Conference quokka::non_custodial_parents

    The DOR acts as a collection/enforcement agent for the receiver of
    child support. They keep track of the support obligation as an account.
    They only act as a pass thru. If he doesn't pay, your account will
    track the arrearage and enforce collection. 
    	If you are on welfare you get your money no matter what.

    Thanks.  Well, I'm obviously NOT on welfare, if I'm in this
    notesfile...
    
    I'm considering enforcing the 3-week suspended wage-attachement
    that is in my divorce as my ex is consistently getting behind
    "just before" the 3 weeks and then sends 2 checks.  This is
    the first time he has gone MORE than 3 weeks behind and sent
    3 checks!  
    
    Before anyone blasts me...  I just want what is best for the
    kids.  I am not out to screw him!  In fact, it's the other way
    around.  So, DO NOT come down hard on me.  It is my legal right
    to enforce the wage attachment.  I'm just trying to figure out
    if it's worth it.  and I'd like to know if I get the money no
    matter what and then DSS would go after his company to get it
    back.
    
    Thanks
    

    No sure things in life. I know a woman who has been trying for over 10
    years to get the ex to square up. But because of his disfunctional
    realtionships with booze. He is able to slip between the cracks. For
    her its a tuff game. For him, its a cause to B&M at what a cruel world
    it is.

    Hi,
    
    I think it basically depends upon what the court order says for child
    support.  I took my ex to court by myself (no DOR, or lawyer -- I also
    was not married, I just wanted the child support).  Originally we
    worked it out so that my ex (who works for DEC) would deposit the
    support into my DCU savings account each week.  Therefore the order
    stated that he would pay me directly.  
    
    The mediator had explained to him that if he feel behind 2 weeks, I
    could go to court and have his wages attached immediately -- he said he
    understood.  Well, to make a long story short, he stopped paying, told
    me to basically go to hell, so I went down to the court house, talked
    with a couple of people, they changed the court order to read wage
    attachment & kept everything else the same.  Therefore I get a weekly
    check from DEC for my child support --- nothing goes through the
    courts.  Now some people (especially the NCP) may not like this, but
    I have never tried to screw my ex (hell, DEC has all the proof that I
    was paid), but some CP's could take advantage of this.  I could have
    even gone back to court when my daughter turned 6 to get an increase,
    but I figured that my ex stays out of my life, I stay out of his, why
    rock the boat.  The $80/week helps out and I don't want the guy going
    broke.   I would only go back if I was in desperate need (ie. lost my
    job).
    
    Now depending on your circumstances this might be different, but you do
    not need a lawyer to go get this done --- just go down to the court
    house yourself and you will be directed to the right people who can
    help you.
    
    Good Luck
    Debby
    

    In my opinion, if you can work it out between the two of you, do it
    that way.  Stay as far away from the DOR as you possibly can!  My
    husband and I have been fighting with the DOR for 3 years.  He pays
    child support to his ex every week through the DOR and we are all
    (including his ex wife) furious with them.  When the divorce was
    finalized, he was talked into letting the DOR handle the support
    payments, (his ex's lawyer suggestion).  He had been making weekly 
    payments (on time every week) even when they were separated and there
    wasn't a court order, and he did all he could to help support his
    children.  Along comes the DOR and says it will take several weeks for
    the paperwork to kick in and for DEC (he works for DEC) to start
    sending the payments, so he should make payments to them directly and
    they will send his ex the money after they have "processed" the
    payments.  Well, when it was determined that they would take 3-6 weeks
    to "process" the payments and his ex didn't have any other means of
    obtaining that money for those weeks, he decided to be a nice guy and
    pay her directly so she wouldn't have to wait for the DOR to get their
    act together.  Now, after 3 years of trying to prove that he did pay
    her the money, they've just put a lien on any/all personal property to
    collect what he owes.

