r/ChildSupport

I am a man and I have full custody of my two children. my ex wife has visitation rights one weekend a month, spring and summer break, and every other Christmas and thanksgiving giving.

I make a decent living as a medical resident but will be making more once I finish residency. i out earn my ex with this alone, but I have also remarried and my new wife is very successful and makes about as much as I will when I start working my medical practice.

the reasons for my divorce are multifactorial but the main reason was that she’s an alcoholic and suffers from lots of mental health issues and was always paranoid that i was cheating on her.

i waived child support in my initial divorce decree because when we split, she made $0 and I just used it as a tactic to get everything I wanted in the divorce, (you want half my retirement account? okay I’ll take child support) that kind of thing.

now my ex is working and honestly doing much better for herself. my current wife says I should file. I in my heart believe that the kids should know that their mom is helping support them. but for some reason I feel guilty about it, like I’m going back on my word that I gave when the decree was written. or maybe I’m in the mindset that I’ve done this all without her and I don’t want to file because I don’t need her.

should I feel guilty?

OK, so my husband has court next Tuesday for child support. They’re currently trying to make him pay 1300 because he only has 14% of parenting time. He filed for custody in March 2025 , and we didn’t get the court date until November 3 but upon the court day, I was having a health complications with my pregnancy so he missed the court date and then she had told the judge to only allow him to see the kids every other weekend so that brought him down to only 14% of parenting time. Before all this the beginning of 2025 we were picking up the kids from school and taking them home until their mom was done with work so after that, he will drop them back off to her, but then she ended up moving to with her new boyfriend and switched the kids school the following school year. My husband offered to continues to take them to school and pick them up but she refused saying she’s gonna do it but then that’s when we found out it’s her boyfriend and his mom responsible for picking them up and taking them back to school but some days they miss going to school because her boyfriend doesn’t wanna take them or he’s out of town for work. Upon from that, he asked if he can get them more time during the summer and she ignored the messages. He’s bought all their school clothes this year and every year before that and every time she asks him for money, he always sends it to her with no problem. originally we were just asking for increased overnight but now he’s asking for 50-50 because he’s only allowed to see them when she feels it’s OK and that’s literally every other weekend and we’re missing out so much of them and all this happened since last September but every year previous to that we were with them every single day and they are now 11 and 13. What are the odds advice ? I need real advice. Also we’ve been married for 1 year and together for 5 . We have a 7 month old baby together

My case has been ongoing for 3 years. We are now going to trial, but the only issue left to be decided is child support.

Based on our salaried income and number of overnights the calculation says I should be paying her nearly $700 a month for child support. What hasn't been taken into consideration is that the respondent owns 11 multi-tenant rental properties.

The respondent has been able to essentially zero out her taxable income by inflating her expenses associated with the properties.

I am going pro se. This case has forced me into bankruptcy and my former lawyers have dropped me as a client due to unpaid bills.

My question is this: What are some ways I can prove that her rentals are a source of income? I have been advised to cross examine her about each property and every expense she has listed. Can this make a difference?

Are properties taken into account by the court for child support calculations? She has made it look like there is zero income being generated. How do I show the court that these properties are appreciating and that her expenses are BS? Is this a lost cause and I should just accept her accounting? Since I no longer have a lawyer supporting me, I am a bit lost as to how to approach these properties in front of a judge.

The respondent recently sold her stake in a large multifamily apartment complex. Should this income be included in the calculation? It isn't regular income, just a large lump sum. I don't want to waste the time of the judge and the court by digging into her finances that won't result in any change to my predicament.

Has anyone been in this situation before? Has anyone been able to prove that property ownership should be included in child support calculations?

Thank you,

Thanks,

How do I prove the bio “father” makes more money than he claims? He travels all over North America, working as a hypnotist. His T4 states he makes $10k yearly. He and his lawyer lied their way through family court , unfortunately I had to represent myself. I want my child to have a life even marginally close to his other children. I had to beg for money to replace a broken piece of my daughters bedroom furniture, he said “I had some big expenses come up. I can’t do it right now.” Eventually he “sacrificed” $200. Then I saw that during one of his “work events”, he took his son to a pro ball game in the US. We live in Saskatchewan.

Sooo for context, I have a child support case which was started rightfully so. The whole time she has had a job, and there hasn’t been an issue. But she met someone who has kids of his own, and just recently decided she is going to quit her job so she can be a stay at home mom to ours and his kids. Now, I’m happy for them, but at the same time I can only imagine what that’s going to mean for me in the long run when it comes to support cost. I have 50/50 and I believe he does with his kids mother, but with her just deciding to quit working, and now not having an income, does that mean I’m screwed?

