need advice about check quick please!

[tazzybree60]

I live in Massachusetts and I have been after my ex to pay child support for over 9 yrs. I got my first couple checks a couple weeks ago...this morning I called the child support enforcement division's automated service to see if I had another check coming. It said I had quite a few thousands of dollars paid to me per check a couple days ago...I couldn't believe it! I took the day off work to wait for the mail to get the check....I was above and beyond elated....I then spoke with someone at child support who told me there was a check coming indeed and that my ex would still owe me interest above and beyond this check...they said this check coming today had been with them for the past 3 or 4 weeks b4 they sent it to me two days ago. I was soooo relieved to see justice finally served....a half hr. later i got a call telling me that the check was an error- they had contacted his employer who said that he had only been sending in 2 hundred dollar checks for the past couple months...they were sorry for the mistake....I was crushed.....my question is: do I have recourse for the emotional rollercoaster? is the check today really mine-can i cash it- and make them recover their mistake via my ex because the money is really owed to me? or do I have to return the check and wait to see if I keep getting payments every couple weeks- or he gets away again like so many times b4? please answer quickly....i sure appreciate it.

 

[tazzybree60]

one more thing

that should read over 19 years not 9! thx

 

[stealth2]

They've told you that the check amount is in error. I certainly wouldn't cash it, knowing that. And it's YOU they'll come after for it.

And no, you can't hold them liable for your "emotional rollercoaster."

 

[nextwife]

Hmmm. If a government agency informed me that a check they sent me was wrong and should not be cashed, would I want to mess with them? The check did NOT come direct from your ex, so YOU would be liable to the agency if you cashed a check they informed you was sent in error.

 

[SM5NY]

I would NOT cash it. You would be responsible, not your ex. Give it back and wait.

 

[stealth2]

Oh, and you can't hold the state liable for any pay you may have lost for taking the day off, either.

 

[nextwife]

Really. I've had large checks due to arrive and I certainly would not waste a day of work to "be there". I just get the check when I get home. As a matter of fact, snail mail is very unreliable. One can't know for sure WHAT day a standard mail check will arrive for certain. My office NEVER sends time sensitive checks by snail mail for exactly that reason- they only use trackable overnight letters because we know it can take 1 day to a week to arrive.