Unemployed and can't pay

[rm1987]

What is the name of your state? Texas

Looking for advice or to talk to someone that has been in this situation.

I am divorced and remarried. I have 3 children by my first marriage. I lost my job in February of this year. At the time I asked my ex if we could agree to let me pay a reduced alimony and child support to make the money that I had last longer until I found a new job. Her answer was simply, No. I managed to continue giving her the $2200 a month until I ran out of money at the end of May. She is now sueing me for refusal to pay. I still have not found work. My lawyer from the divorce will not help me without money up front. If I had that kind of money I wouldn't be behind in my support payments.

Has anyone ever been in this position before?

I am not a deadbeat. I very much want to support my kids. And have sold everything that I owned to give her money but I have nothing left to sell and have not found work. And to top it off, my children will not even talk to me now because they have been told that I stopped giving them money because I don't care about them. I can't talk to them on the phone and she deletes emails that I send to them. And the woman she lives with actively participates in degrading me in front of my children.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kat1963]

You should have file a motion to modify your support when you first became unemployed, it probably could have prevented the hole you dug yourself into. You don't need a lawyer to file this motion and you need to do so right now. In addition, while you are there, since she is not allowing court ordered visitation (it doesn't matter if you are 90 grand behind in c/s they are two seperate issues) you will be filing a motion to show cause/contempt against her as well. They can probably all be heard at the same time, if you have enough time left to file it to be heard then that is. I don't know about your court house, therefore I will tell you that in general, you put on your spiffy clothes, you take ALL your paperwork w/you (organize it!!) and you head down there. You stand in line, sometimes you will find the paperwork on the counter, perhaps you can even print out this information on line. Anyway, you talk nicely to the court clerk and hope that they will help you file the required paperwork. If not, most court houses have a legal law library in or around the court house, you do your research there and can obtain copies of what you need to file for little or no cost. Filing fees vary (it's free here) so you'll have to ask.
Good Luck. Now, go take care of business.
KAT

 

[rm1987]

Ok thanks.

I WILL be going down to the courthouse tomorrow and see what, if anything, I can do on my own.

I'll post up on what I find out.

Thanks!