He is a hypnotist who travels all over North America. His T4 states he makes $10 k yearly. His family’s lifestyle portrays an excess of money. He and his lawyer lied through their teeth in court. I had to represent myself, they tore me to shreds. I asked him to replace my daughter’s broken piece of furniture, he stated “I have some unexpected big expenses. She will have to wait a bit.” Lo and behold I see a post on his business page that showed he and his son at a pro ball game in the US. How to prove he’s hiding money? We live in Saskatoon.

So I’m going to court on the 24th and some new stuff has developed in my case.
My ex hasn’t paid me in about 9 years. I have sole custody of our child. He owes me around 74,000.

About a month ago he randomly paid
Me 2,000 dollars. Told me where was living, told
Me he got this amazing settlement and bought a new property, building a house. Told
Me he gets paid under the table through some what not app. Claimed he can’t work full time because he wants to spend time with his dad ( I have this all in writing )

Then completely fell off the face of the earth.

I told dhhs everything, they now have a lien on his property ( which he jointly owns with his girlfriend)

The attorney general is joining me on my court case.

What should I expect to happen?

For over 10 years I paid child support while having 50/50 Time Sharing. I was curious how common that is. Ive felt that the parent that makes more money gets penalized for that. 1 parent shouldn't be MORE responsible for the financial care of the child. There should be no child support case at all. I was 70% financially responsible! What a joke.

So basically long story short I am the son in the situation, my mother is owed over 200k from my father in back child support because he left us and hasn’t paid any in over 20 years.

It’s to the point his paychecks are garnished when he does work but he never does.

Basically I found out my grandfather passed away from a class action lawsuit situation and as a result my father will be coming into a large amount of money very soon, likely within a month or so.

My goal here is to intercept the money for my mother somehow. This would be a life changing amount of money for my family and I, we have struggled our entire life because of his lack of financial support so I do not feel bad about taking what is owed.

My mother does currently have a case open against him in FL. So far I’ve contacted the dept of revenue and started a lien process against him. I would appreciate any additional advice as i don’t really know where else to go from here, again i really want to capitalize on this.

Should we lawyer up? We don’t really have money for one is the issue. Is the lien enough?

Any responses appreciated thank you all in advance.

Location: Florida (currently live in LA but the case is open in FL)

I have lost my job recently and I don't feel confident about making my payments for child support. I am searching for jobs and I think about what will happen if I cannot find work and earn enough money by the time of my payment.
It seems that I may have to experience various consequences for missing the payment in Texas because it is said that there may also be penalties for non-compliance.
I received some information about modification of child support in case of a serious income decline, and I'm interested in how long does this process take. I want to take the necessary actions so that I won't have problems too late. Also, is an attorney necessary?

There are obviously parents who intentionally don't meet their responsibilities. But there are also parents who lose jobs, have hours reduced, experience illness or have another legitimate financial disruption.

By the time they're several payments behind, the problem can be much harder to solve.

What would an effective prevention system look like?

Emergency assistance? Employment resources? Financial planning? Earlier intervention? Something else?

Interested in perspectives from custodial parents, noncustodial parents and people who work in this space.

My ex is wanting me to send her money directly for things for my kids. Usually I would have no issue and just send it, but it’s not really something they need, it’s something she wants to try… I’ve been told countless times to never send money outside of child support payments, but is there anything wrong with sending the $100.00 as half of what she’s wanting to get my kids?

Recently initiated the process of starting child support but was given 3 months to rescind. My children are 1 and 3, we have gone no contact for 1 1/2 years due to DV.

I am responsible for everything. No complaints because it was my decision to pop them out but he made it substantially harder when we were in contact. Emptying out mine and our child’s savings, breaking valuables, and more but I’m still trying to catch up from it to this day.

With my last impression of him, it’s ideal to assume it’ll just become backpay. I know it’ll become an invitation for him to involve family court since he’s not on the birth certificate but does anyone feel like it wasn’t worth it or something about this process that could’ve been done differently?

