Legal Question in Family Law in Florida
I have recently received a notice that stated the IRS will be intercepting my childrens father's tax return for unpaid child support. The amount intercepted will first be applied to repay the state for public assistance I received, if there are funds left they will be directed to me for past due support.
If I change my primary custodial rights to shared custodial rights with the father will he still be responsible for me and my children's public assistance? If I remove my name from the public assistance case and only apply for the children will that make a difference? It doesn't make much sense to me that the state gets repaid first. If the money owed came to me I might not need the public assistance.
1 Answer from Attorneys
It's true that if you got your child support money, you may not need public assistance. That's why the state is willing to give you a free lawyer and assist in collecting your child support for you at no charge. That's why the IRS is willing to help you for free by intercepting his tax refund. But the fact is that we taxpayers want our money, too. And the government has decided that, since they are helping you for free, they get their money first. The father actually isn't responsible in any way for your public assistance, only the children's. So if you remove yourself from public assistance, your case won't be affected in any way. So long as the children remain on public assistance, the state will remain involved in your child support case. If you agree to increase the father's timeshare, his child support may be lowered, but so long as your children are on public assistance, the state will continue to attempt to collect its money.
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