    They threaten to take his tax returns every year (which they did one
    year but it didn't cover the entire amount they claim he owes, his ex
    returned it to him when she got it months later).  Every year he's
    sent a notice from the DOR stating that he owes the money and if he wants
    to dispute this, send in the enclosed form with all supporting
    documentation.  We have done this every time, including sending
    notarized letters from his ex wife who 100% agrees that he doesn't owe
    her the money!  They send him a note back saying that they
    have received his "request for review" and will let him know the
    outcome of the review in 45 days.  Well, not once have they let him
    know of the outcome.  We've called and tried to talk to these people
    who most of the time say, "well, we can't find your file right now, it
    probably got sent to the local office for review and hasn't been
    completed yet".  I've called the local office and they don't have a
    clue as to where the paperwork we've sent in went to, according to
    them, "the main office must still have it".  We just received that lien
    notice last week and I've made dozens of phone calls to these people
    and not one has been able to locate any of the paperwork we've sent in. 
    They're suggestion is to just sent it all in again, and they'll review
    the case.  If they've lost all of these things over the past 3 years, I
    have very little confidence that they will not lose anything else that
    we send in.  I got so angry talking with them yesterday and getting
    nowhere that I called the State Rep's office and the State Senate's
    office to complain.  If anyone has suggestions on who else to call
    regarding this, I'd very much appreciate any info.  

    I know this doesn't sound encouraging, and I'm sure it must be rough
    not getting that payment every week, all I'm trying to say is that you
    may end up being sorry you got involved with the DOR.  My husband's ex
    would never have gotten involved with them had she known of all the
    problems they have caused for him.  She's also told me that she
    doesn't always get the payments from them on time, most of the time
    they are OK on that end but they have been late as much as three weeks
    themselves.   She knew that at least she could have counted on him to
    make payments on time.  


    Best of luck!
    

    .5 Best thing to do with DOR is to file as they file. Find a building
    that they own that you would like. And put a lein on it.:) It is easy
    to do. If you show up to court, likely the opposing camp, DOR, wont
    show cause they are very busy catching all them deadbeats and you
    win!:)

    re DOR

    Another angle of the "Common Law Lein" that I've written of before
    is the "Commercial Lein".  If you contract with a company to work
    for you, and they do not complete the work ect, you can slap a 
    lien on their property until that contract is fulfilled.  

    There have been some cases of this being used against public officials.
    The public official has an implicit contract (verbal contracts hold
    just as much water as written contracts in most states if they can
    be proven) with the public to perform a certain job.  If they fail 
    to fulfill that contract you can slap a lien on their _personal_ 
    property until that contract is fulfilled.  

    The guy I was listening to on the radio said that the lien is very
    easy for you to put on and very hard for them to get taken off since
    it is done under Common Law.  He said that a man in Arizona had
    done this to 4 IRS agents.  Tied up all their personal property
    until the case was settled, and you know how long it can take to
    settle these cases in court :^).

    I don't have the full low-down on this.  Probably need to research
    Common Law and Liens, etc. My feeling is that this you would do this
    in conjunction with filing a law suit against them and tie up their
    property to cover the possible settlement on the suit to keep them
    from disposing the property in the mean time.  You have to make 
    sure that you have a reasonable law suit.  If the court rules that
    your suit is frivolous, you could end up in some hot water, but if
    you have a reasonable suit, you can at the very least tie up all of
    their property for _years_ while the process works it's way through
    the courts.

    fred()

    And all you need is Just one goooood name. Then watch the entire
    department squirm...:) File a second lein on the next person who talks
    to you. And so on and so on. Every time someone calls you from the
    department and they dont have a good word to say to you.
    
    1. file horrasment
    2. file a lein

    I am the CP. The dor has messed up so bad it's ridiculous. There have
    been many instances when I have given up on arrears because they were
    so messed up.  My ex changes jobs every 6 months or so, which makes it
    difficult to attach his wages.  The most recent time his wages were 
    attached, things were going fine, I was getting a check every week or
    so, plus some for the arrears. Then I started getting my single check
    in two separate checks, the amount added to the same but it was always
    split randomly.  Then it started not adding to the correct amounts.  I
    finally decided to call, I put this off because I always have to figure
    4 hours or more to set asside to get thorough to a human being.   It
    turned out that they slipped a digit on my SS #.  It took quite a while
    to find someone interested in straightening it out. It was 6+ months
    before I could convince them that he was not 1000+ behind and they
    still grabbed his income tax.  It took another 6 months to convince
    them again and they should give him his income tax back.  Everytime a
    DOR employee straightened this out, I'd have to call again 2 months
    later when my ex was getting threatening letters from them and it was
    not at all straightened out.  It appears they may not tell the truth to
    you. Then they decided he was 500 or so ahead, none of their numbers
    made any sense, I finally shut up and gave up.  They have their own
    separate way of adding numbers.
    
    Then there was the time last year when I got my check from another DOR
    recipient, she wrote a note saying that it was in her envelope with
    hers... thank god she was honest!
    
    Be thankful you get the money, even if it's a little late, you've
    got NOTHING to complain about.