Legal Question in Family Law in Georgia
In 1994 I lived and was divorced in Newton County GA and was orderd to pay $75 a week in child support for my 2 year old son.I paid while I lived there but got behind on payments when In 1995 I moved home to TN.In 1995 GA sent a Uniform Support Petition under URESA law ordering TN to both enforce and modify their exisiting child support payments.
TN did as ordered.They ordered me to court and then modified the existing child support based on my income, garnished my paycheck,set up a repayment plan for the $3000 in arrearages and I paid my child support as TN ordered until my child turned 18. My taxes were offset for the $3000 in arrearges I owed as well in addition to a small amount coming out of my paycheck weekly going towards arrearges for a toal of $65 per week.
After several years of recieving tax offset letters from GA child support enforcement and the IRS and noticing that my arrearge amount was increasing instead of decreasing despite them getting my income taxes and weekly child support I contacted the Alcovy CSE and asked why and they told me they were refusing to recognize the modifications TN made because they had jurisdiction and TN should not have modified the order only enforced it.I don't understand how they can do this because the order they sent specifically said to both modify and enforce and TN did as ordered.
The Uniform Support petition GA sent was under URESA law and GA claims they do not have to follow URESA law even though that is the law the order was filed under and the law that was specifically stated numerous times throughout the papers.They are now deciding to following UIFSA law which states that one state can't modify another state's exisiting order and that they have jurisdiction.URESA law gives another state the authority to make modifications at the orginating state's (GA) request and URESA is the law GA sent the papers under so why would'nt they have to follow that law since they specified it?
I have contacted numerous state represetatives in TN as well as read numerous internet forums and spoken to case workers in TN and online who all say GA has to follow the law the order was filed under which was URESA.No where in the court order is UIFSA mentioned but it is very clear that URESA is the law that GA requested the case enforced under.
I disputed it several times but never could get any help.CSE in Ga refuses to call me back,is very hard to reach and is very unprofessional to deal with. After my child turned 18 and child support was supposed to stop I recieved a letter from GA saying I owed over $15,000 in child support arrearages despite my pay history and that a new income withholding from wages order would be issued on my paycheck unless I disputed within 10 days.
I DID dispute and sent back the letter of dispute form certified mail requesting an administrative hearing in March 2010 but have still never heard any response.I also went to my local TN child support office and disputed and they told me I did not owe the arreareges because they had the court order showing that GA requested the modifications be made and TN did as instructed.She gave me a copy of the order to fax GA proving it and seemed to think this would clear everything up but it did not. I was planning to go to the hearing in Ga and present them with the court order showing them that they requested the modifications under URESA law but they have yet to contact me with a date or time.They still have not given me a hearing.The garishment is still on my paycheck and has never been lifted even though my child is 18,works and no longer lives at home and despite a letter Ga sent me telling me my child support is scheduled to end.I think it is very unfair that people who can not afford an attorney get treated so unprofessionally and ignored.
My income taxes are still offset as well so I phoned my local child support worker and she called Ga and spoke to a customer service rep with the child support office there and was told we never disputed the arrearages despite us sending them a certified letter disputing it and despite proof that they recieved my dispute. She told me GA said I was not fighting the arrearages and that I must owe them because im not fighting it.GA continues not to recognize the modifications TN made.Modifications GA requested! My case worker in TN said that I need to send them the court order showing them in black and white that they requested the child support be modified and to call them everyday and if they don't fix this then I need to file a complaint with the government in GA if need be.Despite my letters and copies of the court order I sent CSE by certified mail I still continue to be ignored.
I need your professional opinion concerning this situation.What can I do? Please help.
1 Answer from Attorneys
It sounds like you have been going in circles and I'm sorry about that. Dealing with one government entity is hard enough, having to deal with 2 different states is a whole other thing. There's no easy answer to your question -- if I were in your shoes, I would have done what you did -- nag, nag, nag, and timely provide any info or documentation they seek. As such, I would STRONGLY urge you to hire a Georgia family law lawyer to help you sort all this out. At this point, I'm not sure that you are going to get much attention or relief without one.
Best of luck.*******The above is for informational purposes only and does not create an attorney-client privilege.*******