Filing Child Support - Child in NJ & Father is in Berlin

[nj3123]

I filed for Child Support in October 2020 when my son turned 1 years old; as my ex-fiancé has not supported our son at all.

His father currently resides in Berlin, Germany.

I had a hearing yesterday and they advised they didn't receive a response as of yet and have set a new date for January 2021 to give the defendant more time to respond. They also asked for his email address, which I provided.

I had spoken to a lawyer and they require a retainer fee of $5K because it's a somewhat complex case.

I'm being advised by family & friends to hold off on obtaining a lawyer and exhaust all resources that I possibly can.

So far, I'm looking into non-profit agencies for legal advice, and doing research on my own.

Is there anything else I could do on my end? Or that I should be doing?

Would you move forward with just hiring a lawyer to do all of the legwork?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Ohiogal]

What do you know about the Hague Convention? Is dad a citizen of Germany? Or an ex pat? Do you know the difference in how those two could be treated legally?

 

[Taxing Matters]

And does he have any assets in the U.S. and/or receive U.S. source income?

 

[nj3123]

What do you know about the Hague Convention? Is dad a citizen of Germany? Or an ex pat? Do you know the difference in how those two could be treated legally?

Thanks for your response!

I do not know anything about the Hague Convention - but I will be Googling today. Is there anything in particular I should be looking out for?

Dad is working on obtaining citizenship - He last mentioned between late 2020/early 2021 but didn't provide a specific date.

To your last question, I am also unaware. Should I contact a German-based lawyer?

 

[LdiJ]

I filed for Child Support in October 2020 when my son turned 1 years old; as my ex-fiancé has not supported our son at all.

His father currently resides in Berlin, Germany.

I had a hearing yesterday and they advised they didn't receive a response as of yet and have set a new date for January 2021 to give the defendant more time to respond. They also asked for his email address, which I provided.

I had spoken to a lawyer and they require a retainer fee of $5K because it's a somewhat complex case.

I'm being advised by family & friends to hold off on obtaining a lawyer and exhaust all resources that I possibly can.

So far, I'm looking into non-profit agencies for legal advice, and doing research on my own.

Is there anything else I could do on my end? Or that I should be doing?

Would you move forward with just hiring a lawyer to do all of the legwork?

Thanks in advance.

If you are going through the child support agency I would not hire a lawyer at this point. It may be that you will get a child support order and get it enforced without one. However, it may also be that you will need an attorney to help you get collection efforts going and you would want to save your money until that point.

 

[nj3123]

And does he have any assets in the U.S. and/or receive U.S. source income?

Thank you for your response.

He isn't a US citizen. I only know he travels to the US frequently with a tourist visa issued by his German Employer.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

Dad is working on obtaining citizenship - He last mentioned between late 2020/early 2021 but didn't provide a specific date.

He isn't a US citizen. I only know he travels to the US frequently with a tourist visa issued by his German Employer.

If he enters the US on a tourist visa, he does not have a path to US Citizenship (Naturalization). Citizenship may be granted to green-card holders after three or five years of residence, depending on how the green-card was obtained. There is also another process German citizens must go through to keep their German Citizenship when they become US Citizens.

The path to a green-card is also difficult. Either an employer or relative must petition for him. This is another long, expensive, process.

If I were to speculate, I'd guess he has no intention of naturalizing in the US.

 

[nj3123]

If you are going through the child support agency I would not hire a lawyer at this point. It may be that you will get a child support order and get it enforced without one. However, it may also be that you will need an attorney to help you get collection efforts going and you would want to save your money until that point.

Thank you for your response.

That is sound advice that I hadn't even considered being a possibility.

 

[nj3123]

If he enters the US on a tourist visa, he does not have a path to US Citizenship (Naturalization). Citizenship may be granted to green-card holders after three or five years of residence, depending on how the green-card was obtained. There is also another process German citizens must go through to keep their German Citizenship when they become US Citizens.

The path to a green-card is also difficult. Either an employer or relative must petition for him. This is another long, expensive, process.

If I were to speculate, I'd guess he has no intention of naturalizing in the US.

Thank you for your response, I should have specified.

He is working on obtaining German Citizenship. He has been there for approximately 6 years. I believe he was married there (or he still may be married - I am unsure).

He attended University there and now works there in Berlin.

When we were engaged he was going to move to the US and work on citizenship here, but since that has fallen through, he remains in Germany.

 

[Zigner]

Is he the child's legal father? This would be accomplished either by the two of you filing a Certificate of Parentage or by a court order. Did either occur? If his information is on the birth certificate, that would be an indicator that the former occurred.

 

[nj3123]

Is he the child's legal father? This would be accomplished either by the two of you filing a Certificate of Parentage or by a court order. Did either occur? If his information is on the birth certificate, that would be an indicator that the former occurred.

Thank you for your response.

Great question! Also something I forgot to mention up top.

He was not present at time of birth. Our son was born two weeks early and he was scheduled to fly in to NJ a couple of days before the due date. Since he wasn't present at the hospital, he couldn't sign the birth certificate. He didn't believe that his name couldn't be on if he wasn't present, so he ended up never signing.

I have an order in place to establish Paternity as well.

 

[Ohiogal]

Thanks for your response!

I do not know anything about the Hague Convention - but I will be Googling today. Is there anything in particular I should be looking out for?

Dad is working on obtaining citizenship - He last mentioned between late 2020/early 2021 but didn't provide a specific date.

To your last question, I am also unaware. Should I contact a German-based lawyer?

You need an attorney to REPRESENT YOU in this in the United States who understands why I am asking those questions.

 

[Ohiogal]

Thank you for your response.

That is sound advice that I hadn't even considered being a possibility.

LD is not correct. CSEA most likely will not be able to obtain jurisdiction over a German citizen in Germany nor enforce a court order in Germany. YOU NEED AN ATTORNEY.

 

[Ohiogal]

Thank you for your response.

Great question! Also something I forgot to mention up top.

He was not present at time of birth. Our son was born two weeks early and he was scheduled to fly in to NJ a couple of days before the due date. Since he wasn't present at the hospital, he couldn't sign the birth certificate. He didn't believe that his name couldn't be on if he wasn't present, so he ended up never signing.

I have an order in place to establish Paternity as well.

How do you expect to enforce the order to establish paternity? Again, ATTORNEY.

 

[Zigner]

I have an order in place to establish Paternity as well.

Are you saying that the court has already established that he is the father?
-or -
Are you saying that you are asking the court to find that he is the father?