The State of Florida just put a Levy on one of my accounts for back child support.The mother is in Norway. I don't even know if the kid is mine and she refuses genetic testing I said I would pay for. Neither of us live in Florida now. Shouldn't they move the case to my new home of record? Why do I have to pay because someone said the kid is mine? It seems the only way to even get these questions addressed is to give a lawyer 30-45k that I don't have.
Was the original child support order issued in FL?
Yes. That's where me met, and where she went back home to Norway from.
This becomes such an expensive issue now for you if she is no longer in FL. You would have to file a court action in Norway to establish paternity, since FL no longer has personal jurisdiction over her to make her do anything. Thus, filing in the FL court first would be useless because they could not exercise jurisdiction. If you file in Norway, then you can file a "Motion for Stay of Execution" in FL to get the court to order Child Support Collection to stop enforcement until the paternity suit in Norway is decided. Sadly, this is the only way to stop the enforcement, since the child support claim was originally filed in FL. Because the case was originally filed with FL Child Support, until they get a court order to stop and the FL child support office has the option to notify the child support service in the state where you are located to help them enforce or enforce it themselves. This is why you are getting such high prices for attorneys to seek to stop this, because it is going to involve getting to court in Norway to compel her to testing and if she refuses then the Norway court can declare you are not the biological father and you would use that to come back to FL and get a court order to stop the support collection action.
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Great...
So, I'm pretty much screwed. Wonderful.
So, can I hire a lawyer to get the State of Florida to move it to Hawaii - where I live? What do I need to do myself to fix this? I'm presently stationed in Kuwait doing contract work, so I'm pretty far away from everything.
Can I contact the State of Florida and work out some cheap arrangment since it's cheaper than fixing it (This is what I have been doing. I contacted the State and told them of my relocation and new employer. I thought they finally figured out neither of us live in FL-then this. Out of nowhere.)
This whole thing is crazy and expensive and threatening. I have a wife and child that is mine and lives here. Let me know if there is any viable direction I can go if you could.
Thanks!
I am so sorry to hear you are in this bad position and the news is not good at all for any of it other than spending money on attorneys to go to court in Norway.There is nothing you can do on this yourself I am afraid other than calling child support and negotiating a payment plan with them to release the levy (and they will generally require you make a payment of at least 1/2 of the arrears up front before they will agree to a payment plan). You can get an attorney in FL to file in court to argue jurisdiction of Child Support services and the court can force them to transfer it to Hawaii where you are a resident, but that really does not solve the problem, it only moves it.
Well, that is sorta' good news.
How do I get a lawyer to file in Florida from Kuwait? Do I have to be there? What document does the lawyer need to file, and approx. how much will this cost-from your point-of-view. Sorry to be so green but I try to stay away from lawyers and court.
My wife checked and there is no agreement with Hawaii presently with Norway. I'd like to think they'd be more reasonalble on Maui. They don't even try a little to talk to you, return phone calls, or reply to emails in Florida.
Thanks.
You can locate an attorney through the same sites used by other attorneys, http://www.martindale.com or http://www.lexmundi.comHawaii participates in the international treaties on child support through the federal treaties which they honor as being part of the US. States cannot enter international treaties, that is a federal government matter under the US Constitution, so it would not be a Hawaii treaty with Norway.As far as costs, I really could not tell you because this matter is a complex issue and not a simple support issue. It is likely to be at least $3000-$5000 in FL alone to try to just get FL to transfer the matter to Hawaii through the courts. Then it will go up from there to try to fight the matter and resolve it.