Tuesday, 27 December 2011 20:19

Why You Must Avoid Informal Child Support Agreements

Written by  Matt Allen
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child support agreementMany parties make "informal" agreements regarding child support, thereby veering from the written court order, but fail to file the new agreement with the court.

While this may be a tempting option in order to avoid legal fees and the hassle of going through the court, the potential pitfalls and ramifications of such informal agreements are costly, and can lead to much higher legal fees and headaches in the long run when you need to hire a divorce lawyer to seek court intervention after the informal agreement goes sour.

The most common example of this practice is agreeing to pay less than the current child support order.

Where I practice, agreeing to modify a child support order without filing said agreement with the court does not modify your actual legal child support duty. You are still obligated to pay the amount last established by the court.

The agreement with your ex is not an enforceable agreement with the court, so if your ex chooses to go back on the agreement you made, she can enforce the original child support obligation currently on file with the court.

As one can imagine, this leads to arguments regarding arrearages owed, resentment toward the party going back on the agreement, and will usually require the man (the person paying the support) to hire a men's rights attorney to seek a formal modification of child support.

Read Related Article: Common Child Support Mistakes

Further, if you do come to an informal agreement, even if your ex does not overtly choose to enforce the current order with the court, the state can (and will) get involved in your case if your child support arrears accrue to a certain level.

While your ex may agree that you owe her no arrears, if you have paid support lower than the order currently with the court, the prosecutor’s office can pursue a case against you to collect that owed child support. This can lead to penalties such as suspension of your driver’s license; garnishment of your wages, tax refunds, or income from casinos; and even arrest.

Additionally, even if your ex is willing to agree that you have made child support payments and do not owe her any funds, keeping track of payments in kind can be complex and leave a lot of room for error and disagreement on the amount paid.

By simply formally modifying your child support order with the court, you will alleviate most, if not all, of these issues.

 

By Leslie Lorenzano

Indianapolis Divorce Lawyer

If you need help with a child support modification, contact the divorce lawyers for men at Cordell & Cordell.

Use the Child Support Calculator on DadsDivorce.com for an estimated amount of how much child support you should be paying.

 

Last modified on Thursday, 19 January 2012 20:49
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4 comments

  • Comment Link Tom Handorff Monday, 15 October 2012 18:54 posted by Tom Handorff

    I moved from Ma to Fl in 1997,after being arrested for domestic violence that never happenned;I decided to get away from the sociopath that I had a son with.I went to court & had the ammount lowered.I always sent what I cud.After finding out about a court date in 05',with just 24 hours b 4.I was to appear;I called to say I cudnt make it.And in 2008.there was another date;again court papers were sent 2 wrong address.The mother pushed so much false paper work thru court & judge awarded her a sum of 125 g's,7 has succsessfully ruined my life!!!!

  • Comment Link meo Friday, 20 January 2012 04:29 posted by meo

    i was served with a child support court order to garnish 50% of my wage, i have never been in arrears. i am currently taking home 1200 mth and cant pay my rent and bills and i currently live with two of my children, but will have to give them up bcause i cant pay for the appartment and bills, and their school items, clothing, dentist, etc, i also had to give up my tax returns and cant claim my children on my taxes. my license was suspended and i was just notified that i was in arears 3000, which i have never been in arears. the mother gets all my hard earned money, claims the children in her taxes, gets my tax returns, and dosent have the children living with her ? she uses the child support money to pay for her new husbands childsupport. is there any reform anytime soon, i dont know how long i can keep my head above water.

  • Comment Link MensRights.com admin Tuesday, 10 January 2012 15:11 posted by MensRights.com admin

    @Thomas....Child support arrearages can build up quickly and take months or years to eliminate.

    Child support arrearages do not disappear when the original support obligation terminates.

    If you are paying for arrearages accrued while your son was a minor, you will have to continue to pay those support arrearage payments until the arrearage is paid off. When you are in arrears on support, the state may take a number of steps to force you to pay your arrearage, including garnish your wages and apply your tax refund to your arrearage.

    The court can also charge interest for your arrearage. The support you pay continues to go to the person you owed the payments to, presumably the mother of your son. You may not file bankruptcy on your child support arrearages, and the support arrearage will not go away until it is paid in full.

    The best way to determine how to eliminate your arrearage is to first check with the Child Support office to determine how much arrearage you still owe and ensure that this is the correct amount (calculation errors can be made by the state).

    If the amount owed is incorrect from some reason, such as you were held liable for support in an amount different from the court-ordered amount, you may petition the court to fix your child support obligation.

    If the amount you owe is correct, then you are obligated to pay that amount in full eventually. You may be able to contact the child support division of the prosecutor’s office to discuss settling on your arrearage as well.

    Cordell & Cordell has child support lawyers located nationwide: http://www.cordellcordell.com/offices

  • Comment Link Thomas Handorff Saturday, 07 January 2012 18:04 posted by Thomas Handorff

    I have lived in florida since 1997;I am the father of a son who is now 18.The mother has munipulated the courts and had me arrested for domestic violence back in 92,I moved to get away from the sociopath.She managed to get a court date that I was not given enuf prior notice to attend.The judge awarded her an outrageous ammount in arrears,like 125,000 plus penalties & interest.The D.O.R. said :I had my chance: which is not true.What can be done for me?

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