General Testimony For Child Support: Fill & Download for Free

“Child support fraud” isn’t really much of a thing. Support is rather mechanically based on a Guideline chart which the court applies after determining the parties’ earning capacities, with the general idea that both parties are expected to provide a portion of their income for the well-being of the children. The support ordered is normally collected by the state, so the opportunities for an obligee to take money from the obligor yet claim non-payment are limited.Support isn’t means-tested and there are no limitations on how the support is used by the obligee. The reason for this is that money is fungible and support is essentially reimbursement to the custodial parent (“CP”) for money they’d be spending perforce, since the children live there and anyone who has to feed a child knows it’s not cheap. So (to paraphrase a common complaint) if the CP uses the support check to get a new phone or a tattoo or buy jewellery or whatever, that’s their prerogative—they presumably weren’t able to get these things for themselves beforehand because they were using their income to feed kids. Indeed, most of our CPs can’t afford luxurious things even after the support is paid. (Of course, if a custodial parent actively refuses to care for the children, that’s an issue that can be dealt with by other branches of the court, and if the non-custodial parent “NCP” provides a great deal of in-kind support over and above cash support paid, that can be considered a special circumstance by way of deviation in the support matter.)So it’s not like “welfare fraud” (for some reason a lot of people think child support is welfare—it’s not) where failing to declare income automatically causes problems. If someone lied to the court in such a way that the acceptance of the lie makes a material difference in the order (bearing in mind that the CP’s income typically makes much less of a difference in the order than the NCP’s, and the income of third parties such as step-parents, new paramours, &c. isn’t usually considered at all), the aggrieved party might have the right to ask for retroactive modification. There is no special method to “catching” someone making misrepresentations to the court. You can attempt to expose inconsistent testimony through cross-examination or you can introduce affirmative evidence to impeach the party’s testimony, if any such evidence is available. If you can afford to hire a private investigator to back up your allegations, you might be able to have that person testify.That’s the best I can do with no details.

Eileen Wood pretty much covered the bases. Divorce and parental rights are not connected in any way. A divorce might address custody and child support, but a termination of parental rights, whether voluntary or involuntary, would be a separate proceeding requiring different types of evidence and testimony.Termination of parental rights almost never relieves the terminated parent of their obligation for child support, since that is considered a “right” of the child, not the custodial parent. In other words, the parent maintaining their parental rights and having custody of the child is the recipient of the child support on behalf of the child. It is not a direct benefit to the custodial parent.Generally, (though not always) the only way that child support would be forgiven is if there is a step-parent desiring to effect an official adoption of the child.

*** How did your child's mother react to a custody order that was ruled in favor of you (the father)? *****This is going to be a bit lengthy and may wander. A quick summary for the Reader’s convenience:My ex-wife lost custody of our two children a bit over two years after the divorce started.She proceeded to sue me repeatedly over the next several years – – as many as three times per month for about five years. She refused to make any of the court ordered child support payments. Over a 12 year period, her TOTAL child support payments was $75, which was exactly the amount of the smallest single week that she owed in that entire period. To place this in perspective, I had overpaid child support every single week during the entire time between the divorce and her loss of custody. She and her second husband even kidnapped the children after change of custody..I will omit names in what follows because much of this was 30 to 40 years ago. The children involved are now all middle-aged, and the grandchildren have good relations with both sides. Wonder of wonders, the last time there was anything approaching a family reunion my ex-wife even informed my current wife and my daughter-in-law that I had done an excellent job as her business manager over the decade in which I served in that capacity. For her to admit that was absolutely amazing.The divorce order initially gave us Joint Custody, with the children living with her. Almost immediately, my access and visitation stopped. Shortly after that, she moved out of state, several hours drive from our home. The home, of course, went up for sale. I continued to live there until its closing. Two or three months before that the new owners approached me and asked if they could begin painting the various rooms. I, assisted by several neighbors, moved what little furniture was left from room to room such that they had painted the majority of the house before I moved out. At the house closing, which occurred in a bank, liens were presented which would prevent the house closing. She swore that somebody else had run them up, but evidence clearly showed that she was simply attempting to pull a fraud. The new owners became hysterical, worried that they could not move in on time. I explained to them that after helping with the painting it was clear that I would be on their side in this. At that point her attorney claimed he needed a bathroom break. He returned from the break with bank receipts from having paid all the liens, and asked my attorney to reimburse him from the joint account that was held for expenses during the closing. My ex-wife had a temper tantrum over this. Her mother, who was present, told my ex-wife's attorney that the checks could have come from the mother, ending her remarks with, "my checks NEVER bounce!" My ex-wife's attorney replied, "No, but your daughter's do." At the end of the closing, her attorney announced that his services ended at noon that day, and demanded full payment from what was left in the joint account. This will provide some idea of the persons involved.When I would phone to