Paul has one child from his marriage. His child's mother got tired of the marriage and filed for divorce. The court granted her the divorce, gave her custody of the little girl, child support from Paul and spousal support from Paul. Paul was granted "liberal" visitation with his daughter (15% of her life, or every other weekend). However, mom got tired of seeing dad involved with their child so she moved away to Tennessee and went on welfare.
The problem arises in that Paul holds down only a living wage job. He was not aware of the state statutes on custody nor could he afford an attorney to battle across state lines. Paul called NCFC. He met with some of our members. Paul's child support order was compared to the support guidelines. He was paying about twice as much as what the guidelines indicated that he should be paying. NCFC helped Paul understand how to file a pro se motion to modify support. Paul filed it, had his hearing, and his support was reduced by 50%.
Suddenly, Paul got a letter from Tennessee saying that he owed $12,000 in back child support. Paul has good documentation of his consistent payment and the order from Allegheny County Family Division stating his arrears were only $400. Tennessee withheld Paul's federal tax income refund even though in a letter to Paul, they said they would not withhold the refund without a proper hearing. However, nobody in Tennessee or in Allegheny County would listen. NCFC and ACES worked together contacting both states' Domestic Relations Sections but neither office would respond. Paul was forced to miss three days of work and travel to Tennessee for the hearing scheduled in Tennessee.
On the day of the hearing, the Tennessee domestic relations people told him that he did not have to come to this hearing because Tennessee agreed that they made a mistake. But Tennessee still has Paul's federal income tax check. Tennessee will not reimburse Paul for his travel and lost wages expenses even though they have admitted fault.
While Paul was in Tennessee, he tried to see his daughter. He had given his daughter's mother two week advance notice and his desire to see his daughter. Guess what, his kid's mom would not let him see his daughter!
Now Paul is working with NCFC to modify his custody order.