get the legal custody changed to you. It will need to be retroactive so you won't be charged the child support. Why would your Mom accept those payments from you when she doesn't have the twins living with her? There is more to this story. Tell us.
2007-10-20 03:55:34 · answer #5 · answered by Robert J 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