speak with the children, a strange thing happened. The children did not come to the phone, but I could clearly hear everything going on in that room. Whatever I said into the phone never came out the other end. From sounds during the few seconds between my ex-wife and/or her second husband answering that phone, I knew the phone was being tampered with. Much later, when I complained of this to the judge, papers from the phone company were entered which showed 15 minute and half hour phone calls between my phone and hers. It took a while to convince the judge that while those phone calls had occurred no communication had been allowed. Things like this can really piss one off.When I would drive up to pick up the children for Visitation, it would be refused and I would be physically threatened. There were just too many times that I was told at either gunpoint or knifepoint that I would be shot as a trespasser before I began requesting police escort. The escort stopped when her father forced a resolution through the Town Council specifically forbidding the police to accompany attempted Visitations. After that, I was always accompanied by three or four other divorced fathers with similar situations who consented to serve as bodyguards and witnesses. My attorney advised that I allow this to continue for several months before suing for change of custody. I did so.The judge ordered all of us to be seen by a psychiatrist. The psychiatric report strongly urged a change of custody. By this time, she was on her fourth or fifth attorney. Each of her attorneys had fired her as a client for misbehavior, and each had warned their successor because each worried that her misbehavior could lead to disciplinary action on the attorney.About this time, in testimony, it came up that my two children had been forced to serve in her wedding to her second husband. The judge asked for the wedding license. It was in a different state, but it's date PRECEDED our divorce. This was about 11 AM that day. The judge immediately stated that they better be married before 2 PM that day and valid papers for that shown him. He then called an hour recess for lunch. I almost forgot to mention – – his closing remarks also informed my ex-wife that she faced several years in state prison if she did not comply, and informed her second husband that he was facing several months or a year in jail for contempt of court. They had been "recently married" by the time we reconvened.Early the next day, the judge insisted on interviewing the two children in chambers. Her attorney demanded that he be present. My attorney informed the judge that he would not have made the same demand but that if the judge granted the demand of the other attorney he would feel forced to request the same access.The children began to cry. I was granted about 20 minutes with them. I swore to both of them that I would never hear what was said in chambers and that I would refuse to listen if somebody attempted to tell me. I told them to tell the truth and that whatever they said would have absolutely no effect on our relationship.The next morning, the judge, two children, and the two attorneys withdrew to chambers for the next several hours. Before doing so, the judge strictly informed both myself and my ex-wife that we could not question what the attorneys might hear in chambers as he wanted the children to feel free from any pressure.When they all came out, the children were removed to a separate room where they were watched over by my ex-wife's parents. I and my lawyer sat on a bench at one end of the very large waiting room. My ex-wife, her second husband, and their lawyer sat on such a bench perhaps 100 or 150 feet away. I did not know what happened next until many hours later. Another divorced father, also awaiting a trial, sat down on the adjoining bench to my ex-wife. He came over later and told me that the opening words of her attorney were, "Your case is over – – the children confirmed all of their father's accusations." I refused to allow him to tell me anything further; I felt strongly that I must keep my promise to my children.Remember, that I did not yet have custody, but I was allowed to have the children for that weekend. My ex-wife and her family lived several hundred miles away. They went to a motel in the general area. I returned to my apartment. The judge had indicated that the case would not be reconvened for a few days, until after the weekend, or so. During that weekend, my son asked me if I had ever been through escape and evasion or survival camps when I was on active duty. Of course I had – – I had been a missile officer for nuclear armed missiles. He asked me to describe it. I did, but I thought very little of the request, as he was about 10 years old and questions about the military are common for male children of that age.It was about 11 AM on a workday shortly after that weekend. My boss's boss screamed for me to get into his office NOW!!! I did so. On the phone was a court bailiff. He informed me that I had 15 minutes to appear in that court or go to jail. I pointed out to him my workplace was close to 25 miles from the courthouse. His reply was, "That's tough, be here!" I rushed to my car, and when I got on the highway I began going at over 100 miles an hour, hoping for a cop. I soon got one. I explained to him my dilemma. He was incredulous. He radioed the police at the courthouse. I had police escort from there to the courthouse.First, both children were taken in the judge's chambers. They were accompanied by the psychiatrist. I am not certain, but I believe both attorneys were refused attendance.Afterwords, the children left the courtroom. I believe they did so with the psychiatrist and with some people from welfare. The judge insisted that my ex-wife's parents be present – – I'm not sure if they were already there, or if they were brought in by police officers.Between my son's testimony, supported by my daughter, and the police reports, the following tale was provided, AND VERIFIED. The reaction of my ex-wife, her second husband, and her two parents had been to try to force my son to tell the judge that everything he said in chambers was a lie. In order to accomplish this, they attached him to a chair – – rope or other restraints – – shined a light in his eyes, and began an interrogation session which would have been frightening in a spy movie. They demanded a promise from him that he would convince the judge that everything his sister and he had said was untrue. Remember my son's inquiries to me