Do you swear to tell the truth?
Well here goes nothing. In a week I'll finally be in court for a show cause hearing. They want to find me "In contempt of Court". The friend of the court canceled the last two hearings and rescheduled them because I was able to get my arrears below $2000, their magic number. These are very tough times in this country and even worse in SE Michigan. I'm still out of work (over a year) but have managed to pay almost $9,000 in child support to my ex for our children. They have holes in their shoes, she borrows cat food from the neighbors, a friend bought one of the kids a planner for school..etc. Where has the money I sent to take care of my children gone? Sorry, I digress. So.. the friend of the court is going to rake me over the coals, let me know that I'm a deadbeat, and find me in contempt of court because I have not paid all the money the court has ordered.
Am I in contempt? I don't think so. I'm doing everything I can to send her every dime I can. I do without (without trash service, heat, thermostat set at 58 unless children come over, food from the local food bank, etc.) so as to not waste any money. I have sent almost $9,000 from working my butt off at odd jobs.
How can I be in contempt if I am doing all I can (and then some) to obey the order?
Wait until they fine me for contempt. That will be MORE money NOT going to my children. The court system spends it about as well as my ex does.
I'll let you know how it goes. Wish me luck.
2 comments:
Sorry to hear about your plight.
I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.
It's in the FOC and court's own financial best interests to conduct enforce actions first. When parents who are behind, the FOC/court often refuses to modify their obligation as required by law, and all to often they fail to recognize that the best interests of children are to have a support obligation that reflects the actual ability of the parent to pay. See tinyurl dot com slash 6benex.
If I were you, I would learn more before walking into court, and try to obtain a lawyer. I might look at the child support modification document at tinyurl dot com slash 622hs5 and some thoughts regarding contempt hearings at tinyurl dot com slash 5klzpt.
Also, if your children or their mother is receiving public assistance, it's the state, and not the family, that receives the lion's share of your child support dollars.
Otherwise, if I believed that mom is misusing the money sent to her for the care of the children, I might take a look at tinyurl dot com slash 6lj23f as a jumping off point in preparation for court.
Also, there is strength in community. You might like to join the FRC (Family/Father's Rights Coalition) group at groups dot yahoo dot com slash group slash FRC.
Wow, thanks for the links. I have been to the one regarding the contempt hearing prior to today. The FOC Has imputed my income. They, along with my ex's story have decided that I voluntarily lost my last job. This is not so. It was a work from home office job that required 8 hours a day of uninterrupted work. I was not able to watch my children while working. Her divorce forced the end of this job as I now had to take care of my children on my parenting time. The summer (school) vacation time was just around the corner and my time with the children over the summer break was to be one full week on, one full week off. I was not able to continue the job as a single parent. I no longer had a spouse in the home to tend to the children. She, not I caused the end of this job. I resigned before getting fired thinking it would look better on my resume in attempting to find new employment.
Did I voluntarily reduce my income?
Is the FOC wrong to "impute" my income?
She is also making more now than before when support was calculated.
Did I read corectly that the FOC doesn't "have" to re look at support for 36 months since last review?!! I believe the last decision was in error.
Thanks again.
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