How to increase the father's child support fees?

I have a friend that is getting very minimal child support from her x
and is having trouble supporting herself and her daughter. The dad
does not pay his child support during the winter for some reason, so
then she has to go on welfare (she is disabled and unable to get a
job). She thinks that she might be able to make it through the winter
if she can increase the father's child support fees. She is pretty
certain that he is making a lot more money now than when he was
originally ordered to pay child support. She was told that she could
not take that to court unless she was able to prove that his income
has increased. Does anyone know why she needs to prove this herself
and is there any way to do this? Is there a way to get access to his
tax records or something like that?

thanks,
John

"John Smith" wrote
I have a friend that is getting very minimal child support from her x
and is having trouble supporting herself and her daughter. The dad
does not pay his child support during the winter for some reason, so
then she has to go on welfare
==
So....she wants to live off the child support? You do know that the child
support
is only for the child's needs, right? If she is "disabled" why isn't she
getting SSD or SSI?
Maybe the dad isn't paying because he's fed up with mom taking the child's
money
for her own expenses?

On Mar 17, 6:43�pm, "John Smith" wrote:
�Does anyone know why she needs to prove this herself

pretty much because if she is going to drag someone into court and
accuse someone of something, the burden of proof is on her. Kind of
protected right here in the US.

and is there any way to do this? *Is there a way to get access to his
tax records or something like that?


The original order should of had some kind of provision for
peridodical review of financial information.

"John Smith" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have a friend that is getting very minimal child support from her x
and is having trouble supporting herself and her daughter. The dad
does not pay his child support during the winter for some reason, so
then she has to go on welfare (she is disabled and unable to get a
job). She thinks that she might be able to make it through the winter
if she can increase the father's child support fees. She is pretty
certain that he is making a lot more money now than when he was
originally ordered to pay child support. She was told that she could
not take that to court unless she was able to prove that his income
has increased. Does anyone know why she needs to prove this herself
and is there any way to do this? Is there a way to get access to his
tax records or something like that?

Was she married to the child's father? Did she formally establish
paternity? Does she have a court approved CS order? If the answer is "No"
to any of those questions those legal steps must be completed first. BTW -
Isn't Winter about over?

John Smith wrote:
I have a friend that is getting very minimal child support from her x
and is having trouble supporting herself and her daughter. The dad
does not pay his child support during the winter for some reason, so
then she has to go on welfare (she is disabled and unable to get a
job). She thinks that she might be able to make it through the winter
if she can increase the father's child support fees. She is pretty
certain that he is making a lot more money now than when he was
originally ordered to pay child support. She was told that she could
not take that to court unless she was able to prove that his income
has increased. Does anyone know why she needs to prove this herself
and is there any way to do this? Is there a way to get access to his
tax records or something like that?

thanks,
John


Some reason? Maybe like, say, the fact that he's a seasonal worker?
And for that matter, spring's just around the corner. Has she thought
about taking a job, second or first? How about going for a promotion,
or working overtime?

On 17 Mar 2007 16:43:45 -0700, "John Smith"
wrote:

I have a friend that is getting very minimal child support from her x
and is having trouble supporting herself and her daughter. The dad
does not pay his child support during the winter for some reason, so
then she has to go on welfare (she is disabled and unable to get a
job). She thinks that she might be able to make it through the winter
if she can increase the father's child support fees. She is pretty
certain that he is making a lot more money now than when he was
originally ordered to pay child support. She was told that she could
not take that to court unless she was able to prove that his income
has increased. Does anyone know why she needs to prove this herself
and is there any way to do this? Is there a way to get access to his
tax records or something like that?

thanks,
John

Okay, so the father is providing a portion of the child's support, but
for only half the year. How is Mom supporting herself and the other
portion of the child's support?

That asked and HOPEFULLY reflected upon (because it is dead wrong to
use child support funds to support anyone other than the children), I
have to wonder who told her that she must prove his income has
increased BEFORE she takes him to court? This is normally done in the
discovery phase of preparing for trial.

Most states allow for a periodic review and the custodial parent can
file a motion based upon a change in the child's needs which can be
listed as nothing more than an increase in needs due to an increase in
age and size; HOWEVER, if what your friend is telling you is truly the
case, the fact that he does not pay anything during the winter months
is quite enough for a contempt hearing. Frankly, I am shocked that
your friend can be on welfare ANY PORTION of the year and that they
have not asked her to sign over rights to the child support... in
which case she would need to get the right to collect back from them
in order to take it to court herself.

My guess is, John, is that your friend is not being completely honest
with you. That, or she doesn't understand the system. Either way,
getting more because it is believed he makes more is a very bad
attitude to have. She should be more concerned with improving her own
circumstances (and yes, many disabled people work).

Beverly

On Mar 17, 7:06 pm, "Gini" wrote:
"John Smith" wroteI have a friend that is getting very minimal child support from her x
and is having trouble supporting herself and her daughter. The dad
does not pay his child support during the winter for some reason, so
then she has to go on welfare

==
So....she wants to live off the child support? You do know that the child
support
is only for the child's needs, right? If she is "disabled" why isn't she
getting SSD or SSI?
Maybe the dad isn't paying because he's fed up with mom taking the child's
money
for her own expenses?

Yes. She probably should be getting SSD or SSI. That is another
issue that she needs to figure out. She really wants to get a job. I
just don't think that's going to be possible.