concerning escape and evasion? He had asked what American Air Force officers were supposed to do if captured and interrogated. I told him what I had been trained to do.My son followed Air Force training! He initially resisted, but then suddenly appeared to change his mind and develop enthusiasm for telling the judge their version. He asked to be driven to the courthouse. On the way, he suddenly developed an extreme need to urinate. He had to stop at that police station or he would pee all over everyone in the car! They stopped. Once inside the police station, he turned them in. That was about 5 minutes before the phone call to me at work!That should have ended this odysssey, right? The judge left it Joint Custody, stating that left that way there would be less legal problems if I died. At the same time, he specifically stripped both my ex-wife, her second husband, and that set of grandparents of ALL parental rights. They could have no say in education, religion, extracurriculars, or any other item that would normally fall into parental decisions/approvals. The children were to live with me. Visitation with the other side was carefully defined. Child support orders were set up, to be paid to me by my ex-wife. There were a few other details.How did she react? She immediately filed an appeal. This delayed the whole mess for a while. The decision of the appeals court was to chew out the judge for having left it at joint custody even with those limitations. The unanimous position of that court was that she and her relatives had proven themselves incapable of raising any children at all whatsoever. The appeals court did leave in place that the children go to me, what the visitation should be, the financial arrangements, etc.IWhat next? When the children were to be delivered to me, they were not allowed to bring their favorite toys or books, or any other keepsakes, were dressed initially in their worst clothes, and arranged to be delivered at the least convenient hour. As they were about to get into the car, my son raced upstairs, stripped himself nude, and put on his scout uniform. My ex-wife had indicated she was retaining the scout uniform and all badges. He had every scout momento he could find stuffed in his pockets and he refused to change to any other clothes. A pissed off 10-year-old who has already turned a set of parents in to the authorities is not someone you want to pick a fight with. He and his sister reached me in the condition described here. Eventually I enrolled him in a local scout unit. Its leader wrote the leader of his old unit and got him fresh new copies of all his paperwork and all his badges.As already mentioned, this began several years of repeated lawsuits. She lost all but one. That one required me to pay a fairly stiff sum to her then-lawyer. I did so, but he didn't cash the check, and then brought contempt of court charges against me, claiming I had not paid. About this time, a friend of mine discovered that that lawyer was sleeping with my ex-wife without the knowledge of her second husband. In the state we were in, certain types of certified checks are not returned to the issuer, but remain in the bank's vault unless subpoenaed by a court. I issued that lawyer such a check, with a full confession typed on it, and the notation that the check was invalid unless signed personally by him. He called my lawyer in panic. My lawyer thought it was hysterically funny. He pointed out that the check would not see the light of day without a court order. He then advised, "Don't screw with this man (meaning me); he's got you by the short hairs but he probably won't do a thing if you just plain act like a gentleman." Within weeks, that attorney terminated his affair with my ex-wife. As I've said my ex-wife continued to sue me. Every time I appeared in court, a bailiff would come over to me with a greeting card. The cards wished me luck and said such things as, "Hang the GD bitch." The cards, of course, were never signed. But I'm pretty sure I know who they were from.I have left out a few of our other skirmishes as this is getting rather lengthy. But two need recounting. At one point, my ex-wife and her husband kidnapped my children. I received a ransom demand from him. I called the FBI. I sincerely hope that the FBI policies today are a great deal different from what they were in 1988 or 1989. The FBI Special Agent informed me that if a male custodial parent reported a kidnapping, the FBI called it "custodial interference," refused to take action, and referred it to the local authorities several days later. On the other hand, if a female custodial parent made the same report, an FBI SWAT team was immediately dispatched. That's what I got told by an FBI Special Agent and also by his boss.Several years later, after enduring her extensive refusals to provide child support, I was laid off. Finances became a critical issue. I filed appropriate paperwork with Family Services, and they determined (after extensive investigation) that they needed to have our state government demand that the other state government force her to pay up. That was done. She and husband #2 were town employees. The town in the other state refused to allow service of the papers or collection of the money on the grounds that it would unduly damage their town educational system (both were teachers).I would remind all who read this that while these events date back into the 1980s, the difference in treatment between male and female persons in divorce and custody issues mirrors some of the horrible racial issues troubling the current election. Men are the favored gender, until they procreate. After that they are expendable but their money isn't. And I would also point out that there's a hell of a lot of fathers sitting in jails for doing nothing more than trying to see their children. If you read this all the way to here think about what you can do on this problem.ADDED MUCH LATER: I thank all who read this (long) post and even more so those who upvoted. I noticed something worth commenting on. The vast majority of upvotes -- perhaps 85 to 90% or more -- were from ladies. I appreciate that as it indicates that the problems in our divorce/custody system are not one-sided.For me, that is a hopeful sign. The kids deserve to be raised by two parents if at all possible. And if not possible, then the Custodial Parent must teach the children RESPECT for both sides, and even love. That is a tough job, but the kids and YOUR GRANDCHILDREN deserve the effort. Thanks for letting me preach a bit.