# EX not paying support



## brokenbythis (Aug 21, 2011)

I filed for Legal Separation on April 2. The hearing is not until May 23, the court did the dissomaster and calculated X amount for him to pay in child support and spousal support.

He got paid yesterday and was supposed to pay me. He sent HALF of what he was supposed to. He said thats what he thinks is fair!

Since a judgement has not been made and we have not attended the hearing yet, can he do this? Can he just not pay? I thought once he was served he was required to pay.

If anyone knows what to do in this situation please advise! I do not have a lawyer - can't afford one. I'm in California.


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## Tron (Jan 31, 2013)

brokenbythis said:


> I filed for Legal Separation on April 2. The hearing is not until May 23, the court did the dissomaster and calculated X amount for him to pay in child support and spousal support.
> 
> He got paid yesterday and was supposed to pay me. He sent HALF of what he was supposed to. He said thats what he thinks is fair!
> 
> ...


Without a lawyer, the best thing is to follow up with the CA Department of Child Support Services and perhaps the family court you are in. They can probably help you.

Just fyi, if there is a court order for him to pay a certain amount and he didn't pay it for the reasons you stated then that can be considered contempt of court and he could be thrown in jail.


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## Hope1964 (Sep 26, 2011)

I live in Canada, so it may be different, but if there's a court order he's supposed to pay. 

Here, we have Maintenance Enforcement, where the payments he's supposed to make are regsitered and recorded, and they can garnishee wages if necessary. But it's a slow, slow process.

My ex owes me over $65,000.00 right now in arrears (he hasn't paid reliably for 20 years) and all they do is take away his tax refunds. No jail. Oh, and he can't get a passport. Big hairy deal for him. He's quite content to live his entire life under the radar - not collect official wages, not have anything in his own name, etc.

The VERY BEST thing you can do here is to NOT rely on money from him. At all. For anything. Support yourself. If you DO get anything from him, put it into an account for your kids education or something. But do NOT count on it for your living expenses. You'll be screwed if you do.


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## brokenbythis (Aug 21, 2011)

Tron said:


> Without a lawyer, the best thing is to follow up with the CA Department of Child Support Services and perhaps the family court you are in. They can probably help you.
> 
> Just fyi, if there is a court order for him to pay a certain amount and he didn't pay it for the reasons you stated then that can be considered contempt of court and he could be thrown in jail.


Thats my question: is it a court order? Is filing the petition a court order? As I mentioned the hearing is over a month away. 

He says he's not going to pay until a final judgement is in place.


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## vi_bride04 (Mar 28, 2012)

No an order is signed by both parties and the judge usually....a petition that has been filed and is in process does nothing. It has to be signed by the judge.


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## brokenbythis (Aug 21, 2011)

That is insane. 

When I filed the family law court attorney said if he doesn't pay the judge will retroact it back to filing date anyway. He said once the petition is filed it is an order for temporary child and spousal support, pending the hearing.

So how can he just decide not to pay it??


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## PBear (Nov 16, 2010)

brokenbythis said:


> That is insane.
> 
> When I filed the family law court attorney said if he doesn't pay the judge will retroact it back to filing date anyway. He said once the petition is filed it is an order for temporary child and spousal support, pending the hearing.
> 
> So how can he just decide not to pay it??


People can decide to do whatever they want to do; I can choose not to pay any fine or traffic ticket I like, for example. Whether they can get away with it is another matter. Make sure you log all the money that's transferred to you and when, and keep all correspondence requesting the rest of the money. Don't send texts or talk on the phone about this; send e-mails so you have records and have his reply in writing.

C


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## cmf (May 21, 2010)

You will have to go for wage with holding and then they tend to quit jobs or work for money under the table. Best you can do is file with Child Enforcement and hope they can keep tracking him down. It gets expensive to keep dragging it to court, I've done it twice and both times he was ordered to pay the money owed plus my lawyer fees and still has not done it, gets extensions and then waits until right before he is sentenced to jail and produces some money and a sob story which the judge allows and keeps giving him more time. Then your lawyer will make you pay their fees that he owes to keep representing you...all the while you have no support coming in. It is a very flawed system . I am preparing to pay for everything in regards to the kids. Sorry you are going through this too. At least, it may help in custody to show the lack of support.


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## brokenbythis (Aug 21, 2011)

Well he paid it. He must have realized he would be in contempt of court - it is a temporary support order after all. And he is a cop. Cops not paying court ordered support do not fare well with thier department.

When I get a permanent judgement ie> legal separation is finalized, I will definitely be doing a wage assignment. Without a shadow of a doubt since he is going to bo so DEAD BROKE when the pregnant woman he knocked up sues him for child support too. I'm first in line, sad to say.


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## Dadwithtwolittlegirls (Jul 23, 2012)

Be glad your getting half.. I have got maybe $150 in 9 months.


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