Legal Question in Family Law in Missouri

My husband was awarded custody of his daughter in 2002. His ex wife was ordered to pay $100 per month in child support. She now has 4 children, but only custody of 1. We have fought with DSS about the case (he gave me, his current wife of 10 years rights to discuss the case) and their most recent statement to me was, we cannot do anything with this case because the Ex is on temporary assistance. So, they basically told me that its ok that she isn't paying to support her child that we have. They told us to hire a private attorney, and I told them that we couldn't afford that, and they said, that's all the advice we can offer. Is that right? What else can we do? The ex doesn't work legally, just for cash under the table through her attorney.

Help please!!


Asked on 11/04/13, 9:50 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Anthony Smith LawSmith

This is a common quandry. An ex spouse who says she cannot afford to pay support, and you think she can. Her ex husband says he cannot afford to pay an attorney to prove that she is lying. Unless, both of them are lying, there is little opportunity to get private counsel to take this case on. If your husband has evidence (not suspicion or rumor) that his ex has unreported income beyond what would qualify her for assistance, then he may be able to bring that evidence to the governmental body providing the assistance. It would constitute fraud for her or her attorney to falsely claim her income to be less than it really is. If they agree that there has been fraud, she might lose her assistance and then later be made to pay support from her actual or imputed income.

Clerks and case workers are prohibited from providing legal advice about actions outside their purview. The claims that she can afford to pay, although she has convinced them she needs assistance, would be beyond the are of expertise of the clerks and caseworkers dealing with his Ex's file.

Good luck

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Answered on 11/04/13, 11:28 am


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