Legal Question in Family Law in South Carolina
What are my rights as a divorced father paying child support?
am i able to ask for proof of where and how my child support payments are being used by my ex wife?
also in my divorce the judgee ordered me to start pa7ying support the first friday after the divorce was final,which was the end of march.i later received a letter from s.c.child support that i owed back support dated back to april or so,the ex wife i guess filed a seperate child support case and i had no clue she did that,now i have a court date in october because i dont belive i should pay the amount that is past due because i had no notification of the case through child support.
i never received anything from child support about a hearing or that there was a case for it.
the most important question though is my rights? i seen how my ex wife spent the child support from her first marruage,i just want my support to go towards my daughter,not towards my ex wife's new boyfriends or such..
thank you.....jim
1 Answer from Attorneys
As the father of a child, you have many rights, but whether and how you choose to assert them are a different question. For instance, you have the right to seek to modify custody and/or visitation, if the facts/circumstances of your case have changed since you were last in Court. You have the right to educational and medical information about your children, per statute.
You do not have the right to micromanage how your child support payments are spent, nor will the custodial parent be required to provide an accounting to you. As long as she is meeting the child's needs with regard to food, shelter, clothing, etc., the Court will defer to her discretion, whether or not you agree with how you think she is spending the money.
You do not provide enough information to comment on the hearing about the alleged non-payment of child support. An issue like that is very fact specific, and I cannot provide any answers without knowing much more.
These are complex issues, and it is important that they be handled correctly. Therefore, it is important that you consult an experienced family law attorney to find out what options are available to you based on the facts of your particular case.
If you need more information, you can visit my family law blog (www.SCFamilyLaw.com) or our website (www.StevensFirm.com). I wish you the best of luck.
Ben Stevens
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