Legal Question in Family Law in Kentucky

Re: Child support

You are entitled to child support under the Maryland Child Support Guidelines. Since the father is now out of State I suggest you contact the State's Attorney's Office who should be able to assist you in getting support from out of State father.

Re: Child support

There is no good reason why your request for an increase in child support should take two years. A parent can be ordered to provide the information needed, and to appear at a hearing, and a bench warrant can be issued for his arrest if he fails to appear. If he is not paying the amount of child support which was ordered, he can be found in contempt of court and, if he continues to fail to pay, he can go to jail. If he is not paying the child support which was ordered, the child support enforcement office should be able to get an earnings withholding order.

Since the father has moved to Kentucky, his child support obligation, if it changes, will then be based on Kentucky child support guidelines, but your local child support office should communicate with the office in the father's jurisdiction, where a hearing should be held to determine his obligation. If he has a new child, that would tend to lower his obligation to your child. But if he is earning substantially more now than when the original support was determined, your child support very likely will still increase.

We all know that child support enforcement people are over-loaded with problems like yours, but that is no reason for such a delay. You may need to find a private attorney to help you. If your case is filed in the Circuit Court, it should move along much more quickly.

You don't indicate whether the father is failing to abide by a visitation order by failing to return your child on time or by simply not exercising his visitation rights. No court will find him in contempt for failing to visit, unless there is an order requiring him to visit (and I have never heard of such an order). If he is violating the order in some other way, he may be found in contempt of court. Again, you would need to file a petition for contempt of court to pursue a remedy, and you would almost certainly need an attorney to do that.