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I have a son with a former girlfriend that I was unaware of for the first number of years of his life. He is now six and his mother has been married for over five years. In the one year gap between his birth and her marriage, she filed for welfare support which in turn began a process of child support collections against myself. We were completely out of touch for a handful of years living in different states and when the "legal" system finally got in touch with me, they found me liable for $30,000+ in arrears plus ongoing support. The mother and I are now in full Reconciliation but considering her Marital Status the relationship is somewhat complicated. I want nothing more than to provide financial support for my son, but the arrears assigned to me have crippled my credit rating, making it nearly impossible to relocate for a job (I'm a recent college grad). With her help is it possible to have these arrears erased?
Optional Information: Tallahassee, Florida Already Tried: LegalAid...no help.
Unfortunately, since the debt is actually owed to welfare because they provided support for the child, then that portion of the arrears created while the mother received child support can not be forgiven. If any portion of child support arrears were created whilc the mother did not receive chld support then, that portion could be forgive my the mother if you file a modification of cupport petition.
According to the mother, she never received support. Or rather when she filed for welfare, she was only on it for a handful of months at which point she secured a rather lucrative job and left the system. I was told my the child support enforcement agency that essentially it was out of her hands at that point and the child support order was carried on by the agency regardless of her welfare status. They also corroborated the fact that she would have only been paid support if payment was made...
That is only particially correct. The agency started and obtained the order. However once the agency is refunded the money the paid out for child support then they have no further say in the arrears. If the mother is willing to sign an affidavit stating that you paid all arrears owed to her then that would be sufficient to file a modification petition in court seeking that the support be modified to only current support obligations. Find out the amount of money welfare paid to her for support between cash, food stamps, medical expenses during that period of time and that's the only amount they can hold you responsible to pay. If they give you trouble then you may have to retain an attorney to force then to resolve the issue.
Experience: Practicing Attorney for over 15 years