Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

I live in the state of Texas i had a child support case with the office of the attorney general, it was open from 2007-2009 and i closed it due to the father of my child and were working things out, it didnt work and now years later i am having to have assistance with child care that required to me to recently apply to open a case again, the office of the attorney general contacted me and let me know that they old case was just reopened i never recieved a letter or anything stating that, so i called and they told me to go off my old order, website shows he is over 13k behind, the case was reopened in may 2012 i recieved my first full payment in june and half a payment in july and then he told me he quit his job bc he couldnt afford to pay child support and live off of what is left of his paycheck, since this restarted the child support that is he has threatened to go to court and file for joint custody not only joint but then went to say he could get full custody of my child, in trying to prepare my self for the situation i am trying to obtain all info i can so i needed copy of order of child support with current listing of my address and employer, to take to legal aid and show proof there was an order i called the district clerk, there was not an active order on file, this alarmed me so icalled the office of the attorney general and first they told me the order was active i let them know that i needed and updated order or something saying that my old order was reopened they then go back and forth and say it was and it wasnt an open order so i would have to fill out a review form and send it back i let them know the district clerk did not have anything on file and the representative then told me she could not tell me anymore that she would have to have someone call me back. What can i do? im scared he is trying to take my son away from me and i receive texts from him saying just wait he will be with me , your time is coming, or i have everything in the works and my son will be with me in the end, ive been doing this on my own since he left the last time and here and there he has gotten my son something or has watched him for me due to me having to work on the weekends, Please help


Asked on 10/04/12, 5:47 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
TC Langford Langford Law Office

First, save those text messages, as they are coercive (at the least) and the judge will not be impressed with his tactics. Second, do not be bullied, as judges encounter parents daily who threaten custody when forced to pay child support. The Attorney General will enforce the order, and will work with you on the custody matter. If the dad does not pose any danger to the child, you should anticipate joint custody with standard visitation rights. The AG is not instructing you to file a petition, but merely to activate it through their system by filing with them a review request. You can go down to the local office of the AG and they will assist you.

Know that the AG has a huge caseload, and you may want to consider retaining your own attorney in this matter.

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Answered on 10/04/12, 7:56 am


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