need lawyer florida or opinions

[Starry809]

What is the name of your state? florida sort of

long situation but i will shorten as mnuch as possible.
divorce in 92. father got behind on support, but began making current and back support payments a few years later. irs intercept 2005. by our calculations (pay stubs, florida dept of revenue total given etc) there should only be less than 400.00 left on back support owed. Florida sent paper stating amount is at 37,000 dollars now. we mailed them proof of payments, letters etc via registered mail last week. we are trying to refinance a home in another state. found out florida has placed a lien on everything including the home for 37,000. obviously refi is now not going to happen. lawyer in our state said he cant help us as it is a state of florida issue and lawyer has to be retained there. we have papers showing correct figures, proof of voluntary garnishments, irs intercept and our total of what is owed. Is there ANYTHING we can do. If we dont refinance the home, we will lose it.
private reply to starry809@aol.com by anyone, including lawyers VERY welcome. we are desperate.

 

[VeronicaGia]

What state controls the support order? I thought homes in FL were exempt...

 

[Starry809]

the child support order is from florida but we live in washington state, and the home is in washington state
the state of florida has enlisted the help of washington state in the case and they took it, even though he pays current and back support bi-weekly and has for the past 7 years.

 

[kat1963]

Have you checked the balance on line? The 37k notice could have a computer slip....have seen that many, many times. Guess they hope some sucker will just pay it.
http://www.myfloridacounty.com/services/child_support/
Also, they probably don't have to release it until the entire amount of arrears is paid in full.
It's probably going to take time for someone to review their records against what you submitted (however there is probably a time frame for them to do so you'll need to research it).
If they don't agree you can get a lawyer to battle it out for you or take it before a judge yourself. You did request an audit of the account back to 1992 right?
KAT

 

[Starry809]

i did not request an audit. Can you advise me on how to do that? Is it as simple as contacting the state support division and simply requesting? Seems we wrote to them a year ago and asked for a listing of all payments received and a running total but I received nothing. I can write again if need be.
As far as there being a "slip" if so, the slip wouldve had to have been made a year ago, when they first sent us the 37000 total and we disputed it. they dont respond to our letters. I am having him call today at 130 to talk to them. Maybe he can request it at that time.
gotta tell you, my stomach is turning at all this.
Ive got a bad feeling that when he gets paid this week (automatic deposit) we will have no money for the bills. im betting they put a lien on the bank as well as the house. this is crazy.
no wonder so many dads run and hide. when a guy stands up, pays current and back support, they ream him, take his house, car, and bank account and leave his kids with nothing . Id be almost tempted to hide as well. sad thing is i have the proof he is up to date and no way to face them to tell them. all i can do is send the proof and a letter.

 

[Subandera]

Have had problems with CSE too

I pay "back" support also in Florida. I have had big problem with contacting CSE with questions also. They would NEVER return my phone calls. Letters went unanswered. and when I went to the place they refused to see me. So finally I sent letter certified mail. Then I finally got a response, a letter that said dont bother to call, we dont return calls and dont wite either casue written correspondese is inappropriate. Basicalyy they said bug off do what we say and don't ask questions. And all I wanted to know was what my actual amount of arrears was so I could verify it with my records. All I wasnt to do was ask a question for Pete's sake. CSE will not let you correspond with you even when its a mere question so I am sure you will have trouble getting them to change that balance

 

[brisgirl825]

i did not request an audit. Can you advise me on how to do that? Is it as simple as contacting the state support division and simply requesting? Seems we wrote to them a year ago and asked for a listing of all payments received and a running total but I received nothing. I can write again if need be.
As far as there being a "slip" if so, the slip wouldve had to have been made a year ago, when they first sent us the 37000 total and we disputed it. they dont respond to our letters. I am having him call today at 130 to talk to them. Maybe he can request it at that time.
gotta tell you, my stomach is turning at all this.
Ive got a bad feeling that when he gets paid this week (automatic deposit) we will have no money for the bills. im betting they put a lien on the bank as well as the house. this is crazy.
no wonder so many dads run and hide. when a guy stands up, pays current and back support, they ream him, take his house, car, and bank account and leave his kids with nothing . Id be almost tempted to hide as well. sad thing is i have the proof he is up to date and no way to face them to tell them. all i can do is send the proof and a letter.

