Child support in Alabama

You can always notify the IRS. If your ex is set to receive a tax refund and is behind on court-ordered child support, any refund can be diverted.

I have had many dealings with Colbert County DHR and all I can say they are nothing but a piece of CRAP! I finally gave up after years of court dates where the non-custodial parent would not show up. Then the mean people at DHR will mail them a letter for not showing up...WHOA! If you draw a welfare assistance then they will work harder to get child support so they will get their money back otherwise my friend you are S.O.L. Sorry =(

Well his taxes are offset so I'm guessing him and his wife learned a few years back to not put his name on their taxes because I haven't recieved a tax intercept check in a couple years.

Unfortunately because I do work and take care of my child I don't qualify for any assistance... It just seems if he pays a couple hundred dollars here and there, they could care less. I've thought myself not to depend on his check, and most of what I do get just goes in to a savings out for her. To me its just the point behind the manner. Man up and pay your child support! And the court system should be doing the job they are paid to do!

Now I am not going to be mean or anything like that but it is not the State of Alabama's nor DHR's responsibility to "enforce ... obligations". The person being wronged has to go to court. Action can and will be taken if the offended is serious about it. Just think how many times the offended has dropped charges or not shown up for court as well AFTER pressing charges. The courts get tired of being used as a spat network. Go to court, get wages garnished, follow through.

if they actually worked and had wages to be garnished that would be alot easier. When they work for cash and do not file a tax return then I guess the old saying goes you cannot squeze blood from a turnip! If it is not DHR's responsibility to "enforce...obligations" then what are their duties they are hired to do so they can draw a pay check from MY TAXES then?

DHR or Dept. of Human Resources is not the "get my check for me" department. If your ex-man does not work, take him to court. I do sympathize with your situation but stop waiting or expecting someone to rescue you or make things right for you. Take charge of the situation.

My husband has always had child support taken out of his paycheck from day 1. I don't even know if it was an option for it to have been done differently. Regardless, it works out great, because it's done and we don't have to worry about it. It really should be done like this more often.

All of the above are not workable in the state or I should say Franklin and Colbert. My daughter's ex just quit filing Income tax and they never bothered him although he kept working. He made a total mockery of the courts. Seems we were told he was a snitch for the drug enforcement folks and they never touched him. It is disgraceful what our "Law" does for the children of these two counties. The Judge actually was more abusive than the ex.

One more tidbit for BamaMOM. You obviously did not know but there is NO statute of limitations on failure to pay child support. You can take to court anytime before he dies.

P.S. You did not "hire" DHR and they don't owe you anything. You have to pick yourself up from this mentality.

For LE89, She traveled thousands of miles on several occasions only to be told the hearing had been cancelled. One time the judge went duck hunting. On the other times the ex just didn't bother to show up. Bench warrant was issued , but he was never picked up. Judge was a "front pew" sitter. Sure showed his sense of justice. You can do the right thing all you want to, but if the court and judges fails then you will do what she did, or was advised to do; Move out of state and get way from him. We have all been seperated now for over ten yrs, grandkids and all. What respect do you think we have for the Local pieces of garbage we have for LEO's and Courts.

the DHR in Lauderdale county is very active in pursuing deadbeats.

LE89 as i stated above he does not show up for court then they mail a letter to their last known address then they have 30 days to respond to that. They have never filed a warrant for his arrest and he has been in jail a couple of times and first thing the next morning I would call those hard working, dedicated & caring people at DHR to give them the information they needed. Not once did they put a hold on him. No they would give him a court date for non payment of child support when he made bail. Then SURPRISE he does NOT show up.
Now LE89 I am to inform you that I do not look at DHR to "get my check" I work and support my child on my own. I look at DHR to do a job they were hired to do, a job that MY taxes pay them to do. As I stated earlier unless you draw welfare assistance or food stamps they are not going to work as hard on your case as they do those who do qualify for this assistance because they get their money back them.