On Mar 17, 8:35 pm, "Bob Whiteside" wrote:
"John Smith" wrote in message

ups.com...

I have a friend that is getting very minimal child support from her x
and is having trouble supporting herself and her daughter. The dad
does not pay his child support during the winter for some reason, so
then she has to go on welfare (she is disabled and unable to get a
job). She thinks that she might be able to make it through the winter
if she can increase the father's child support fees. She is pretty
certain that he is making a lot more money now than when he was
originally ordered to pay child support. She was told that she could
not take that to court unless she was able to prove that his income
has increased. Does anyone know why she needs to prove this herself
and is there any way to do this? Is there a way to get access to his
tax records or something like that?

Was she married to the child's father? Did she formally establish
paternity? Does she have a court approved CS order? If the answer is "No"
to any of those questions those legal steps must be completed first. BTW -
Isn't Winter about over?

Yes she was married to him. She does have a court approved CS order.
She lives in northern Minnesota. It's still below freezing up there.
Her pipes have been frozen for months. She has to take care of her
daughter, yet she has no money for food and no water even right now.
She has only been surviving off of the generosity of her friends.
It's a bad situation.

On Mar 18, 9:21 am, John Meyer wrote:
John Smith wrote:
I have a friend that is getting very minimal child support from her x
and is having trouble supporting herself and her daughter. The dad
does not pay his child support during the winter for some reason, so
then she has to go on welfare (she is disabled and unable to get a
job). She thinks that she might be able to make it through the winter
if she can increase the father's child support fees. She is pretty
certain that he is making a lot more money now than when he was
originally ordered to pay child support. She was told that she could
not take that to court unless she was able to prove that his income
has increased. Does anyone know why she needs to prove this herself
and is there any way to do this? Is there a way to get access to his
tax records or something like that?

thanks,
John

Some reason? Maybe like, say, the fact that he's a seasonal worker?
And for that matter, spring's just around the corner. Has she thought
about taking a job, second or first? How about going for a promotion,
or working overtime?

Yes she has definitely thought about taking a job. She would love to
have a job. She was very happy when she was working, and now she is
depressed and stuck at home b/c of a car accident and various other
ailments. I don't think she is in any condition to be working at all.

On Mar 18, 11:27 am, Beverly wrote:
On 17 Mar 2007 16:43:45 -0700, "John Smith"



wrote:
I have a friend that is getting very minimal child support from her x
and is having trouble supporting herself and her daughter. The dad
does not pay his child support during the winter for some reason, so
then she has to go on welfare (she is disabled and unable to get a
job). She thinks that she might be able to make it through the winter
if she can increase the father's child support fees. She is pretty
certain that he is making a lot more money now than when he was
originally ordered to pay child support. She was told that she could
not take that to court unless she was able to prove that his income
has increased. Does anyone know why she needs to prove this herself
and is there any way to do this? Is there a way to get access to his
tax records or something like that?

thanks,
John

Okay, so the father is providing a portion of the child's support, but
for only half the year. How is Mom supporting herself and the other
portion of the child's support?

Welfare. Except that she doesn't get welfare when the child support
money comes in, and there is a certain transition period (a couple
months i think?) between the chip support stopping and the welfare
coming in where she gets no money at all.


That asked and HOPEFULLY reflected upon (because it is dead wrong to
use child support funds to support anyone other than the children), I
have to wonder who told her that she must prove his income has
increased BEFORE she takes him to court? This is normally done in the
discovery phase of preparing for trial.

Yeah that's what I was thinking.


Most states allow for a periodic review and the custodial parent can
file a motion based upon a change in the child's needs which can be
listed as nothing more than an increase in needs due to an increase in
age and size; HOWEVER, if what your friend is telling you is truly the
case, the fact that he does not pay anything during the winter months
is quite enough for a contempt hearing. Frankly, I am shocked that
your friend can be on welfare ANY PORTION of the year and that they
have not asked her to sign over rights to the child support... in
which case she would need to get the right to collect back from them
in order to take it to court herself.

Well the way that it works is that when she receives welfare, that
amount gets deducted from the amount that her x owes her in back child
support. I don't really understand that.


My guess is, John, is that your friend is not being completely honest
with you. That, or she doesn't understand the system.

I have no doubt that she is being honest me, but I also have no doubt
that she does not understand the system at all. I'm sure that if she
could afford a lawyer there wouldn't be this confusion, but instead
she is just getting little bits of information from people that don't
really have time to talk to her and understand her situation, and I'm
sure there is a lot of misunderstanding that is taking place.

Either way,
getting more because it is believed he makes more is a very bad
attitude to have.

Well ideally if he paid the child support that he owes, it wouldn't be
a problem. She isn't having much luck in getting that to happen so
she trying to see if she can at least raise the amount that she gets
during the summer. That might be enough to hold her through the
winter.

She should be more concerned with improving her own
circumstances (and yes, many disabled people work).

Well that certainly would be awesome. Last time I was over there I
had to take her and her daughter down to city hall to take care of
some stuff. In total it took us probably 4 hours. Most of it was
sitting inside waiting and filling out paperwork. Not all that much
walking. That was incredibly exhausting for her and she was pretty
much dead for 24 hours after that. I have a hard time imagining her
working right now unfortunately.