Legal Question in Family Law in Tennessee

Re: We need help fast!

I am a little confused about the question regarding your "ex-husband." I will try to answer as best I can. If what you say is true and she owes him more court ordered child support than he owes her in alimony, I would hope that if the judge puts anyone in jail it would be the one who owes the greater amount, which is the mother. It is hard to believe that anyone could file such a contempt petition when her conduct is more conteptious than his. Still, he does owe the money he will need to explain the impossibility of paying to the court and hope the court accepts that as a defense. I know you are thinking that you are not dealing with enough money to hire an attorney, but if you think he might go to jail over this, he should seriously consider hiring one anyway. I never suggest that anyone go to court unrepresented. If it is possible to pay, you may want to ask your attorney if there is any way he can pay the money in to the court until the court hearing so the judge could determined who owes whom, and how much. Maybe consider filing a motion to do that. Why not file a contempt petition against her for failing to pay child support? If she definitely owes him child support, I certainly would ask the judge to offset the two obligations and only require her to pay the difference. Talk to a lawyer in your area. Best of luck.