I am in the same boat. My daughter is 8, and my ex husband had seen her 1 time in the past 2 years. I have had no help from him since he lost the last job he had. DHR had me getting child support by taking it out of his check. Now, he has a warrant on him for failure to pay, but who knows when he'll be picked up. I used to worry about this, and it used to make me furious. The Lord provides for me, and I know that he will make a way for me. Actually, it has been truely a blessing not to have to deal with the idiot ex. My daughter is ok now. She says it no longer bothers her that her dad is not around. He's the one losing out..........not me.

Again I sympathize with you, BUT YOU need to hire a lawyer and not rely on others to take care of you. (Imagine the situation you are in in in the first place, he's not taking care of you or kids right??) That was my only point. It sounds like you have made the best for yourself otherwise, so I do give you congrats for that.

Well I would like to think I'm pretty pursuint in the matter... If I wasn't I wouldn't get anything... I get a check about every 3 months, about a months worth. That basically keeps him out of jail. And once a month goes by my calls to the office start. I get back well I guess we'll send him a letter... I would much rather hire myself a lawyer and do it all that way but unfortunately I have bills to pay and a child to take care of, most of the time there's not much money left at the end of the day... Also like others have said this sob doesn't work either so there will be no garnishing of any wages. I do what I can to keep my child support coming, I also live out of state so unfortunately can't come sit on my case workers desk, till he does something.

Plus if there is a government dept labeled "child support enforcement" they are getting paid to be there by our tax dollars... I think I will take full advantage of it.

AMEN!!!

And you will end up getting exactly what you pay for.

I pay my child support but noooooo you girls were too good to sleep with me

Well I feel better now, my ex-wife has not paid a dime of child support since 2002. I thought I got the run around whenever I called just because I'm a man but now I can see at least it's not a sexist thing.

True story - about 5 years ago I was in a gas station where two people had just run into each other and one was asking the other why they left their job and he said that child support has caught up with him so he quit and found another job. I guess you can go to work somewhere and it takes a few months for the ex or the state to find out where you were working.

Anyway I'd be ashamed of something like that.

I thought that in the state of Alabama if you are behind in child support, your driver's license can be suspended.

My daughter's father has never once made an attempt to see her in 8 years so I'm not to concerned with him going to jail and "not being around"

And yes if you are not making payments on your child support they will suspend your license but as long as you pay a little something here and there, they can keep them. Really the only thing he can't do at this point is travel out of the country, (not that the looser will ever have the money to do anything like that) but because he owes so much in arrears he can not get a passport.

If you have any older brothers, etc, a 'Come to Jesus meeting' might be in order.

Seriously: If local LEOs don't have an active warrant to act on, don't go blaming them for the situation.

I already said I don't live in this area, so I'm confused, not sure who you are responding too...

Also I never once blamed the police, I know how the system works... I'm refering to the court system, "The Child Support Division".

OK piney, I get it you are probably Mom's mom. If she had a lawyer, she would not have travelled needlessly. Yes judges do go duck hunting, I guess. YOU have to pursue justice yourself, even with a lawyer, you lead the fight. Does not do any good to follow an un-interested leader (even if that is their job).

Sounds like the "respect" you have may very well be part of the problem you are having and have had in the past.

Nurturing Father, Yes there are some women that care only for money rather that the love of a father to their child. When my ex husband was visiting with our daughter and doing things with her, and actually being a "dad" I did not ask for money because he was giving her what she needed. This scum now, isn't even seeing her and tells everybody that I won't let him see her because he hasn't paid child support. I never kept him from her and I am not keeping him from her now because of unpaid child support.

He chose a life of drugs, and irresponsibility over his child.

And yes, those women that only care about money when in fact their child has a good dad....should be ashamed of themselves.

