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College of Human Environmental Science,
Department of Consumer and Family Economics
University Outreach and Extension, University of Missouri—Columbia
Winter
2002-2003
“Tess” and “Lana”
Tell Their Stories
For the Sake of the Children
At the age of 34, Tess (not
her real name) had two young children to support and a hefty back-due
child support bill still owed to her family by her ex-husband. Her own
bills were mounting, and she struggled to make ends meet.
She had not pursued collection
for her children’s support for several years, because she feared
retaliation from their father, who had abused her. In 1998, she decided to
do something about it. She had come to realize that the high cost of
raising children did not go away after her children were out of diapers
and no longer needed childcare. In fact, she was finding that the older
they got, the more expensive it was to raise them.
Three years and many legal
battles later, Tess finally collected less than a third of what the court
said was owed to her. Tess says she finally did it “for the sake of the
children.”
Lana (not her real name) had
four young children to support and thousands of dollars in back-due child
support bills still owed to her family by her children’s two fathers.
She was receiving TANF— Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and,
like Tess, she also struggled to make ends meet.
Because Lana got TANF
payments, the Division of Family Services required her to cooperate in
pursuing back-due support from her children’s fathers. Lana tells others
to “fight for what your children deserve.”
Tess and Lana have much in
common with each other and with thousands of Missouri parents. They both
agreed to be interviewed for this story.
Q. Did you pursue child
support through the Division of Child Support Enforcement? An attorney?
Both? Why did you choose to approach it the way you did?
Tess: I
pursued child support both through Child Support and through a private
attorney. I did this because I knew it was my right to get free child
support services through Division of Child Support Enforcement. But I’d
had a previous situation with the Division and it took so long for
anything at all to happen. There was continual turnover with staffing and
my caseworker, so I decided to try it both ways.
Lana: I
attempted to get my child support through Child Support Enforcement (CSE).
I had to go through an adjoining county because my sister works at the
office in my own county. At the time, I was getting TANF and Division of
Family Services (DFS) opened a case against my children’s fathers for
me.
Q. Describe generally how
the process went. Please share any positive experiences as well as any
delays, obstacles, or frustrations.
Tess: The
process with the Child Support Enforcement office was going pretty well;
however, my attorney told me to close the case with them because the
ordered child support amount could be modified (lowered) if I did not. I
didn’t care if the amount was lowered. I just wanted something that I
could count on each month, without having to beg or justify it to my
ex-husband. I was trying to be a good client for the lawyer, though, so I
took his advice. Little did I know that he would turn out to be negligent
on my case. Ten months later, I ended up terminating my contract with the
lawyer. I subsequently filed a grievance against him for his lack of work
on my case. That was a whole nightmare in itself—I had to work with the
Missouri Bar’s Office of Disciplinary Council, explaining everything
that happened with the negligent lawyer.
I
thought that office would also handle the dispute over the remaining fee
the lawyer said I owed, since they found that he did not work on my case
in a professional manner. But I had to file a different application to the
MO Bar’s Fee Dispute Department for the actual fee dispute
mediation.
I never, ever
thought I’d end up fighting against a lawyer, but I did and it really
made me question the whole legal system. I eventually did get a very
competent lawyer; however, the process still took a long time and more of
my resources (financial, emotional, physical) before we saw my ex-husband
pay some of what was ordered.
Lana: After
filling out paper work with DFS, I waited to hear from CSE on what was
being done. I’m not sure I have very many positive experiences, because
it seems to take forever to get anything done. I get the excuses that they
(the fathers) both live in Texas and that Missouri CSE has turned the
cases over to Texas CSE offices and will have to wait to see what gets
done.
Well, I can
tell you that nothing ever gets done. They may manage to find out where my
three oldest children’s father is working, but when they start to
garnish wages, he quits his jobs. Texas hasn’t bothered to take away
either one of their driver’s licenses or take income taxes that I’ve
been aware of.
Q. How much did the
children’s father owe you?
Tess: The
amount ordered in court by a judge was $47,028.22.
