(TX) Child Support, Complicated
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Location: Texas
Believe it or not, this is the uncomplicated version.
Parents divorced when I was about 8 and brother was 13, 50/50 custody, dad required to pay child support. We do 50/50 visitation for awhile. Then we don't, we live with just mom. Dad gets behind on child support.
Mom is psychotic abusive nutjob. Child neglect, child support money goes to cigarettes, alcohol, vapes, etc when we do get it.
Two years ago, mom leaves me with her grandma + uncle + aunt. This is a bad living situation.
Things happen, I end up back with my dad. It's great. Fantastic even. It's been a year since then and it's amazing. I've never been this taken care of in my whole life.
And I haven't seen my mom in over a year, so that's great too.
I'm seventeen now. Turn 18 next Feb.
Except now, my brother and mother have gotten together and are threatening to drag my dad into court; he doesn't want that, so he's going back to paying into child support. $250 2x a month.
They've reported my copy of the card stolen and changed the bank log in information, so there's no loophole for me to access the *child support* money at all.
I'm seventeen, my brother's twenty-two. I'm the only legal dependent right now and have been for awhile. My dad's my sole parent besides on the 50/50 custody on paper. We haven't been in court since 2020.
I'm also 100% sure my brother's the one using and marionetting the money, since my mom isn't even capable of tying her own shoes. (Severe, severe schizophrenia.)
So.... I'm just fucked, right? And my single parent dad loses $600-$700 every month that could be used to take care of me?