My 9 yr old son's dad has not paid child support in 8 years. The few times he did pay it wasnt the full amount (which was only 200 a month, I agreed to a lesser amount because he said if I would he would never be late with it) In the beginning, I would do exactly as I was supposed to. I called my attny, he in turn filed the necessary paperwork and had my ex's wages garnished. 2 weeks later when the garnishment would be sent to his work, he would quit and get a new job. We went thru this cycle 3 times. Each time, I had to pay my attny plus the filing fees ($175) It was costing me to try to enforce his financial resposibility. After the 3 garnishment, he went to work for cash at a mechanic shop. I called my attny, again, he directed me to call dhr and dhr told me if he worked for cash there was nothing I could do. I finally gave up because I couldnt afford at the time to keep trying. So imo, the system doesnt work.

It is certainly an imperfect system. First, if you aren't getting paid support, attorneys won't be jumping up to take the case because they figure you can't afford to pay them. We can take CS collection cases on contingency but only after informing you that DHR will do it for free. So the bottom line is that unless you're paying your lawyer a bunch of money, they probably won't do much more than DHR. And as for contingency, if the person isn't paying support, what are the chances we'll get anything out of them? Sure, there are rare instances where they may own property or something that can be attached and they're just being stubborn about paying. And MrsJoeMerchant is pretty much right about garnishments. First, you have to keep up with their job. Second, they have to actually get a check for the employer to withhold from. Lots of people work for cash just for that reason. One of the reasons Lauderdale Co. is so aggressive is because they want to stay in business under the DA's office. It's not DHR that's necessarily doing it--it's the child support unit of the DA. It's a HUGE revenue generator for the DA's office. That and worthless check recovery. Colbert apparently doesn't care as much. The best thing you can do is be persistent. Each month of unpaid support is a new judgment. Judgments are good for 10 years and can be renewed for another 10. Keep after them and if nothing else you should be able to keep them from ever owning property or anything much of value.

[quote]The best thing you can do is be persistent. Each month of unpaid support is a new judgment. Judgments are good for 10 years and can be renewed for another 10. Keep after them and if nothing else you should be able to keep them from ever owning property or anything much of value.[/quote]

This was exactly my point all along lawguy, I agree with you. Never had good results from just throwing my hands up in the air.

Not that this will probably help a lot of you, but I have one piece of VERY valuable advice. NEVER, EVER leave the courtroom after being awarded child support without demanding that your attorney ask for a garnishment. It may not effect the job hoppers, but without a garnishment/employer with holding order from the judge, your problems will be compounded.

I wish you all the luck in the world. I know it is a long, depressing, broken road but you will get there eventually.

you are exactly right

I had problems with my ex-hubby who tried not to pay child support for a few years. Later he was made to pay every dime in back child support.

Sad part about all this...some men (and women) do not care enough to even call their kids, much less visit them. My girls haven't seen their biological father in 3 years despite numerous attempts on their part to contact him.
I thank God everyday that they have a step father who loves them and takes care of them. My oldest daughter found a sibling on fb that she has never met, come to find out she has 1 brother and 3 more sisters. Does he have any contact with any of these?? Yes 2 of them get child support faithfully, while his other 4 get nothing. My point is this....Shouldn't there be a law that says if a man has that many kids and doesn't take care of them he should have to get a vasectomy?

I totally agree NF. There are some women who are just as bad as the men.

Cousin had that problem... only it was HIM (cousin) trying to get his ex to pay. She lived out of state and the folks here (Lauderdale County) did VERY LITTLE to help him. She more or less gave the kids to him because she was "tired of being a mom" and wanted "to live a little". My cousin visited the caseworker about once a week, talked her to several times, but every time it was the same song and dance..."Can't find her". Well, he located her.... called DHR and gave them her address, her place of work, the kind of car she was driving, her car tag number, and even what bank she used... they claimed they were trying (after he did all the leg work). He finally went with an outside agency that charges a percentage of what they recover. He got some money, but no where near the back pay she owes. He is also entitled to her taxes, but has only received them once, so she is probably not filing, which I thought was tax evasion and was punishable by law.

The ex even called my cousin's new wife when he did manage to get a warrant served on her and begged the new wife to not let my cousin send her to jail. The new wife told her if she wasn't going to pay her child support, why should she be out walking free... she could NOT pay just as well behind bars.