My son’s dad and I split when he was about 8 months old, we both went to the Attorney General and file for child support. I got primary custody.
While in court the judge wanted him to pay almost $900 each month(20%), my son’s dad talked me into bringing it down because he has a previous child, I felt bad and caved. So he only pays $300 and has been for the past 3 years.
He hasn’t gotten a bed for our son, no clothes, he does not help with anything other than keeping him the nights I have to work(I had to go overnight because I couldn’t afford daycare alone), his apartment is infested with German roaches, and he lives very unsanitary. He makes $6 more than I do, so I just never understood why he couldn’t do it but I have been able to and I’m just scraping by. Our son is autistic with a very specific appetite and still in pull ups.

I requested for a child support modification and I guess he got a call today, he then told me that he would sign over his rights because he could not afford our son.

I’ve already got a plan for if he does sign over his rights, but is it that easy to do in Texas? Can he just relinquish his rights like that?

Any advice on what to expect in a modification or even this kind of situation would help! Thanks in advance!!

Hi everyone, I am in an absolute panic and urgently need guidance or attorney recommendations in the Texas/Houston area regarding family law and immigration crossover.

My Situation:
I am currently designated as the primary custodian of my child under an existing Texas custody order.

The father has standard visitation.
I am facing an imminent Voluntary Departure order and must return to my home country soon (Mexico).

The father doesn’t have status in this country, sometimes skips his visitation rights and is behind in child support.

My Goal & Core Dilemma:
I do NOT want to leave my child behind. My absolute priority is to bring my child with me to my home country legally.
However, our current custody order contains geographical restrictions / prevents me from simply taking the child out of the country without court permission or the father's consent.
My Questions:

1. Since I am the primary custodian, what is the fastest legal mechanism (such as an emergency motion to modify) to ask a Texas family court judge for permission to relocate / travel internationally with my child due to my mandatory immigration departure?
2. If the father refuses to sign an agreement, how can I petition the judge before my departure date so I don't risk violating the custody order or facing international parental kidnapping accusations?
3. Can anyone recommend low-cost family law attorneys in the Houston/Texas area who handle international relocation cases involving immigration orders?
4. Any advice, shared experiences, or legal resources would mean the world to me right now. Thank you so much.

If i receive help from the state (WIC, Medicaid, etc.), will i lose those if i put my baby’s father on child? This is the only thing holding me back.

In theory that’s great, another bill i dont have to pay. Basically auto payment now. In principle however… eff off. That’s so embarrassing that you sent that you assholes. Why??? Is this normal? Literally a note attached saying the amount i currently owe is 0.00$

Can someone help me understand if this is fair. Mom has primary custody of child and is stay at home parent. Dad has 4 overnights per month and pays 400. Dad makes 70k per year. Should the amount be higher? The case hasn't been revisited in 6 years and there's been quite a few changes. 400 doesn't cover very much

My wife’s ex passed away and apparently he didn’t have a will, trust, or enough assets to file a claim with probate. Sounds like a small estate affidavit needs to be put together but his mother is pushing for my wife to sign the affidavit and handle everything on his behalf. Not sure why she wants that but my wife absolutely will not sign or handle any of the debts, taxes, or anything else. They do have two kids, he owed back child support and has a guardian assigned to the small life insurance he did have put together for the kids. Is it as simple as saying no or is there any way his parents can force through the court for my wife to handle this? Any advice on this situation or information on how child support is handled in this situation along with social security benefits? Do we need a lawyer for this situation?

I have been divorced since 2020. My ex made substantially more than me. I was mostly a stay at home/work from home mom when we were together. His payments were deducted from his pay check, so always on time. In October last year he lost his job. And stopped paying his child support immediately.

In December he filed for a change. Court in February where I told the judge I was worried ex wouldn’t get another job and just live off of his successful gf. Judge even put in the final decision that she was dropping his child support by 90% and he had the luxury of taking time to find a new job because of his gf. He now “pays” $27 a week for two chronically ill boys. He no longer has insurance on them. I have Medicaid for them. And one son had Medicare due to his illness.

The state is suing ex over arrears, but him and his lawyer refused to make an agreement with them. We go back in September. I know it hasn’t been a year, but he is still choosing to be unemployed. And I am thinking about filing for a change.

I take our son who is in dialysis to all of his appts. That is at least 18 appts per year. I have my own daycare and work for very understanding families. But I do not get paid at all when I take off. My income has gone down so much in the past two years while trying to get our son a transplant.

Ex has gone to the UK and Grenada in the past 6 months. Disney world coming up next month. He takes these vacations on what should be his parenting time, but doesn’t take our sons. Which puts him at a lower amount of overnights that he is being credited for.

Do I have a leg to stand on with the judge? What would you do?