Ask the experts… can I still collect my child support after all this time?
Dear Sir/Madam:
My ex-husband, never paid a penny in child support from the time we were divorced in 1996 until the time both my girls reached the age of majority. The Child Enforcement agency in Florida were unable to track him down as he moved to New Jersey with his parents and started working under the table. I do, however, have a Judgment recorded against him in the amount of $102,475.50 by the Clerk of Court. I have had this Judgment certified and recorded in both Florida and New Jersey.
Recently he has decided to surface as he figures the girls are 22 and 23 so he won’t be held accountable. I know where he lives and I know where he works (he has 2 businesses and works for another also). To add insult to injury he has now approached my daughters via Facebook and now wants a relationship.
Is there anything that can be done to collect on this Judgment? It would be nice to be able to buy my daughter a car – which is still impossible for me even now.
Thank you in advance for your time and attention.
Best regards, Jamie S.
OUR ANSWER…
Hi Jamie,
Thank for the email. I’m happy to say that we can certainly try to collect some a few more facts are discussed! The unpaid support is due to you and you should do everything possible to try and collect. The judgment is a great tool, we will need copies of the original order and any modification for our working records as well. Our investigators like to have orders to refer to and review. Since the NCP works under the table and may not have attachable income, our options would be to try and find a way to attach to potential assets or work with him directly to establish a payment plan. Our investigators are quite skilled in working this type of case.
Your ex-husband may believe the support is not due but he is mistaken, he is still responsible for any unpaid support and needs to be held accountable. The difficulty is that since he is not in Florida, an interstate case would need to be opened between Florida and New Jersey; given the ages of your girls, the state generally does do this and many in your situation look to private agencies to try and enforce.
Please let me know if you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them for you.
Looking forward to hearing from you and opening a case!