I'd be willing to bet that if her had stayed current on his child support, this wouldn'tbe happening. He didn't seem to care when he left his other children with nothing, I guess it only matters if it's your child.

I am glad to hear that he is NOW doing the right thing and paying the back the money he owes to his children. I'm sorry that you are having these problems, however to make this a mom vs dad thing isn't really accurate. If NCP parents run and hide in your situation it's b/c it's their fault for paying to begin with.

Sarah

 

[LdiJ]

i did not request an audit. Can you advise me on how to do that? Is it as simple as contacting the state support division and simply requesting? Seems we wrote to them a year ago and asked for a listing of all payments received and a running total but I received nothing. I can write again if need be.
As far as there being a "slip" if so, the slip wouldve had to have been made a year ago, when they first sent us the 37000 total and we disputed it. they dont respond to our letters. I am having him call today at 130 to talk to them. Maybe he can request it at that time.
gotta tell you, my stomach is turning at all this.
Ive got a bad feeling that when he gets paid this week (automatic deposit) we will have no money for the bills. im betting they put a lien on the bank as well as the house. this is crazy.
no wonder so many dads run and hide. when a guy stands up, pays current and back support, they ream him, take his house, car, and bank account and leave his kids with nothing . Id be almost tempted to hide as well. sad thing is i have the proof he is up to date and no way to face them to tell them. all i can do is send the proof and a letter.

I hate to be giving you potentially bad news...but did you take interest into consideration when you were determining whether or not he was paid up? If he was paying on the arrearages for a long time...but what he was paying wasn't enough to cover both interest and a significant amount of principal there is a chance that their figures aren't wrong. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't be pressing the issue and getting an audit done....but it does mean that there is a chance that the figures aren't wrong.

If the phone call doesn't do any good....then your only option is an attorney to fix the problem.....or, to just give in and sell the house to get rid of the lien, and never put both names on any property again.

 

[Starry809]

the 37000 dollars in arrearages are from 2 years ( stupid him paid her not the state... his fault, he has to deal with that and pay the amount, no contesting it, no arguements from us)

DOR in florida stated amount in 2002 was 7200.00, but in 2004 it was up to 37,000.00 and he was paying 400 a month for current support of 159.00 a month, the rest was for back support.

cant imagine 7000 dollars in back support arrears in 2002 rising to 37000 in 2004, when back payment of 400 a month were paid monthly, every month.

 

[Gracie3787]

There are several things you can check on.
First- call the Child Support Court Clerk's Office and ask them a complete print out of assesments and payments from the date order was issued. It will probably cost $1.00 per page, but it is MORE than worth it because the COURT'S RECORD is the only record that is LEGALLY recognized in Florida. Make sure their record matches the DOR's (my guess is that it won't match.) Oh, and ask for the papers to be certified by the clerk.

Second, Did the tax intercept get sent to Wa. and then to Fl? If so, Florida may not be aware that intercept was done, so make sure to check for that. If no credit has been given for the intercept you will have to send Fl DOR and the court clerk's offices copy of notice from IRS.

I'm afraid that it will probably take an attorney to get it all straightened out, Fl. is really bad about getting everything screwed up when there are any arrears.
Good Luck.

 

[akwaitress]

phone trick

When I want to reach csed here in A.K. I take their main phone # which is listed in the phone book and hooks you to their "kids line" and start dialing variations til I get someone. example the last four numbers here are 6900
so I dial 6901, 6902 etc and sooner or later I reach someone who can help me.