Lana: Monthly
I should receive $545 from my oldest three children’s father (Dale, not
his real name) and $348 from my youngest child’s father (Bob, not his
real name), or a total of $893.
Currently
Dale is $27,328.34 behind in child support, which was ordered to start
January 1, 1998, and Bob is $8,248.64 behind in support, which was ordered
to start on July 15, 2000. Together,
they are $35,576.98 behind.
Q. How much was collected
in behalf of your children?
Tess: We
collected a total of $22,747.54, including $622.33 from my ex-husband’s
frozen checking account, $21,828.46 from a CD that was hidden and ordered
seized by the judge (with the second lawyer’s help), and $296.75 taken
from probate proceedings from his grandmother’s estate.
Lana: This is
an estimated guess on how much has been collected, but my figures show
that Dale has paid approximately $3,317.42. And Bob has paid approximately
$1,147.36. Or a total of $4,464.78.
Q. How much did you pay for
services, court fees, filing fees, etc.? How was that cost
determined?
Tess: Legal
fees totaled $9,221.19. That included $2,854.80 in fees for the first
lawyer before the fee dispute hearing. I also paid $3,366.39 after the fee
dispute hearing for the second lawyer’s consulting fee and other costs.
I paid an additional $3,000 to the second lawyer on the case itself.
Lana: I have
not paid anything or acquired any fees for fighting for my children’s
child support up to this point because I was counting on the “System”
to do their jobs and get it for me. But at the moment I am talking to
Legal Aid for help on collecting child support.
Q. Bottom line, what did
your family get to keep?
Tess: After
fees, we only cleared $13,526.35, or about 29% of what my children were
owed.
Lana: I have
never received any of the support that Bob paid through the state, and I
may have received around $1,000.00 of what Dale has paid. So far, I’ve
gotten about 22% of what the state collected, but a little less than 3% of
the total back-due support they both owe.
Q. If you could give only
one piece of advice to a parent who is considering pursuing collection of
back child support, what would you suggest?
Tess: Know up
front that doing this is a long and strenuous process that should not be
considered unless you are willing to document everything and make tough
decisions for yourself and your children. My children’s father actually
made the decision to sit in jail for five weeks before he agreed to follow
the judge’s order. If you do hire legal representation, check to be sure
he or she is ethical and competent.
Lana: Get an
attorney, whether it be legal aid, etc., and fight for what your children
deserve. Don’t wait around for the “System” to do it for you because
you’ll be waiting forever! We all know when we have to have something
for the “System,” they don’t like having to wait for us to get it to
them, so why should we have to wait?
Q. If you could give only
one piece of advice to policy makers for improving the child support
collection system, what would you suggest?
Tess: Create a
child support system that provides the custodial parent with financial
support on a regular and uninterrupted basis. Then, let the Division of
Child Support Enforcement go about the business of collecting the child
support. Single parents have a hard enough time raising children alone,
without becoming experts at tracking down the non-custodial parent,
finding out about his or her assets and possible jobs, providing their
story to a multitude of staff at Child Support Enforcement, etc. The
stress is tremendous.
Lana: I
guess my one piece of advice to policy makers would be that they need to
make tougher laws and make them stick. Don’t let the noncustodial
parent get by with moving around to different states to avoid paying
child support or quit their jobs when their wages start getting
garnished. Make life just as hard for them as they are making it on
their children!
I’m so
tired of DFS reminding me of how much time I have left to receive TANF
when they should be worrying about how far behind these men are in child
support. I would give anything to receive my child support instead of
TANF! That would double the amount of income each month.
I feel
personally that it’s stupid to punish the custodial parent for being on
TANF for 60 months instead of punishing the non-custodial parent for not
paying their part and taking care of children that they’ve helped
conceive. I did not get pregnant by immaculate conception, but I feel that
I’m the only one being punished for choosing to have children.
Back
to Poverty at Issue-Winter 02-03 Table of Contents
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last updated: 06/08/07
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